There is a cross-platform tool called 'LuckyStackWorker" for processing stacked solar, lunar and planetary images and also for stacking solar, lunar and planetary images. It runs on Windows, Linux, macOS x86 and Apple Silicon. It is written and maintained by Dutchman Wilko Kasteleijn. It was first released in 2022 and is now on version 7. It requires 16 bit TIFF or PNG images.
For these tests we stacked a Seestar S50 RAW AVI lunar file using the SetiAstroSuitePro Planetary stacker.
Click on an image to get a closer view
SetiAstroSuitePro Planetary stacker stacking a RAW lunar AVI file from a Seestar S50
LuckyStackWorker processing the stacked imageLuckyStackWorker processing the stacked image
This was LuckyStackWorker doing the job for which it was intended. The test that we did was to use it to sharpen a starless deep Sky image. The image was a starless blend of RGB and SHO data from a QHY Minicam8 and a William Optics 81mm APO refractor, captured by AstroDMx Capture.
We are not claiming that this is an optimal sharpening of the nebulosity because there are numerous controls and settings in the software. This is a demonstration of the possibility that LuckyStackWorker can also be used to sharpen 16 bit starless nebulosity.
Screenshot animation showing the sharpening of the M42/43 nebulosity as some settings are changed
Animation showing the original and the sharpened images of the M42/43 nebulosity
It seems that LuckyStackWorker also has a place in deep sky image processing as well as lunar, solar and planetary imaging.
