Planet Stacker X
Professional-grade planetary imaging for Mac. Transform high-speed video captures into stunning, high-resolution photos of planets and celestial bodies using the proven Lucky Imaging technique.
Prefer to download directly? Get the unsigned version
Powerful Features
Everything you need to create stunning planetary images, designed for Mac.
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Wavelet Sharpening Gaussian & Starlet methods enhance fine details without introducing artifacts
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Atmospheric Deconvolution Correct distortion caused by Earth's atmosphere and your optical system
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RGB Shift & Balance Remove color dispersion and achieve accurate planetary hues
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Advanced Tone Controls Tone curves, gamma, saturation, and exposure for the perfect final image
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Noise Reduction Wavelet denoising and global noise reduction while preserving sharpness
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SER & RAW AVI Support Work with the industry's most popular planetary video formats
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Auto & Manual Modes Let the app choose the best frames or fine-tune your selection
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Live Alignment Preview Watch alignment in real-time before committing to a stack
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Batch Processing Queue up multiple videos and let Planet Stacker X run overnight
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about Planet Stacker X
Planet Stacker X is a macOS app built for capturing detailed images of planets using Lucky Imaging. Instead of a single long exposure, you record a short video of your target with a high-speed camera and telescope.
Planet Stacker X then:
- Selects only the sharpest frames from your video
- "Stacks" them together to boost detail and reduce noise
- Lets you fine-tune the final image with tools designed specifically for planetary photography
As an amateur astrophotographer I was getting pretty frustrated with the lack of good solutions to stack planetary video data on my M1 MacBook Pro without resorting to Windows emulation or virtualization.
One cloudy, rainy night I decided to write a small script to stack my planetary data instead. The clouds and rain never really cleared up... and that little script eventually grew into the full-featured Planet Stacker X you see today.
Not at the moment. Planet Stacker X depends on macOS-only frameworks and SDKs, and I don't have the skill or the bandwidth to port it to other operating systems right now. If that changes, you'll hear about it.
Planet Stacker X's algorithms are optimized for bright, small targets like planets. They won't give you the same results on wide-field deep-sky or landscape shots—but feel free to experiment and let me know how it goes!
I'm not accepting direct donations or code contributions at this time. If you'd like to support the community, consider donating to the Seattle Astronomical Society or shopping from the excellent folks at Cloud Break Optics.
Your enthusiasm and feedback mean the world!