Astro Pixel Processor Forum - Recent Topics

NEW SeeSTAR S30 Pro User Here

David Faulk — Tue, 04 Aug 2026 07:06:51 +0000

I just received my S30 Pro and used it the other night to grab some stacks. Can I use APP to make those photos better? I downloaded the photos from the SeeStar but I did not see Flats or Darks. Where would I get those? Thanks, and would appreciate any help in using this software for my device.

Errors Stacking images 2.0 beta 46

Craig Bobchin — Sun, 02 Aug 2026 20:33:10 +0000

Hi All, I'm trying to stack some images I shot the other night and I'm getting two different errors

10954

and

10957

Any idea what these are caused by?

Dwarf 3 multi-session darks (26–37°C) — automatic temperature matching in APP?

Marcel de Vries — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 12:40:29 +0000

I'm still relatively new to calibration and post-processing, so apologies if this is basic — I've tried to read up first.

I'm processing a multi-session project of NGC 7000 (Caldwell 20, the North America Nebula) — 9 sessions on the same target — shot with an uncooled smart telescope (DwarfLab Dwarf 3). All my light frames and dark frames are 30s exposure, gain 60, same resolution. Sensor temperature was not regulated and ranges from 26°C to 37°C across sessions, for both lights and darks. I have 200+ darks covering that whole temperature range.

My question: if I load all darks and assign them to all sessions, does APP automatically match each light to darks of the corresponding sensor temperature? Or do I need to structure this manually — e.g. one session per temperature group, each with its own darks — to get correct temperature matching?

I read in your calibration principles post that "APP doesn't have dark frame adaption to lights yet," so I want to make sure I set up the temperature matching correctly.

APP version: 2.0.0-beta46 (macOS, Apple Silicon)

Error using the "Combine RGB"

orangemaze — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 16:10:12 +0000

First, thanks for the upgrades to the registration routines, along with normalization. Due to those improvements, I was able to fully integrate a 415 image mosaic of part of Cygnus. The 3 mono images clock in at 5539(MB) each and at 41223 x 35227. Have I exceeded the file size or resolution allowed for an RGB result of the combination of the 3 files? I know I can reduce the scale. I do plan on adding a lot more images to this mosaic as nights permit.

10953 10951

10950

Sessions of 2 cameras of same model, strange color space

Michael Becker — Tue, 21 Jul 2026 05:47:59 +0000

Hi Mabula @mabula-admin

I had to replace my camera after a defect, and have now sessions of 2 different cameras, but exact same camera model, so the FIT-Header show the same equipment tag. The cameras are ZWO ASI2600MC, so modern Sony sensors.

All sessions of the old camera show color space „16b gray“, the sessions of the new camera show „16b RGB“. Even if I load a single session of one of the cameras, the same happens.

I never looked at color space column before, so I don‘t know the color space, when I only had the old camera.
I use ASIAIR 2.5.2 for image acquisition, and newest beta 46 to integrate.
Old camera had filter wheel, so FIT header has a filter tag. “16b gray” is shown for all filters.
New camera has no filter wheel.

Integration seems to work fine, despite the “gray” vs “RGB” tag.

Why is the color space different?

Thank you and best regards.

Michael

BPM for 2 different cameras?

Michael Becker — Tue, 21 Jul 2026 05:27:25 +0000

Hi all (and Mabula @mabula-admin)

The recommendation is to generate >20 darks of 600 sec at room temperature (see here).
I had to replace my camera after a defect, and have now sessions of 2 different cameras, but exact same type, so the FIT-Header show the same equipment tag. The cameras are ZWO ASI2600MC, so modern Sony sensors.

I want to integrate the sessions in one run, so not the 2 stage approach.

Is it possible to assign individual BPMs to the sessions? I don’t find a possibility to do this.
What is better: assign no BPM and let APP generate the BPM for this integration from the sessions‘ darks? I have master darks (of 40 darks) per session and dither every 2nd frame. I have ca. 40-80 frames per session. (And flats and master bias)
Or generate one BPM from darks of both cameras? This probably eliminates too many bad pixels?!
Or must I do a 2 stage integration?

Thank you and best regards.

Michael

automatic rejection of poor-quality light

Etienne RICHARD — Mon, 20 Jul 2026 18:44:12 +0000

Is it possible, within the "Star analysis" menu (Menu 3), to set threshold criteria (FWHM, star count, eccentricity, sky background) that automatically reject poor-quality light frames—similar to what "CCD Inspector" does? Also, how is the "quality score" calculated ?
Thanks in advance for your answers. I purchased an APP license last year but didn't really use it; now, however, I’m determined to master the software. I have to admit, though, that I’m disappointed by the lack of documentation. Videos are fine, but they take a lot of time, and—being somewhat old-school—I prefer a proper manual. Fortunately, I’ve been able to make quick progress thanks to AI, though it does make mistakes (such as citing menu options that don't actually exist). I believe it is essential for Madula to publish a PDF guide to help expand APP's adoption. Once I’ve fully mastered the software, I might try creating a guide in French myself.
Best regards,

Etienne

automatic reopening of master files

Etienne RICHARD — Sun, 19 Jul 2026 17:14:49 +0000

How can I get APP to remember and automatically open the master dark, flat, and bias files when I reopen the program?

Null pointer Exception in MonoChrome during Image integration

Gilles Naud — Sun, 12 Jul 2026 18:37:56 +0000

Hello,

I'm trying to integrate the O3 master of a dual NB filter (Ha+O3 from L-extreme) with the O3 master of another dual NB filter (O3+S2 from Askar D2). All were imaged the same night using the same camera, same telescope, etc. Let me know if I'm proceeding correctly or point out what's wrong:

1. I integrated each filter separately using RGGB + Multi-NB extract Ha+Oiii for one and RGGB + Multi-NB extract Sii+Oiii for the other.

2. Then I restarted App, loaded the two Oxygen masters and normalized them 3) analyze stars; 4) registrer; 5) normalize; and followed with 6) Integrate.

-> Integration started and App began writing the output (it actually did write the file) but it also generated this "" error (very similar to the one related to null exception during batch crop - c.f. my previous issue) inside module MonoChromeHeaderAndImageObjectOfThreeChannelOfBufferedImage.

"
Astro Pixel Processor - 2.0.0-beta46
OpenJDK 26.0.1 - Windows-64-bit

Encountered error in module:
MonochromeCloneHeaderAndImageObjectOfThreeChannelOfBufferedImage

Error message:
java.lang.NullPointerException: Cannot invoke "java.awt.image.BufferedImage.getWidth()" because "" is null

Cause:
Cannot invoke "java.awt.image.BufferedImage.getWidth()" because "" is null
astropixelprocessor@2.0.0-beta46/com.ariesproductions.imagecloners.d.a(MonochromeCloneHeaderAndImageObjectOfThreeChannelOfBufferedImage.java:163)
astropixelprocessor@2.0.0-beta46/com.ariesproductions.imagecloners.d.doInBackground(MonochromeCloneHeaderAndImageObjectOfThreeChannelOfBufferedImage.java:12)
java.desktop/javax.swing.SwingWorker$1.call(Unknown Source)
java.base/java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(Unknown Source)"

Besides the exception (do you need anything else from me?), is my general approach to a single O3 master a valid one?
Gil
c.f. App 2.0.0-beta46/Windows 64 bit

Faster way mosaic intergration?

Stefan Rang — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 16:58:03 +0000

My question is how to get the 2-view much in the tab register?

Before that I stacked and extract each panel first, so I get 12 HA and 12 OIII.

Removed light pollution and crop each panel to remove some artifacts.

I use my pleiades 68mm telescope with Asi2600mc-p.

Load all 12 HA as HA filter and OIII as OIII, star analysis 8000 and when register start I see that it need 278 of the 2-views?

Why so much?

Is there a faster way?

I test it with only HA panels and it became 68 views? How @Mabula