Star Alignment Fails

[sreilly]

I've got 110 900 second frames loaded that have been calibrated and cosmetic corrected and when load as usual I get failure of all but the file being used for alignment. These same frames in another program align just fine. I reset the settings in case something got corrupted but no joy. Something is very amiss. Years of using PI has never had this failure. PI is current and has been since it's last update. I closed Pi, reopened and tried again, no joy. I rebooted the system and no joy. I'll try on another computer but this just happened. I ran PI without issue yesterday and successfully aligned over 300 images......I tired a smaller stack and same results message below.


StarAlignment: Global context
Loading reference image:
I:/David_SRO/Filters/ARP273/CC/900/ARP273-20191027@034453-900S-Luminance-PA004-E-T-20_c_cc.xisf
Loading image: w=4096 h=4096 n=1 Gray Float32
154 FITS keyword(s) extracted.
Structure map: done
Detecting stars: done
Fitting 1707 stars: done
503 PSF fits.

Registration of 6 target files.
* Using 6 worker threads.
[000] I:/David_SRO/Filters/ARP273/CC/900/ARP273-20191027@034453-900S-Luminance-PA004-E-T-20_c_cc.xisf
[001] I:/David_SRO/Filters/ARP273/CC/900/ARP273-20191027@040043-900S-Luminance-PA004-E-T-20_c_cc.xisf
[002] I:/David_SRO/Filters/ARP273/CC/900/ARP273-20191027@041637-900S-Luminance-PA004-E-T-20_c_cc.xisf
[003] I:/David_SRO/Filters/ARP273/CC/900/ARP273-20191027@043228-900S-Luminance-PA004-E-T-20_c_cc.xisf
[004] I:/David_SRO/Filters/ARP273/CC/900/ARP273-20191027@045047-900S-Luminance-PA004-E-T-20_c_cc.xisf
[005] I:/David_SRO/Filters/ARP273/CC/900/ARP273-20191027@050641-900S-Luminance-PA004-E-T-20_c_cc.xisf

* Waiting for running tasks to terminate...

Loading target file:
I:/David_SRO/Filters/ARP273/CC/900/ARP273-20191027@041637-900S-Luminance-PA004-E-T-20_c_cc.xisf
Loading image: w=4096 h=4096 n=1 Gray Float32
154 FITS keyword(s) extracted.
Structure map: done
Detecting stars: done
Fitting 1746 stars: done
788 PSF fits.
Matching stars: done
210 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #2
useScaleDifferences=true
Matching stars: done
171 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #3
useScaleDifferences=false
* Reference image: Limiting to 250 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 250 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
86 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #4
useScaleDifferences=true
* Reference image: Limiting to 250 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 250 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
71 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #5
useScaleDifferences=false
* Reference image: Limiting to 125 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 125 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
44 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #6
useScaleDifferences=true
* Reference image: Limiting to 125 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 125 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
41 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #7
useScaleDifferences=false
* Reference image: Limiting to 60 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 60 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
26 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #8
useScaleDifferences=true
* Reference image: Limiting to 60 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 60 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
23 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #9
useScaleDifferences=false
* Reference image: Limiting to 30 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 30 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
17 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #10
useScaleDifferences=true
* Reference image: Limiting to 30 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 30 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
*** 5 star pair matches found - need at least six matched stars.
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #11
useScaleDifferences=false
* Reference image: Limiting to 15 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 15 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
*** 0 star pair matches found - need at least six matched stars.
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #12
useScaleDifferences=true
* Reference image: Limiting to 15 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 15 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
*** 0 star pair matches found - need at least six matched stars.
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #13
useScaleDifferences=false
* Reference image: Limiting to 8 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 8 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
*** 0 star pair matches found - need at least six matched stars.
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #14
useScaleDifferences=true
* Reference image: Limiting to 8 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 8 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
*** 0 star pair matches found - need at least six matched stars.
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #15
useScaleDifferences=false
* Reference image: Limiting to 500 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 500 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
170 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #16
useScaleDifferences=true
* Reference image: Limiting to 500 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 500 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
142 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done

*** Error:
*** Error: Unable to find an initial set of putative star pair matches.

* Applying error policy: Continue on error.
Loading target file:
I:/David_SRO/Filters/ARP273/CC/900/ARP273-20191027@034453-900S-Luminance-PA004-E-T-20_c_cc.xisf
Loading image: w=4096 h=4096 n=1 Gray Float32
154 FITS keyword(s) extracted.
Structure map: done
Detecting stars: done
Fitting 1707 stars:
503 PSF fits.
Matching stars: done
503 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
503 star pair matches in 12 RANSAC iterations.
* Summary of model properties:
Inliers       : 1.000
Overlapping   : 1.000
Regularity    : 0.983
Quality       : 0.996
Root mean square error:
delta_RMS     :  0.000 px
RMS error deviation:
sigma_RMS     :  0.000 px
Peak errors:
delta_x_max   :  0.000 px
delta_y_max   :  0.000 px
* Projective transformation matrix:
     +1.000000     -0.000000     +0.000000
     +0.000000     +1.000000     +0.000000
     +0.000000     -0.000000     +1.000000
translation   :      0.00 px
translation_x :     +0.00 px
translation_y :     +0.00 px
rotation      :     +0.00 deg
scale         : 1.000
scale_x       : 1.000
scale_y       : 1.000
Generating registered image
Homographic Projection / Lanczos-3 interpolation, c=0.30: done
Registration successful.
Writing output file: I:/David_SRO/Filters/ARP273/PI/900/ARP273-20191027@034453-900S-Luminance-PA004-E-T-20_c_cc_r.xisf
* File already exists, writing to: I:/David_SRO/Filters/ARP273/PI/900/ARP273-20191027@034453-900S-Luminance-PA004-E-T-20_c_cc_r_3.xisf
Writing image: w=4096 h=4096 n=1 Gray Float32
175 FITS keyword(s) embedded.
6 image properties embedded.

Loading target file:
I:/David_SRO/Filters/ARP273/CC/900/ARP273-20191027@050641-900S-Luminance-PA004-E-T-20_c_cc.xisf
Loading image: w=4096 h=4096 n=1 Gray Float32
154 FITS keyword(s) extracted.
Structure map: done
Detecting stars: done
Fitting 1912 stars: done
839 PSF fits.
Matching stars: done
215 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #2
useScaleDifferences=true
Matching stars: done
183 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #3
useScaleDifferences=false
* Reference image: Limiting to 250 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 250 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
87 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #4
useScaleDifferences=true
* Reference image: Limiting to 250 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 250 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
68 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #5
useScaleDifferences=false
* Reference image: Limiting to 125 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 125 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
48 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #6
useScaleDifferences=true
* Reference image: Limiting to 125 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 125 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
46 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #7
useScaleDifferences=false
* Reference image: Limiting to 60 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 60 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
23 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #8
useScaleDifferences=true
* Reference image: Limiting to 60 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 60 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
17 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #9
useScaleDifferences=false
* Reference image: Limiting to 30 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 30 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
15 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #10
useScaleDifferences=true
* Reference image: Limiting to 30 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 30 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
*** 5 star pair matches found - need at least six matched stars.
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #11
useScaleDifferences=false
* Reference image: Limiting to 15 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 15 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
*** 0 star pair matches found - need at least six matched stars.
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #12
useScaleDifferences=true
* Reference image: Limiting to 15 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 15 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
*** 0 star pair matches found - need at least six matched stars.
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #13
useScaleDifferences=false
* Reference image: Limiting to 8 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 8 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
*** 0 star pair matches found - need at least six matched stars.
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #14
useScaleDifferences=true
* Reference image: Limiting to 8 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 8 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
*** 0 star pair matches found - need at least six matched stars.
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #15
useScaleDifferences=false
* Reference image: Limiting to 500 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 500 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
169 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #16
useScaleDifferences=true
* Reference image: Limiting to 500 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 500 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
154 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done

*** Error:
*** Error: Unable to find an initial set of putative star pair matches.

* Applying error policy: Continue on error.
Loading target file:
I:/David_SRO/Filters/ARP273/CC/900/ARP273-20191027@043228-900S-Luminance-PA004-E-T-20_c_cc.xisf
Loading image: w=4096 h=4096 n=1 Gray Float32
154 FITS keyword(s) extracted.
Structure map: done
Detecting stars: done
Fitting 1781 stars:
550 PSF fits.
Matching stars: done
183 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #2
useScaleDifferences=true
Matching stars: done
165 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #3
useScaleDifferences=false
* Reference image: Limiting to 250 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 250 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
93 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #4
useScaleDifferences=true
* Reference image: Limiting to 250 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 250 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
93 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #5
useScaleDifferences=false
* Reference image: Limiting to 125 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 125 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
46 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #6
useScaleDifferences=true
* Reference image: Limiting to 125 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 125 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
40 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #7
useScaleDifferences=false
* Reference image: Limiting to 60 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 60 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
22 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #8
useScaleDifferences=true
* Reference image: Limiting to 60 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 60 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
12 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #9
useScaleDifferences=false
* Reference image: Limiting to 30 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 30 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
10 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #10
useScaleDifferences=true
* Reference image: Limiting to 30 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 30 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
*** 0 star pair matches found - need at least six matched stars.
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #11
useScaleDifferences=false
* Reference image: Limiting to 15 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 15 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
*** 0 star pair matches found - need at least six matched stars.
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #12
useScaleDifferences=true
* Reference image: Limiting to 15 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 15 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
*** 0 star pair matches found - need at least six matched stars.
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #13
useScaleDifferences=false
* Reference image: Limiting to 8 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 8 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
*** 0 star pair matches found - need at least six matched stars.
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #14
useScaleDifferences=true
* Reference image: Limiting to 8 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 8 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
*** 0 star pair matches found - need at least six matched stars.
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #15
useScaleDifferences=false
* Reference image: Limiting to 500 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 500 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
162 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #16
useScaleDifferences=true
* Reference image: Limiting to 500 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 500 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
153 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done

*** Error:
*** Error: Unable to find an initial set of putative star pair matches.

* Applying error policy: Continue on error.
Loading target file:
I:/David_SRO/Filters/ARP273/CC/900/ARP273-20191027@040043-900S-Luminance-PA004-E-T-20_c_cc.xisf
Loading image: w=4096 h=4096 n=1 Gray Float32
154 FITS keyword(s) extracted.
Structure map: done
Detecting stars: done
Fitting 1745 stars:
472 PSF fits.
Matching stars: done
168 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #2
useScaleDifferences=true
Matching stars: done
144 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #3
useScaleDifferences=false
* Reference image: Limiting to 250 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 250 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
98 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #4
useScaleDifferences=true
* Reference image: Limiting to 250 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 250 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
86 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #5
useScaleDifferences=false
* Reference image: Limiting to 125 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 125 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
34 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #6
useScaleDifferences=true
* Reference image: Limiting to 125 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 125 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
34 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #7
useScaleDifferences=false
* Reference image: Limiting to 60 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 60 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
21 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #8
useScaleDifferences=true
* Reference image: Limiting to 60 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 60 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
6 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #9
useScaleDifferences=false
* Reference image: Limiting to 30 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 30 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
15 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #10
useScaleDifferences=true
* Reference image: Limiting to 30 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 30 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
*** 0 star pair matches found - need at least six matched stars.
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #11
useScaleDifferences=false
* Reference image: Limiting to 15 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 15 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
*** 0 star pair matches found - need at least six matched stars.
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #12
useScaleDifferences=true
* Reference image: Limiting to 15 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 15 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
*** 0 star pair matches found - need at least six matched stars.
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #13
useScaleDifferences=false
* Reference image: Limiting to 8 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 8 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
*** 0 star pair matches found - need at least six matched stars.
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #14
useScaleDifferences=true
* Reference image: Limiting to 8 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 8 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
*** 0 star pair matches found - need at least six matched stars.
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #15
useScaleDifferences=false
* Reference image: Limiting to 500 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
159 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #16
useScaleDifferences=true
* Reference image: Limiting to 500 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
155 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done

*** Error:
*** Error: Unable to find an initial set of putative star pair matches.

* Applying error policy: Continue on error.
Loading target file:
I:/David_SRO/Filters/ARP273/CC/900/ARP273-20191027@045047-900S-Luminance-PA004-E-T-20_c_cc.xisf
Loading image: w=4096 h=4096 n=1 Gray Float32
154 FITS keyword(s) extracted.
Structure map: done
Detecting stars: done
Fitting 1883 stars:
615 PSF fits.
Matching stars: done
193 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #2
useScaleDifferences=true
Matching stars: done
171 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #3
useScaleDifferences=false
* Reference image: Limiting to 250 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 250 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
92 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #4
useScaleDifferences=true
* Reference image: Limiting to 250 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 250 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
76 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #5
useScaleDifferences=false
* Reference image: Limiting to 125 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 125 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
38 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #6
useScaleDifferences=true
* Reference image: Limiting to 125 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 125 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
38 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #7
useScaleDifferences=false
* Reference image: Limiting to 60 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 60 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
22 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #8
useScaleDifferences=true
* Reference image: Limiting to 60 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 60 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
9 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #9
useScaleDifferences=false
* Reference image: Limiting to 30 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 30 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
14 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #10
useScaleDifferences=true
* Reference image: Limiting to 30 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 30 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
11 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #11
useScaleDifferences=false
* Reference image: Limiting to 15 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 15 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
*** 0 star pair matches found - need at least six matched stars.
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #12
useScaleDifferences=true
* Reference image: Limiting to 15 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 15 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
*** 0 star pair matches found - need at least six matched stars.
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #13
useScaleDifferences=false
* Reference image: Limiting to 8 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 8 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
*** 0 star pair matches found - need at least six matched stars.
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #14
useScaleDifferences=true
* Reference image: Limiting to 8 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 8 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
*** 0 star pair matches found - need at least six matched stars.
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #15
useScaleDifferences=false
* Reference image: Limiting to 500 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 500 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
167 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done
* Previous attempt failed - this is try #16
useScaleDifferences=true
* Reference image: Limiting to 500 brightest stars.
* Target image: Limiting to 500 brightest stars.
Matching stars: done
147 putative star pair matches.
Performing RANSAC: done

*** Error:
*** Error: Unable to find an initial set of putative star pair matches.

* Applying error policy: Continue on error.

===== StarAlignment: 1 succeeded, 5 failed, 0 skipped =====
18.462 s

[sreilly]

Glade I didn't attache the report for the 110 images.......

[sreilly]

OK this gets freakier. I took some images that were processed with my home telescope setup yesterday and aligned them after this failure with the SRO telescope data set just processed. That sample of 15 images aligned just find so it's not in the settings. I then took the 56 luminance images and loaded them in Blink and used histogram stretch on those then ran blink on them. The center of the galaxies are all centered with a little jumping due to dithering so what's missing. Is the same calibration process I've used forever all of a sudden not writing crucial information needed for star alignment. I looked at several fits headers and they all contain RA/DEC data. I re-ran the full list again and got r that aligned. 5 out of the 56 that all that should have easily solved. Something is amiss and it seems to be with this data set. I just aligned the raw, uncalibrated set and got 31 aligned and 25 failed. Something is very weird and it isn't Halloween yet.

Any suggestions?

[John_Gill]

Hi,

I have had similar issues with some images.  According to the "Grand Master" the SA processes has been tightened-up and is more robust. If the stars are a bit out of focus, it can generate this problem.  You can try one or some of these settings for SA:
Star Matching - RANSAC tolerance 7.00
Star Detection - Log sensitivity -1.00
Star Detection - Noise reduction 2 or 3
Star Detection - Detection scales 3

If you still have no joy, there is an earlier post of mine "A mosaic of a mosaic not aligning" and Juan gives some other setting that you may want to try...

space is not black
John

[sreilly]

I'll give that a try thanks.

[sreilly]

Well that wasn't working well. I'm sorry but star alignment was working well and now it isn't. That doesn't feel like an improvement at all. If I need to reinstall an earlier version to get functionality back I guess that's what I'll need to do or use another program to get around this. Of course that means I have to convert my images aback to Fits because as far as I can see no one uses the XSIF format. I probably sound a bit peeved but after having issues with Windows 10 updates I feel like I'm losing control over my own computer. 

John I do appreciate the reply and suggestions. This makes two sets of data that I'm having serious issues with and don't have the time to chase down this sort of problems. Juan what gives? What do I need to do to get back to where I was?

[John_Gill]

Hi,

Upload an image that has failed and I will have a look ... maybe we find the issue...

John

[Juan Conejero]

Hi Steve,

Detecting stars: done
Fitting 1745 stars:
472 PSF fits.

The new version of StarAlignment performs PSF fits for all detected stars by default (I have reverted this behavior in version 1.8.8). For some reason (bad focus is the most likely cause) stars cannot be fitted well in these images. Do the following:

- In StarAlignment, open the Star Detection section.

- In Compute PSF fits, select Never.

- Make sure you have Projective Transformation selected as Registration model (since distortion correction requires PSF fits to work reliably).

Your images should be aligned without problems with these changes, modulo other issues, that is.

[sreilly]

John/Juan,

I did a deep dive on the data and while it was indeed all reasonably near considering dithering I did find that the past few days data was soft on focus. I also discovered that focus was failing in the automated imaging process. ACP was calling for focus but focus was being attempted but failing due to my having installed a recent version of FocusMax and somehow the focuser not being configured for the RoboFocus driver. So, yes it's my fault and I apologize for the mini rant. I've just gotten so use to Windows 10 updates messing with programs and so forth that I was at my wits end. My home computers other than laptop and observatory are Windoze 10 Pro. The computers in my observatory aren't Windoze 10 but rather Windows 7 Pro and the time is fast coming that the new ones will need to be and that won't be fun.  But no matter, nor reason to react here.

The focusing issue is resolved and I should have sharper images that will again easily align. I've attached a screen capture that shows an older image (left) compared to one taken last night (right) after FocusMax was corrected. The solution is to have the data set taken again.