Software

Removing gradients from astrophotos gets easier with GraXpert

Friday, May 10, 2024

GraXpert, a new open-source tool, offers a seamless solution for gradient removal in deep-sky photos. Developed by hobbyists for hobbyists, it's free and accessible across Windows, Linux, and macOS. The project emerged from the Dark Matters Discord community to provide beginners and experts high-quality results.

As an astrophotographer, I've always found the process of removing gradients from my images to be incredibly frustrating. These gradients, often caused by light pollution, can overshadow the beauty of the night sky, making editing a tedious necessity. Thankfully, the new tool from GraXpert aims to simplify this task. It's designed to efficiently clear away these unwanted gradients, allowing photographers like me to focus more on capturing the cosmos and less on post-processing headaches.

Developed under the BSD-3 license, GraXpert offers its source code and binary releases for Windows (10+), Linux (tested on Ubuntu 20.04), and macOS (10.15+) via GitHub. You can download it directly from the official releases page or find out more about the licensing on their GitHub page.

GraXpert, a new, free, and open-source tool for gradient removal in deep sky photos

GraXpert was born from the creative minds of hobbyists in the Dark Matters Discord community, with Frank Sackenheim leading the concept alongside Steffen and Christian. Sackenheim, a German astrophotographer, envisioned an affordable gradient removal tool for beginners, and the team transformed the idea into reality within just three months. Their dedication to quality led to this initial RC1 release, and they eagerly welcome user feedback and shared results.

To support the user community, Sackenheim has set up a comprehensive website offering detailed resources. Here, users can find video tutorials in English and German, a written user manual, and direct download links for the software.

Astrophotographers can also engage with the creators and other hobbyists through the Dark Matters Discord community, which maintains channels specifically for GraXpert. Conversations happen in both English and German, providing a welcoming space for feedback and collaboration.

Those interested in reporting bugs, suggesting features, or even contributing to the tool's development can access the GitHub project linked above.

Graxpert excels in isolating celestial objects by effectively removing background gradients

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Astronomy Picture of the Day

2026-04-05

NGC 3310: A Starburst Spiral Galaxy

Image Credit: AAO ITSO Office, Gemini Obs./AURA & T. A. Rector (U. Alaska Anchorage)

The party is still going on in spiral galaxy NGC 3310. Roughly 100 million years ago, NGC 3310 likely collided with a smaller galaxy causing the large spiral galaxy to light up with a tremendous burst of star formation. The changing gravity during the collision created density waves that compressed existing clouds of gas and triggered the star-forming party. The featured image from the Gemini North Telescope shows the galaxy in great detail, color-coded so that pink highlights gas while white and blue highlight stars. Some of the star clusters in the galaxy are quite young, indicating that starburst galaxies may remain in star-burst mode for quite some time. NGC 3310 spans about 50,000 light years, lies about 50 million light years away, and is visible with a small telescope towards the constellation of Great Bear Ursa Major.