raincityastro.com

What It Is

Planet Stacker X is a macOS planetary imaging application from raincityastro.com. The current page shows version v1.20. It is designed for users who capture short planetary videos with high-speed cameras and telescopes. Using Lucky Imaging, it selects the sharpest frames from a video and stacks them to produce planetary images with higher resolution and lower noise. The development motivation is also clear: the author, an amateur astrophotographer, wanted to avoid relying on Windows emulation or virtualization on an M1 MacBook Pro.

Core Features

Its feature set covers the key steps in planetary post-processing: image stacking, automatic frame selection with manual fine-tuning, and real-time alignment preview. For post-processing, it offers Wavelet sharpening using Gaussian and Starlet methods, atmospheric deconvolution, RGB shift and color balance, curves/gamma/saturation/exposure controls, plus Wavelet and global noise reduction. In terms of format compatibility, it supports SER and RAW AVI, both common video formats in planetary imaging. The batch-processing queue is also practical, allowing multiple video jobs to run continuously overnight.

Pricing, Licensing, and Compatibility

The page does not disclose pricing, subscription options, license terms, commercial usage rights, or copyright information for exported work, so pricing and licensing transparency is limited. The download link is explicitly marked as “unsigned,” which means installation on macOS may trigger security warnings and may affect some users’ trust. In terms of compatibility, it currently supports macOS only, and the author clearly states that Windows and Linux are not supported for now.

Pros, Cons, and Who It’s For

Its strength is its highly focused positioning: it targets bright, small-object planetary imaging rather than general-purpose photo editing. The workflow is complete and closely matches the pain points of Mac users. The drawbacks are its closed platform support and the lack of information on export formats, after-sales support, update mechanisms, and pricing. It is suitable for Mac-based planetary imaging enthusiasts, especially those who can already capture SER/RAW AVI videos and want to complete stacking and basic post-processing. It is not suitable for deep-sky imaging, landscape astrophotography, or users who need a cross-platform workflow.

Access from China and Alternatives

The page does not provide information about access from mainland China, payment methods, or mirror downloads, so China accessibility can only be marked as unknown. If direct access is unstable, users will need to test it themselves. Payment information is likewise not disclosed. Comparable alternatives include AutoStakkert!, RegiStax, AstroSurface, Siril, and PixInsight, some of which are more mature in Windows or cross-platform ecosystems.