+60ยฐ ฮฑ WIZ the Wizard’s Hat - circumpolar, visible all year

Free · open beta · Windows · Mac · Linux

Your telescope caught it.
AstroWizard finishes it.

Turn a stacked image from your Seestar, Dwarf, or any telescope into a finished astrophoto - nine guided steps, one obvious button at a time. No manuals. No jargon. No 40-hour learning curve.

Download for Windows AstroWizard.exe · 109 MB Download for macOS Apple Silicon · 64 MB · Intel build in Downloads below Download for Linux AstroWizard-Linux-x86_64.tar.gz · 130 MB

current build 7 October 2026 · you’ll always find the newest version on this page · main link busy? mirror links below

Now code-signed on every desktop: the Mac apps have been signed and notarised by Apple since 24 August, and since 2 September the Windows download carries a Microsoft-validated publisher signature - the same builds, signed. A brand-new Windows signature still has to earn SmartScreen’s trust, so for a while you may still see “Windows protected your PC”: click More info, then Run anyway. Every file is scanned clean and its checksum lives on the mirror page.

Really free. Really private.

The Wizard (Luke) believes the magic of astrophotography should be for everyone - and that privacy is a right to be enjoyed by all, too. AstroWizard is completely free to use: no ads, no tracking, no accounts, in the app or on this site. The only time the app ever touches the internet is a quick check of this page at startup for a newer build - and the off-switch is right there in Settings. Hosted, maintained and built with coin from the Wizard’s own coinpurse (my pocket), and it stays free for anyone who wants it.

The Wizard has been known to reach out and personally thank the kind folks who keep the coffers full, the hearth stoked and the potions brewing (I need the coffee). All silliness aside - AstroWizard is founded on, and maintained by, kindness - and kindness is honoured back: tips to the coinpurse are remembered for all time in The Wizard’s Fellowship; Patreon and channel members are celebrated regularly in video credits; anyone who’s bought an RC-Astro tool through the app’s links has tipped the coinpurse mightily - and all of you are welcome on the wall too, just say the word:

☕ Tip jar ⭐ Patreon ▶ Subscribe 🪄 The Fellowship

The whole process

Nine steps. In order. That’s the trick.

Astro processing isn’t hard - it’s just usually presented in the wrong order, all at once, in software built for experts. AstroWizard walks you through the same professional workflow one step at a time, with a live preview and an Undo for everything.

  1. Load your image
  2. Crop the edges
  3. Remove the gradient
  4. Balance the colour
  5. Sharpen
  6. Reduce noise
  7. The Big Stretch
  8. Make it beautiful
  9. Export & share

Downloads

Install in about a minute

AstroWizard is in open beta. The Windows and Mac downloads are code-signed now, so first launch is calmer than it used to be - but a young signature can still draw a cautious note from Windows the first time. Here’s exactly what to click. It only happens once.

Windows WINDOWS 10 / 11

Download for Windows

Main link busy? Use the Google Drive copy - same file, byte for byte.

  1. Download AstroWizard-Windows.exe - nothing to install, it just runs.
  2. If a blue box says “Windows protected your PC”: click More info, then Run anyway.
  3. That’s it. Load an image and follow Step 1.

First-time setup · 2 minutes

Open โš™๏ธ Settings & Help and point AstroWizard at your AI tools - they usually live here:

GraXpert:
C:\Users\<you>\AppData\Local\Programs\GraXpert\GraXpert.exe

RC-Astro:
C:\Program Files\RC-Astro\CLI\rc-astro.exe

StarNet2 (optional, free star removal): install from starnetastro.com - AstroWizard finds it automatically in the standard spot.

Then open GraXpert once on its own and run each tool - it downloads its AI models on first use.

Why a warning at all? The Windows build has been signed since 2 September with a Microsoft-validated certificate. SmartScreen still weighs how many people have run a signature before it trusts it fully, so a fresh one can draw a note for a while. The build on this page is always the official one.

macOS APPLE SILICON & INTEL

Download for macOS

Main link busy? Use the Google Drive copy - same file, byte for byte.

Download for Intel Macs2020 and earlier · same app, same steps

Intel link busy? Use the Google Drive copy - same file, byte for byte.

  1. Download AstroWizard-mac.zip and double-click to unzip.
  2. Open it. That is the whole thing - your Mac lets it straight in.
  3. Drag it to your Applications folder if you would like it to live there.

First-time setup · 2 minutes

Open โš™๏ธ Settings & Help and point AstroWizard at your AI tools:

GraXpert: just pick GraXpert.app in your Applications folder - AstroWizard finds the engine inside automatically.

RC-Astro: pick the single rc-astro file in /Applications/RC-Astro/CLI - one program runs all three tools.

StarNet2 (optional, free star removal): install the command-line version from starnetastro.com and AstroWizard finds it automatically.

Then open GraXpert once on its own and run each tool - it downloads its AI models on first use.

Signed with an Apple Developer ID and notarised by Apple since 24 August, with the approval ticket carried inside the app - so it opens even on a Mac with no internet. The old right-click dance is retired.

Linux X86_64 · NEW

Download for Linux

Main link busy? Use the Google Drive copy - same file, byte for byte.

  1. Download and extract: tar -xzf AstroWizard-Linux-x86_64.tar.gz (or right-click → Extract Here).
  2. Run AstroWizard/AstroWizard. Nothing to install.
  3. Something odd? Launch it from a terminal and paste what it prints into a YouTube comment, with your distro. That’s the report that gets it fixed.

First-time setup · 2 minutes

Open โš™๏ธ Settings & Help and point AstroWizard at your AI tools:

GraXpert: pick the .AppImage file itself (mark it executable first if needed).

RC-Astro: choose the rc-astro program from wherever its installer placed it. GPU acceleration on Linux currently needs NVIDIA; it runs on CPU otherwise.

StarNet2 (optional, free star removal): install the command-line version from starnetastro.com; AstroWizard checks the usual spots automatically.

Then open GraXpert once on its own and run each tool - it downloads its AI models on first use.

The newest build of the family - it compiles clean and boots clean, and Linux astro folk are hereby deputised as its test pilots. Expect rough edges; report them proudly.

The AI steps

Plays well with the professionals

For the heavy AI lifting, AstroWizard drives the same engines the experts use - point it at them once in Settings and the buttons light up.

FREE

GraXpert & StarNet2

GraXpert handles background gradient removal and AI denoising (open it once after installing so it fetches its models). StarNet2 - Mikita Misiura’s free neural net - handles star removal, so the whole star workflow now has a free path.

Get GraXpert →  ·  Get StarNet2 →

PAID · TRIAL AVAILABLE

RC-Astro - BlurX, NoiseX, StarX

The gold standard for sharpening, noise reduction, and star removal. These are affiliate links - buying through them supports AstroWizard at no extra cost to you.

Get the RC-Astro tools →

BUILT IN

Everything else

Stretching, colour balance, curves, narrowband palettes, star colour fixes - all native, all included, no extra installs.

Quick answers

Before you ask…

The five questions that cover 90% of the comment section.

What kind of computer do I need?
Windows 10 or 11, any Mac (Apple Silicon and Intel builds both provided), or Linux (x86-64). Older systems like Windows 7/8 can’t run it, sorry - the modern engine room won’t fit. Hardware-wise AstroWizard is not hungry: a modest machine is fine, and while the AI steps appreciate a decent graphics card, they run happily (just slower) on an ordinary CPU.
What files can I load?
Stacked FITS, TIFF or XISF from anything - Seestar, Dwarf, ASTAP, Siril, PixInsight, DeepSkyStacker. Yes, PixInsight’s native XISF walks straight in. AstroWizard figures out the format quirks (bit depth, pixel range, bloated headers) automatically. Stack first, then bring the result here.
I clicked a GraXpert button and nothing happened.
Open GraXpert itself once and run Background Extraction and Denoising one time each - it downloads its AI models on first use. After that, AstroWizard’s buttons work every time. (Recent builds will tell you this right in the console.)
The RC-Astro steps are slow on my machine.
Update the CLI: open a terminal and run rc-astro update --install. A bug that made some images take minutes was fixed in July 2026 - both by RC-Astro and inside AstroWizard itself. Still slow? The in-app console will say why.
Is it really free?
Really free. Not a trial, not “free until it gets popular” - free is the plan. Development runs on goodwill: a tip jar and a Patreon below if it makes you smile, and buying RC-Astro tools through the affiliate links here or in the app supports it at no cost to you.
My antivirus / Mac says it’s from an unidentified developer.
Both downloads are signed now - Windows since 2 September, Mac since 24 August - so that note is a young signature still earning trust, not a threat. See the install steps above, and only download AstroWizard from this page or the links in Lukomatico’s own videos.
“Too many users have viewed or downloaded this file”?
That’s Google Drive’s daily busy sign, not a problem on your end - on launch days the main links can hit Drive’s download limit. Use the mirror link under any download button above: same files, byte for byte, with published checksums. (Or simply try the main link again tomorrow.)

The Community Guide

A manual, written by the Fellowship

Two wizards from Germany, Detlef Se. (AstroCharly) and Herbert Sch., put together a guide to both apps - every step of AstroWizard and every stage of StackingWizard, in English and in German. Made with AI assistance, and now in its second edition: 35 pages, rewritten for the 18 September 2026 builds, True Colours and Beta 4.4. An official Handbook is coming later; until then, this is the map.

Download the guide - English (PDF, 6.4 MB)

Anleitung herunterladen - Deutsch (PDF, 6,4 MB)

The apps move fast: when a step looks different from the guide, the changelog tells the newer story.

Observing log

Latest from the workshop

Small releases, shipped often. Re-download any time - newer is always better here.

2026 · OCTOBER 7

StackingWizard Beta 4.7.1 - Moonrise

Moonrise is not cloud: the Looking Glass reads a frame’s grain against its own sky, so a clear night under a rising Moon keeps its frames. The same night stacked twice is the same stack, to the bit. A clean 16-bit bias is read right, the Handoff sends the mosaic, every page fits a laptop, and a ‘failed’ frame is judged like any other. Get the beta →

2026 · OCTOBER 7

AstroWizard: Clear Eyes

Sharper on screen: the canvas is drawn with a finer filter, so the stars you see are the stars you saved. Star-True Colours no longer gives up on burnt-out stars or on older drizzled stacks, the Native High-Pass digs no moat round bright stars and gains a Custom mode, and a second press on a running engine does no harm. The wall rides at 1341 wizards.

2026 · OCTOBER 5

StackingWizard Beta 4.7 - Vanishing Act

Bright plane and satellite trails are found and left out: every frame is read for a trail, the Looking Glass marks it in gold, and only the trail’s own pixels sit out of the stack. Big walks no longer lose frames to ‘would not settle’, and every left-out frame says why. A box on the sketch before the vote, two filters on a colour camera as two stacks, NINA’s .fits.fz, and a drizzled stack that knows its own pixel scale. Get the beta →

Full changelog - every release, in plain English →