Same RegiStax Test A wavelets across Saturn nights (2021-2026)
Compare October 18 versus October 21 or October 23 using the exact same RegiStax Test A -20 native processing. The Saturn ring span is matched on screen in every selection, both comparison windows have identical dimensions, and all archived nights can be leveled to the Oct 18 ring position angle for easier comparison.
Unchanged data: AutoStakkert 4 best 10%, drizzle 1.5x, native RegiStax 6 wavelets 25.2 / 15.8 / 7.2 / 0.9 / 0.9 / 0.9. No Topaz, Gold Mid, extra denoising or ring whitening. Oct 7 (AS3, P10), Oct 19 (AS4, P10), Oct 20 (AS4, P10), Oct 21 (AS4, P10), and 2021 (AS3, P28) have been reprocessed in real RegiStax 6 with the identical saved Test A .rwv. The 2021 P28 stack percentage is different, and 2021 rings were intrinsically more open. Native 16-bit TIFFs and original tone are preserved, with angle/scale matched only for display.
Comparison view
Left capture
Right capture
Why this is a fairer test: Both views have the same physical display window, Saturn is centered, and ring width is matched. The underlying captures still have different atmospheric seeing, ROI sizes and pixel sampling. All available historical dates can be rotated to match the Oct18 ring position angle, without changing wavelets or color. Turn off the angle checkbox to view each original tilt; the downloadable PNG/TIFF files are always untouched. Use the native TIFFs if you want to inspect actual pixel structure.
RGB-BALANCED APPLE-TO-APPLE STANDARD: Every capture now gets the same neutral-main-ring RGB white-balance algorithm after the identical native RegiStax Test A -20 wavelets. Each uses a measured per-capture blue/red gain relative to unchanged green, neutralizing white ring wings (including 2021). This is a reproducible post-RegiStax neutral-ring calibration, not a claim that RegiStax GUI Auto RGB Balance was applied, and it applies no denoise, wavelets, sharpening or color grading. Uncheck Consistent RGB balance to inspect the untouched original color. Both original and RGB-balanced 16-bit TIFFs are downloadable.
2021 DATE CORRECTION: The available 2021 baseline is a genuine August 24, 2021 capture (03:55 UT; AS3 P28). It is not your requested good August 10 image. August 10 source data has not been located, so that date has NOT been substituted, relabeled, or fabricated. August 24 remains selectable only as an explicitly named archive comparison until an August 10 original stack or SER is provided.
Historic notes: All 15 available captures use the exact Test A -20 RegiStax wavelet file. The October 19 unsharpened source TIFFs were losslessly converted from LZW compressed format to uncompressed RGB16 because RegiStax misread the original compression; the source pixel arrays are identical. October 7 uses AutoStakkert 3 P10, and 2021 uses AS3 P28, so those two are same-wavelets comparisons, not same-stacking-method comparisons. The ring opening differs physically in 2021; rotation does not change Saturn's geometry.