Image Processing 

So for each target we have lots of the images which are all of the same area of sky.  Image processing involves adding together all these individual images, this has the effect of increasing the target signal (or details) and reducing background noise (or interference). This additive process is called 'Stacking' or 'Integration'; and is referred to as the image 'Pre-Processing' stage.

Again there are software available designed for this process, such as; Deep Sky Stacker, Astro Pixel Processor, the software I use is Pixinsight. 

Once we have obtained our single integrated image of our target, we now need to process it further to enhance details and further reduce background noise. This process is referred to as the image 'Post-Processing' stage. Again there is a wide choice of software programmes available to help us with image post-processing; these programmes may be general photography editing programmes or  may have been designed specifically for astrophotography. I use a combination of both Pixinsight and Adobe Photoshop.

The images below show the evolution from a single image, the combined integrated image and final processed image.