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Artificial Diffraction Spikes?

DSLR Processing Deep Sky
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Alien_Enthusiast avatar
Alien_Enthusiast avatar
Hi Dear AstroBinners,

Does anyone know how to make artificial diffraction spikes on a DSLR footage? I dont mean it in hardware terms, Im talking about post-processing.

Like if I have an image with stars, which I got using a DSLR, how can I turn them into diffraction spikes?

Are there any standalone softwares for that?
Rob avatar
Rob avatar
Yes, there's software that can do that for you but it always looks fake so I would advise against it. Your best bet is to take some fishing line and tape two pieces across the end of your scope. You only need 10-15 minutes of integration time since all you're interested in is the stars. After you get the data star align your new image with your old one. Use StarXterminator or Starnet and remove the stars with diffraction spike from your new image and add it to the old.
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Alien_Enthusiast avatar
Alien_Enthusiast avatar
Rob:
Yes, there's software that can do that for you but it always looks fake so I would advise against it. Your best bet is to take some fishing line and tape two pieces across the end of your scope. You only need 10-15 minutes of integration time since all you're interested in is the stars. After you get the data star align your new image with your old one. Use StarXterminator or Starnet and remove the stars with diffraction spike from your new image and add it to the old.

I've already collected all the data so this isnt an option for me. Whats that software called?
Karl Theberge avatar
Karl Theberge avatar
Pro digital software - StarSpike Pro is a really good plugging for photoshop.

Best tool I have used.  U can really control and make it realistic
Prodromos avatar
Prodromos avatar
I used Astronomy Tools Action from prodigitalsoftware.com (which is a plug in Photoshop) but that was long time ago. And wasn't happy too much of how artificial diffraction spikes looked like vs true hardware artificial stars (maybe I wasn't doing it correctly). However that plugin had other action tools that I needed.
Alien_Enthusiast avatar
Alien_Enthusiast avatar
Karl Theberge:
Pro digital software - StarSpike Pro is a really good plugging for photoshop.

Best tool I have used.  U can really control and make it realistic

Thank you so much! I tried it and it worked out great! All the best!
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