What If My Astro Photos Stop Stacking

Sometimes you may notice that the number of stacked images has stopped increasing. Even though unstacking happens mostly when the stars cannot be detected(clouds or misfocus or untracked showing trail of the stars), we cannot be sure about the precise cause.

So, the best way to solve this is to locate the frames and send them to us for review.

*Note: If the stacking is not successful, it'll show a broken image icon in the album.

To troubleshoot the problem, we kindly request you to perform the following steps:

Check if there is sufficient remaining capacity on your SD card.

Locate the Files

If there is enough space on the SD card, please verify if there is a folder with the "DWARF_RAW_DATE" name created. (Date is the exact time pictures were taken)Zip this folder and mail it through wetransfer.com to [email protected].
If you could provide further information or clarification on this issue, it would greatly assist us in better understanding and addressing your concerns. Our engineers will investigate the root cause of the issue.

Or if you prefer to Be a doctor yourself:

If you have the software to open Fits files.

Stacking images failed possibly due to any of the following reasons (How to check the unstacked photos yourself):

Overexposure of the background(too bright), try decreasing the gain. (Please note if the Bortle level is too high, there could be a failure for stacking.)
Misfocus showing stars to be not round.
Unsteadiness of tracking the stars causes stars to have trails instead of being round.
Windy circumstances or unsteadiness of the tripod cause stars to be not round.
The shotsInfo.json will record how many shots were stacked in this shooting, and check whether the number is 0

If not:

You can view the single frames while taking them, refer to:

Every Secret Tip You Wonder about DWARF II in Astrophotography

How to correctly proceed with your next stacking:*The stacking feature is triggered when the camera detects celestial objects.Please do as follows:

Make sure that you are shooting a starry sky. You can stack only when there are stars in the view(well-focused). If there are no stars due to clouds or obstacles, it will fail.
Make sure the focus gets clear and sharp stars. Attached here is a lecture for focus.
Make sure the picture is not overexposed, you can try to reduce the gain.
After GOTO the target, the tracking is still not stable, and the stars have a long tail, which causes failure. Wait for 30s for the scope to track the stars. Wind or vibrations may also make the stack impossible.

What If My Astro Photos Stop StackingUpdated 3 months ago