Edit JWST data

[Favo]

Hi everyone,

as many of you may know, all the raw data from the James Webb Space Telescope can be accessed via the internet.

The FIT-files from the NIRCam are monochrome files taken from the infrared spectrum. I want to create my own interpretation of the image but as a beginner, I don't really know how to process the 6 monochrome files taken with different narrow band filters.

I've watched the video by Nebula Photos:

 

 

He uses the paid software Pixinsight but I would like to use freeware.

I would be able to process the files with Gimp if I would be able to align the images properly, which I cant manage to do.

Otherwise I tried to use Deep Sky Stacker (my go-to when processing DSLR astro footage) to align the photos but DSS cannot handle the FIT files and converting them to TIFF brings the error message "The selected files are not compatible (Width, height, number of colors, number of channels, only one master-dark, offset and flat)" (translated from German).

I also tried SiriL and SOA DS9 as mentioned in the video above but did not get any results.

 

So, how can I properly align the different images?

 

Thanks,

Favo

[TerryMcK]

Hi Favo, welcome to the forum. You could always try a demo license of Pixinsight. It does have a steep learning curve but it is really good. The other one to try is AstroPixelProcessor or APP for short which also has a demo license. I gave up on DeepSkyStacker a few years ago due to the limitations you have mentioned and went down the paid for route.

I own both Pixinsight and APP but prefer PixInsight.