Stark Labs provides software for amateur astrophotographers designed to be simple and easy to use. They are designed to be user-friendly and to make capturing your images as easy as possible while still providing the flexibility and power you need. Nobody likes standing outside in a cold field, spending time with gloves off fighting with an awkward user-interface.  I know.  I've done this. At the same time, nobody wants a program that is simple to use, but too limited to be of real use. Here, you'll find Nebulosity, a cross-platform capture and processing application designed to give you powerful, purpose-built tools for DSO image capture and processing - the tools you really need to produce fantastic images. You'll also find a wide range of free utilities like PHD Guiding that make astrophotography easier and more enjoyable.



Looking for help using the software or for the FAQ?
Remember to also check out the Stark Labs Astrophotography Software user group (run by users and for users)!

In the News:
- November 2011: Nebulosity used to process images from NASA's Deep Impact Flyby EPOXI spacecraft
- October 19, 2011: Full release of Nebulosity 2.5
- July 2011: Full release of PHD 1.13
- May 29, 20011: Come hear Craig lead the Premium Astrophotography Workshop at RTMC
- March 2011: Full release of Nebulosity 2.4
- May 2010: Full releases of both PHD Guiding and Nebulosity
- Craig’s series, Fishing for Photons, is now up on Cloudy Nights. This regular column covers a wide range of astro-imaging topics. PDF printable reprints are available on the Articles section.
- Congratulations to Dale Martin for his Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) shot covering the Horsehead and Orion nebulas. The shot was guided with PHD Guiding and images were taken with and initial processing done in Nebulosity, running on a Mac.
- Congratulations to Dave Adshead for his fantastic Rosette Nebula shot, selected as the Picture of the Month in the April issue of the UK magazine, Astronomy Now. The shot was guided with PHD Guiding and images were taken with and initial processing done in Nebulosity.
- PHD Guiding - Reader’s Choice Gear of the Year for 2008 on Cloudy Nights
- Nebulosity - called "a certified 'Best Buy' for image capture and processing". Read the full review by David Snay for Astronomy Technology Today
- PHD Guiding - #1 ranked guiding software in the 2007 AstroPhoto Insight survey.

Dale Martin and Dave Adshead's winning shots

Dale_APODAdshead_090124_Rosette_Neb_DPP

Image from NASA's EPOXI Deep Impact Flyby spacecraft
MF1_MRI_SF1_Clear_SN2011dh

What's so cool about this image of M51? It's a nice image for sure, but what sets it apart from most is that it wasn't taken from Earth. It was taken from a spacecraft designed to study the nucleus of Comet Hartley 2 by Spacecraft Team Chief Steve Wissler who wanted to see what else the camera could do. Guess what he used to process the images? Nebulosity!

Software Updates:
- 1/24/12: Nebulosity 2.5.3 in pre-release. Bug fixes.
- 1/10/12: PHD 1.13.3 in pre-release. Load/save settings, EQMac support, Mac Firewire update
- 1/2/12: Nebulosity 2.5.2 in pre-release. Bug fixes - Feature-freeze before Nebulosity 3.
- 12/11/11: Nebulosity 2.5.1 in pre-release. BPM and Multi-pproc enhancements, LibRaw update, bug fixes, and more.
- 10/19/11: Nebulosity 2.5 released. Full release with everything from 2.4.1 (March 2011) until now.
- 9/28/11: Nebulosity 2.4.7 in pre-release. Bug fixes (QSI and Meade DSI III, Pixel Stats) and Atik shutter.
- 9/22/11: PHD 1.13.2 in pre-release. Long-exposure webcam fix, Orion SSAG Mac update
- 8/28/11: Nebulosity 2.4.6 in pre-release. QSI update, HFR speedup, and bug fixes.
- 8/16/11: Nebulosity 2.4.5 in pre-release. SBIG, Atik and ASCOM updates, UI tweaks, multi-threading and bug fixes.
- 7/30/11: PHD 1.13.1 in pre-release. Orion SSAG Mac, SBIG STi, ASCOM 6 and several bug fixes
- 7/11/11: PHD 1.13 released
- 5/21/11: Nebulosity 2.4.4 in pre-release. Canon T3i support, bug fixes.
- 4/17/11: PHD 1.12.4 in pre-release. Starfish update (Win), dither scaling, saving star images as FITS, bug fixes
- 4/17/11: Nebulosity 2.4.3 in pre-release. EXIF data pulled from Canon, SetTEC script, actual Moravian shutter fix, and other bug fixes.
- 4/12/11: Nebulosity 2.4.2 in pre-release. Starfish updates (Win), PHD pause update, Moravian shutter fix, and new build setup for Windows (hope not too much broken!)
- 4/3/11: Nebulosity 2.4.1 in pre-release. Fix to Mac PHD/Neb link & Batch split color tool
- 3/23/11: Nebulosity 2.4 released. Full release with everything from 2.3.1 (May 2010) until now.
- 3/5/11: Nebulosity 2.3.8 re-posted.
- 3/3/11: Nebulosity 2.3.8 in pre-release. This is a "release candidate" for 2.4. Bug fixes.
- 1/27/11: Nebulosity 2.3.7 in pre-release. Canon LiveView, local CR2 save, and Windows download speed enhancements. Zoom/slider control during image manipulation and other tweaks.
- 12/18/10: Nebulosity 2.3.6a in pre-release. Canon fixes - verified on 60D and XSi/450D
- 11/29/10: Nebulosity 2.3.6 in pre-release. Canon 2.9 library for 60D support, focus bits, Opticstar 615C, CaptureSingle command, and bug fixes.
- 11/7/10: PHD 1.12.3 in pre-release. Windows build with ASCOM camera updates: Late-binding cams, subframe mode, and remembering them in the Chooser
- 10/18/10: Nebulosity 2.3.5 in pre-release. ASCOM "late binding" camera support (v4-v6 platform), bug fixes, 32-bit TIFF
- 9/17/10: Nebulosity 2.3.4 in pre-release. Starlight Xpress updates, bug fixes on orientation
- 8/25/10: Nebulosity 2.3.3 in pre-release. Moravian G2/G3 support, remote control via sockets, crosshair and orientation toggle, bug fixes
- 8/21/10: PHD 1.12.2 in pre-release. RA/Dec grid, dither in RA only, fixes to star mass change tolerance
- 8/21/10: DSLR Shutter 1.11 released. Fixed timing on serial port adapters to be more reliable on some cams
- 7/1/10: Rigel Focus 1.0 released: Mac focus controller for Rigel Systems usb-nFocus.
- 7/1/10: Nebulosity 2.3.2 in pre-release. Bug fixes and support for EOS 1D Mk IV
- 6/12/10: DSLR Shutter 1.10 moved from pre-release to main release (long overdue)
- 6/12/10: PHD 1.12.1 in pre-release. Max RA duration, meridian vector flip, star mass change tolerance
- 6/6/10: Nebulosity 2.3.1 in pre-release. Blink tool and fixed support for 7D
- 5/16/10: Nebulosity 2.3 released. Full release with everything from 2.2.1 (November 2009) until now.
- 5/2/10: PHD 1.12 released
- Walkthrough on using noise reduction in Nebulosity (with GREYCstoration) posted to the tutorials page.