Kaczorek wrote: I would say it's typical pitfall Exposed frames always look totally black before you shift histogram to right. No matter before or after stacking.
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Yes, I know.
I've been imaging for a few years already, just on Windows, had a 4 year break (other priorities) and I'm now starting again with the whole observatory control moved to Astroberry / KStars.
I've never used FITS files before though, only CR2.

I know that light frames are usually very dark. But not completely black.
When I load a CR2 file with the same exposure and everything else the same into DSS, I see the image. It is very dark indeed, but I do see stars and a hint of the galaxy / nebula. When I load the FITS it is completely black. No stars. Not even hot pixels.
The same for flats. When I load a CR2 flat in DSS, I see a rather light image with the gradient. When I load a FITS flat, I get a completely black image.

But since you guys have shown that there is actual data in these FITS, I'll just put it down to a difference in how DSS displays CR2 and FITS in the preview. Or something like that.
And I'll probably stick with CR2 for now.

Thanks for all your help. I've definitely learned something here.

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