Night sky timelapses: Removing satelites from your shots

Guest post by Mattia Bicchi,
Timelapse & Hyperlapse Atrist
Night sky timelapses are awe-inspiring, capturing the beautiful movement of stars across the sky, from the Milky Way's rise and set to the slow dance of constellations. Compressing hours of shooting into seconds, these timelapses provide a glimpse of the universe in motion. To capture this magic, you need specialized equipment, location planning, and most importantly, patience! Typically, I use a Sony A7RIII paired with a Sigma 14-24 f/2.8 lens for these projects. The high ISO performance and Neat Video's noise reduction are indispensable in creating a clean, crisp timelapse. If you're lucky enough to find a location far from city lights or at high altitudes, the views are breathtakingly beautiful.
The Problem of Satellites in Night Sky Timelapse
One of the biggest issues that has plagued night sky timelapse astrophotography in recent years is the ever-growing number of satellites. While satellites may seem fascinating when you watch them pass overhead, they can be a major distraction in a timelapse video. Due to the long exposure times—20 seconds or more per shot—satellites create long, visible trails that crisscross your timelapse, detracting from the beauty of the stars. For many night photographers and timelapse creators, removing satellite trails from timelapse videos has become a necessity.
Past Solutions Tried for Removing Satellite Trails
In the past 10 years of creating night sky timelapses, I've noticed an increasing number of satellites appearing in my shots. Removing them has become very time consuming.
Before using Neat Video, I would manually go frame by frame to delete the satellite trails—a technique that could take hours, sometimes even days. At one point, I stopped caring because there were just too many, and it wasn’t worth the time.
I also tried another technique, one I typically use to remove birds from timelapses (which are also quite annoying!). This method involved duplicating the layer, moving the second layer one frame forward, and changing the blend mode on the first layer to 'lighten.' Unfortunately, this didn’t work. I then tried the 'darken' blend mode, which seemed to work but blurred the sky too much, so I gave up and accepted the satellites as part of the scene.
Old method: Step 1. Duplicate the layer
Old method: Step 2. Move the second layer one frame forward
Old method: Step 3. Set the blend mode on the first layer to 'Lighten.'
Old method: Step 3 (alternative). Set the blend mode on the first layer to 'Darken.'
Why Neat Video is the Best Tool for Removing Satellites from Night Sky Timelapse
Then, one day, while using Neat Video to reduce noise and grain from my timelapse (something I've done for the past 10 years), I had a dust spot in the sky. I noticed Neat Video had an option to remove "Dust and Scratches," so I gave it a try. To my surprise, not only did it remove the dust spot, but with one click, it removed 90% of the satellites in my timelapse! I was shocked—what used to take me hours now took just one click.
I tested it on another timelapse that had lots of small satellites passing through, and once again, it removed them all. I was ecstatic!
I couldn’t believe that this feature, designed to remove dust, could help make my night sky timelapses look more professional and clean.
Since that day, I’ve always used it—it was a game changer for me.
My Workflow for Removing Satellites in Timelapse
Using Neat Video within After Effects is straightforward:
1. Import your 8K, full-resolution timelapse file.
2. Apply Neat Video’s plugin.
3. In the menu, choose "Prepare" and let Auto Profile handle the de-noising.
5. Navigate to "Dust and Scratches" in the settings and enable it.
6. For small satellites, the default settings work, but for larger trails, switch to Advanced Mode and adjust the "Aggressive" setting.
With a few tweaks, Neat Video can even help remove airplane trails without compromising shooting stars in the timelapse.
Ready to save hours of editing and achieve clean, professional night sky timelapses with minimal effort? I would definetly recommend every night sky timelapse photographers to try Neat Video and experience the difference for yourself.
Additional Neat Video Features I Use
I also use Neat Video for flicker reduction, another common issue in timelapse videos, especially those shot under changing light conditions.
The sharpening feature further refines the image, making the timelapse more polished and professional.
Final words
The Neat Video team has created an incredible tool that has saved me countless hours of editing. With its help, I can now produce clean, professional-quality night sky timelapses without spending ages manually removing satellite trails. Whether you're working on timelapse astrophotography or standard video noise reduction, Neat Video is well worth the investment.
By using Neat Video, your timelapse night sky videos will look better than ever, free of distracting satellites, and packed with all the beauty the universe has to offer.
Neat Video has become an essential tool in my workflow, saving me time and producing stunning results. Get Neat Video now and take your timelapse videos to the next level!