Digital Stacking Of Short Exposures To Improve Photometric Accuracy And Extend Dynamic Range Of Panoramic Detectors Used In Astronomical Imagery

The technique of registering and stacking (averaging) digitized images is evaluated for multiobject stellar photometry. Despite the deleterious effect of adding noise during microdensitometry, we achieve improved dynamic range, improved resolution, and (by effectively correlating the exposures) an image which is actually cosmetically superior to a single exposure of equivalent duration.