Download DeepSkyStacker 5.1.1 / 4.2.6 (Windows) Free

DeepSkyStacker is a portable software application designed for astrophotographers who want to seamlessly process deep space images. It supports popular file types including JPEG, BMP, PNG, TIFF and RAW images.

clear interface

As far as the interface is concerned, DeepSkyStacker uses a large window with a clear structure, and can open pictures of dark, flat, dark flat or offset/bias files. Alternatively, you can open a file list to easily cycle through pictures.

Advanced Options for Customizing Deep Sky Imagery

Any selected image can be used as a reference frame or converted effortlessly to light, dark, dark-flat, flat or offset/offset frame. Images can be registered by calculating offsets and then stacked. You can create a star mask and adjust the star detection threshold, as well as reduce noise by applying a median filter.

This utility lets you adjust the level, brightness (darkness, midtones, highlights) and saturation of the red, green and blue channels. For RAW images, you can use automatic or camera white balance, choose the Bayer matrix conversion mode between bilinear interpolation, AHD interpolation, Bayer Drizzle algorithm, and create superpixels from raw Bayer matrices. These are just some of the configuration settings provided by DeepSkyStacker.

Evaluation and Conclusion

No error dialogs popped up in our tests, and the software programs didn’t freeze or crash. It has a good response time, has little impact on PC performance, and runs on low CPU and RAM. All in all, DeepSkyStacker is loaded with a wealth of advanced settings to help you work with deep space images.