2026-10-09 APP 2.0.0-beta48 has been released !
This is mainly a bug fix release for the reported bugs in beta47. In addition it has a significant User Interface performance improvement noticable when you need to process 1000s of images in APP.
2026-10-03 APP 2.0.0-beta47 has been released !
This is a very big release... many code optimizations/rewrites, many parts of APP are much faster and more precise, especially star analysis and registration are much faster ! Big mosaics will go much faster 🙂
And we introduce a new preview filter, which includes the new Adaptive Deep Sky Stretch and a General Levels Stretch, this has been long over due. The old preview filter (the panel on the right side to stretch and preview your data) has not been updated for a couple of years and it is a critical part of any APP session.
Adaptive Deep Sky Stretch or ADSS is a much more intuitive stretch algorithm. It is also color preserving (which is a great new addition in itself ! ) which means that the highlights are no longer bleached, color is maintained from the linear data while stretching. You can simply stretch your data using the sky background level and signal width sliders which work much easier and more intuitive. You no longer need to fiddle with the old complicated sliders with zoom buttons. All the zoom buttons for the sliders are made redundant. And you can enter slider values in the slider value fields yourself. I will make a youtube video in the coming days to explain and fully introduce ADSS. Once the video is ready, it will be highlighted on the forum.
RGB Combine upgrade !. The RGB Combine Tool has been rewritten mostly. The tool is faster and easier to use and most importantly, the Luminance slider to inject a luminance channel or channels into the RGB composite is now working correctly. It no longer bleaches the RGB colors. Combined with the new ADSS preview, you will get much better and easier great composites with great color! I will also explain this in a new youtube video.
Hi,
I have happily been using APP for my OSC images regularly with very good result. It was all fine up until and including the beta version of 1.071. However, after installing the final 1.071 version something happened. I can't get the stars of the subs to stack properly.
This is what the integrated result looks like now
In the earlier version, using the same settings (all default except for Bayer CF pattern set to GRBG and Force Bayer CFA enabled) it used to come out like this
Does anyone have an idea what is going wrong here? I can't figure it out.
Thanks
Anders
I must correct myself. The last successful integration of the above was on 1.070
Anders
Dear Anders @andersstange,
This definitely looks like a problem with star detection, could you send me a couple of the light frames and I will fix this as soon as possible 😉
Your data is not well in focus it seems and/or the star sizes are a bit big. To automatically detect this can be a bit hard, so if you can send me 1-3 light frames it will further improve this detection in APP.
Please accept my apologies for the inconvenience.
Kind regards,
Mabula
Thank you Mabula,
I have send you 2 sets of 3 light frames via WeTransfer. 1 set for NGC772 as shown above but also 1 for NGC4565 using the same OSC and optical system. These light frames I think are of better quality but still with the same problem when integrated.
Best regards,
Anders
Hi @andersstange,
Thank you very much 😉 I have received the data and will try to fix this as soon as possible !
Kind regards,
Mabula
Hi Anders @andersstange ,
I have found the issue with your data yesterday. Another APP user, @1cm69, also experienced difficulties with star analysis and registration and his issue was directly related. It turned out that hot pixels were detected as stars and not the stars. To solve this issue, I have added a new algorithm in the star analysis module that is capable of better discrimination between hot pixels and stars 😉
So the good news is that APP 1.072 will have the solution to this problem. All the testdata that I have including the data of you both work now robustly (without problems).
at the bottom:
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FIXED, IMPROVED, STAR ANALYSIS, star detection has been further improved by adding an algorithm that better discrimates between hot pixels/small FWHM stars/big FWHM stars. Some users experienced difficulties because hot pixels were detected as stars. The added algorithm studies the star size/FWHM distribution initially found. The details of the distribution are very usefull to make the discrimination between hot pixels/small FWHM stars/big FWHM stars.
I will try to release APP 1.072 within 1-2 days now 😉
Kind regards,
Mabula
That is fantastic! I’m looking forward to the new release.
Thanks,
Anders
