Why cant I get a sharper image

[Nino (John Peacock)]

Hi everyone, here is a pic of Jupiter and Saturn from last night, I used a ZWO ASI290mc Meade LX200 10 inch ACF and a 2 X barlow. I processed them in PIPP, Autostakert and Registax. but I can't seem to get a nice sharp image, any suggestions?

[iborg (Philip)]

Hi


I can't say why your images aren't sharper, but, I can tell you a mistake I made with my first shots.


I had assumed that stacking more of the stills would give a better result - this is not always true. In some cases, using say the best 10% may give a better result than the best 90%. All depends on how good your focus was and the conditions on the night.


Philip

[Nino (John Peacock)]

Ok thank you Phillip I will try that.

Cheers John

Originally Posted by iborg

Hi


I can't say why your images aren't sharper, but, I can tell you a mistake I made with my first shots.


I had assumed that stacking more of the stills would give a better result - this is not always true. In some cases, using say the best 10% may give a better result than the best 90%. All depends on how good your focus was and the conditions on the night.


Philip

[Tinderboxsky (Steve)]

First up and most importantly, did you get focus spot on? I do a separate focus on a bright star first. A Bahtinov mask will help if you are focusing manually. Alternatively there are plenty of electronic tools. I use the Bahtinov mask tool in SharpCap.
Secondly, how was the seeing on the night? Poor seeing or too much moisture in the atmosphere will play havoc with the image.
I have not got these right a few times and spent ages trying to coax out a sharp image only to eventually admit defeat.
Your Jupiter appears monotone. Did you debayer the raw file when processing in PIPP?

[Mickoid (Michael)]

John, aside from it possibly being a focus issue, it will probably be the seeing conditions were below average at the time you shot these. The best results are obtained by shooting video footage which allows thousands of captured frames to be quality sorted in Pipp. You capture the footage in programs such as Backyard Eos/Nikon or Sharpcap. As long as your camera is supported by the software. Some use whatever you see in Liveview, which means you can enlarge the image by pressing your magnifying button on the camera, such as you do when you require critical focus. You then have many of the best frames to stack.

[Nino (John Peacock)]

No Steve I did not debayer it, now I know what happened to the colour, I will look at the focus issue when I get out tomorrow night. The seeing was not great last night. Cheers John

Originally Posted by Tinderboxsky

First up and most importantly, did you get focus spot on? I do a separate focus on a bright star first. A Bahtinov mask will help if you are focusing manually. Alternatively there are plenty of electronic tools. I use the Bahtinov mask tool in SharpCap.
Secondly, how was the seeing on the night? Poor seeing or too much moisture in the atmosphere will play havoc with the image.
I have not got these right a few times and spent ages trying to coax out a sharp image only to eventually admit defeat.
Your Jupiter appears monotone. Did you debayer the raw file when processing in PIPP?

[Nino (John Peacock)]

Michael I used sharpcap and thinking of it now the seeing wasn't all that flash and I will look at my focusing tomorrow night. Thanks for your advice.

Cheers John

Originally Posted by Mickoid

John, aside from it possibly being a focus issue, it will probably be the seeing conditions were below average at the time you shot these. The best results are obtained by shooting video footage which allows thousands of captured frames to be quality sorted in Pipp. You capture the footage in programs such as Backyard Eos/Nikon or Sharpcap. As long as your camera is supported by the software. Some use whatever you see in Liveview, which means you can enlarge the image by pressing your magnifying button on the camera, such as you do when you require critical focus. You then have many of the best frames to stack.