Stacking 200 frames changed my whole view on lunar shots

I used to just take a single crisp photo of the moon and call it done. Last month I tried stacking about 200 frames from my phone through a cheap scope at a park in Austin, and the detail in the craters blew me away. The free software was clunky at first, but after 3 tries the sharpness beat any single shot I ever got. Now I'm wondering if I should try the same trick on Jupiter or if that needs a totally different setup. Anyone have tips for shooting planets under light pollution?

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wrenbennett8d ago

Have you thought about what the stacking is actually doing to your data before you blame the software for being clunky? The reason 200 frames beat your single shot isn't magic, it's that the moon is stupid bright and you can shoot at a fast shutter with low gain, so random noise averages out while the real detail stays put. Jupiter is a totally different animal because it's tiny, dim, and spinning fast enough that your whole 200 frame run could smear the cloud bands if you take too long. Light pollution barely matters for planets since they're bright, so that's not your problem, the real fight is getting enough focal length and catching good seeing. Stick to short video clips instead of single frames, maybe 60 to 90 seconds max before rotation ruins it.

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