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Old 29-01-2014, 12:08 PM
mbaddah (Mo)
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Is it possible to get good images of Jupiter from Sydney?

Just wondering if its possible to get a good image of Jupiter from Sydney considering it doesn't rise higher than ~35deg in altitude? I know seeing plays a major part (something i don't get often if at all), but how about altitude? I hear all the pros don't image until Jupiter is at least above 40-50degrees in the sky.

Thoughts ?
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Old 29-01-2014, 10:29 PM
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Paul Haese
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Altitude is a significant factor in imaging Jupiter. That and seeing have major effects on your ability to get good data. That said, practice makes perfect, so if you don't have a lot of experience now is the time to start practicing. Jupiter will start rising again from next year with it peaking around 2017-2018. Saturn will be good this year and so too will Mars. Those are good targets and I am just waiting until both get higher to start my imaging program on both of those targets.

As to whether you can get good seeing in Sydney, there are several people who have obtained good images of Jupiter, Saturn and Mars from around Sydney. Mike Salway is one of them. Though Mike has not done much planetary imaging in recent years. Still he has the runs on the board so perhaps ask him for advice on local conditions.
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Old 30-01-2014, 05:57 AM
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Hi Mohammed,

I've been imaging Jupiter from Melbourne with surprisingly good results, for me anyway. As always, scale is my problem, try to get too greedy and magnify the planet too much and you lose fidelity in the data, can't focus etc. This is poor seeing, which I'm used to. Looking through the eyepiece I can visually see the planet shimmer like the sun setting over a hot road, so I'm surprised at the nice pictures I've been able to get. In essence it's worth a try from Sydney I reckon, the images won't be world beaters, but you should get some that are nice.

Like Paul said, practice is important. I used the filter wheel and captured Jupiter in RGB a few nights ago, on a new Dob, without and then with Robofocus, it all requires practice.

Cheers
Stuart
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Old 31-01-2014, 05:15 AM
mbaddah (Mo)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Haese View Post
Altitude is a significant factor in imaging Jupiter. That and seeing have major effects on your ability to get good data. That said, practice makes perfect, so if you don't have a lot of experience now is the time to start practicing. Jupiter will start rising again from next year with it peaking around 2017-2018. Saturn will be good this year and so too will Mars. Those are good targets and I am just waiting until both get higher to start my imaging program on both of those targets.

As to whether you can get good seeing in Sydney, there are several people who have obtained good images of Jupiter, Saturn and Mars from around Sydney. Mike Salway is one of them. Though Mike has not done much planetary imaging in recent years. Still he has the runs on the board so perhaps ask him for advice on local conditions.
Thanks Paul for the informative feedback. I'm a big admirer of your work and have learnt a lot from your posts I think i'll be focusing my attention this year more on Saturn/Mars then on Jupiter this year...
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Old 31-01-2014, 05:17 AM
mbaddah (Mo)
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Originally Posted by rat156 View Post
Hi Mohammed,

I've been imaging Jupiter from Melbourne with surprisingly good results, for me anyway. As always, scale is my problem, try to get too greedy and magnify the planet too much and you lose fidelity in the data, can't focus etc. This is poor seeing, which I'm used to. Looking through the eyepiece I can visually see the planet shimmer like the sun setting over a hot road, so I'm surprised at the nice pictures I've been able to get. In essence it's worth a try from Sydney I reckon, the images won't be world beaters, but you should get some that are nice.

Like Paul said, practice is important. I used the filter wheel and captured Jupiter in RGB a few nights ago, on a new Dob, without and then with Robofocus, it all requires practice.

Cheers
Stuart
Hi Stuart,

Just saw some of your images Very nice

I'd love to get an electronic focuser but for now i'll have to stick to my feathertouch.
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Old 31-01-2014, 07:01 PM
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PRejto (Peter)
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Mohammed,

I live fairly close to the beach in northern Sydney. Sometimes the atmosphere is very steady, so yes I do think you can do planetary photography. I think sometimes ocean air can be pretty steady under the right conditions...but, having said that I have no idea how to predict when that might occur!

Now, as for imaging at lower altitudes (assuming good seeing) you might care to look into somethig called an Atmospheric Dispersion Corrector. The lower the altitude the more air there is to refract light and the red and blue will begin to separate. The corrector consists of two prisms that are rotated with respect to each other to bring the red/blue back together. Using a red green blue filter set and refocusing might get a similar result but when capturing there isn't much time to fuss with focus. I read someone's opinion that the ADC would be best when using a colour video camera.

http://www.astrosystems.nl/projects_...ie_correct.htm

Check out the examples page at the bottom.

Peter
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Old 02-02-2014, 06:11 AM
mbaddah (Mo)
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Originally Posted by PRejto View Post
Mohammed,

I live fairly close to the beach in northern Sydney. Sometimes the atmosphere is very steady, so yes I do think you can do planetary photography. I think sometimes ocean air can be pretty steady under the right conditions...but, having said that I have no idea how to predict when that might occur!

Now, as for imaging at lower altitudes (assuming good seeing) you might care to look into somethig called an Atmospheric Dispersion Corrector. The lower the altitude the more air there is to refract light and the red and blue will begin to separate. The corrector consists of two prisms that are rotated with respect to each other to bring the red/blue back together. Using a red green blue filter set and refocusing might get a similar result but when capturing there isn't much time to fuss with focus. I read someone's opinion that the ADC would be best when using a colour video camera.

http://www.astrosystems.nl/projects_...ie_correct.htm

Check out the examples page at the bottom.

Peter
Hi Peter,

That looks fantastic! Only problem is it's quite expensive Thanks for the link.

Mohammed
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