Inside PixInsight

by Warren A. Keller

PixInsight has taken the astro-imaging world by storm. As the first comprehensive postprocessing platform to be created by astro-imagers for astro-imagers, it has for many replaced other generic graphics editors as the software of choice. PixInsight has been embraced by professionals such as the James Webb (and Hubble) Space Telescope's science imager Joseph DePasquale and Calar Alto's Vicent Peris, as well as thousands of amateurs around the world.

While PixInsight is extremely powerful, very little has been printed on the subject. The first edition of this book broke that mold, offering a comprehensive look into the software’s capabilities. This second edition expands on the several new processes added to the PixInsight platform since that time, detailing and demonstrating each one with a now-expanded workflow. Addressing topics such as PhotometricColorCalibration, Large-Scale Pixel Rejection, LocalNormalization and a host of other functions, this text remains the authoritative guide to PixInsight.

Genres: Astronomy

458 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 26, 2018

Reviews

[Erik · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book can potentially save imagers a lot of time attempting to learn Pixinsight from various resources online. He gives the basic technical details of the processes used so that they aren't blackboxes that you throw your frames into and hope something pretty comes out. Especially beneficial for me were his explanation of the HistogramTransform, Deconvolution, and MultiscaleLinearTransform (noise reduction). Sometimes the explanations assume a knowledge of the interface and the overall workflow is very thorough that it could make someone feel overwhelmed, so I think an absolute beginner should pair this book with basic workflow tutorials online initially. I'm looking forward to using this as a resource when I start imaging with a mono cmos.

[Brian Boyle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not bad, but not nearly as good as Braken's treatment of PixInsight in his Deep-Sky Imaging Primer.
Inside PixInsight is a misnomer because Keller doesn't dive into the guts of PixInsight, revealing what the routines actually do, rather he simply provides recipes. That is all well and good, but the description around the recipes are still a little scant, and don't really provide the reader with as much background as Bracken's book. Keller's suggestion to experiment is therefore all very well, but he really doesn't give enough information for the reader to experiment with confidence.

Frustratingly the summary of the post-processing process in the chapter at the end is actually different to the work flow laid out in the chapters early. This is a major - and rather unhelpful - inconsistency.

So while there are a few useful nuggets in here, overall a bit disappointing.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a book I was hoping to like better. To be hones, I usually don't like these sorts of books. They aim to teach you something but they end up glossing over too much material to be truly useful. Though, to be fair, this would probably have been better if I had the software in front of me to try while I was reading it. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

I may revisit this early net year when I do have the software in hand. Until then I can say that if you are hoping to familiarize yourself with PixInsight from the book but without yet having the software it won't help much.

[Christian Paley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some mistakes and outdated information but it got me going

[Dinko · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s genuinely difficult to give this book a fair rating. Much of its content revolves around PI features that have evolved significantly over time—particularly those tied to user interfaces—and by nature, this type of practical guide tends to age poorly. A deeper issue, however, is the book’s structure: it functions more as a collection of recipes and walkthroughs for specific scenarios rather than as a teaching resource. The author rarely explains the reasoning behind particular choices or compares alternatives, which limits the reader’s understanding. As a result, the book doesn’t truly teach; it merely presents what the author considers correct, offering little lasting educational value.

[Stacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The manual that PixInsight should have shipped with. I may order this as a printed book, it is that good.