Hot take: stacked vs tracked astrophotography is actually kind of a debate now

I spent last weekend processing the same set of 60 Orion Nebula shots two different ways. One with DSS stacking and one with manual tracking alignment in Photoshop. The stacked version had way less noise but the colors looked kinda flat. The tracked one popped more but had some weird artifacts around the core. I showed them to three people at my local astronomy club in Tucson and got split opinions. Two said stacked was cleaner and more "correct." One said tracked looked more like what you actually see through the eyepiece. What do you all lean toward when you process? Do you prioritize data purity or visual impact?

2 comments

2 Comments

amygonzalez13d ago

Go with the one that makes your eyes happy every time.

karenw9013d ago

Had a buddy from the Tucson meetup who did the exact same comparison on M42. He ended up picking the tracked version for his Instagram post cuz it got way more likes even though the stacking purists gave him crap about it.