First Planetary Image!

[Ben_M2395]

Hi all,

These two images represent my first ever attempt at imaging the planets. I used a Canon 60D with the special 640 crop mode, combined with a 2x barlow - all attached to the small Saxon 6" Dobsonian ( Poor uni student ) Processed with PIPP, Autostakkert, Registax 6, and some finishing touches on Photoshop.

I was totally gobsmacked with what I was able to produce, considering the equipment and just above average seeing conditions ( Friday, May 29 ). One thing I did struggle with was the weight of the camera on the Dob itself. I basically had to hold the tube whilst filming, inevitably introducing a lot of vibration. Perhaps I'll get better with this in the future.. ( Being able to predict where the object will appear ect.. )

Jupiter had more filming time so the image is slightly better. Saturn is pretty ordinary, but just being able to see some detail, for me, is bonkers!

Couldn't help but laugh like a child as the image was coming together.

[Saturnine (Jeff)]

G'day Ben

You're off to a good start with those images, nothing wrong with a 6"/ 150mm newtonian for the planets, that's what I used for most of last years planet season, equatorially mounted though and a ZWO 290mc video camera.
What frame capture rate do you get with a DSLR in video mode and doing it in dob mode makes the capture more problematic for sure, so well done.

[Tulloch (Andrew)]

Nice images, especially considering what you are working with there!

Not having a Goto mount will make it very difficult, when I was using my 700D in 5x LiveView mode (so only getting about 20 fps instead of 60 fps for you) I worked out I needed about 2000 "good" frames to get the noise levels down low enough for the best results, so double that for "lucky imaging" meant I needed about 4 minutes on target. With the high speed crop mode you should only need about 60 - 90 seconds on target, which you might be able to get with 1 or 2 passes of the planet as it moves across the camera's FOV. Any vibration (caused by you holding the OTA) will reduce the quality, you really want to try to get it steady.

If you haven't watched these tutorial videos, I would highly recommend you do
http://planetaryimagingtutorials.com/

But having said that, an excellent start, I remember the first time I captured Saturn I nearly fell off my chair when the Cassini Division popped out of the stacked video.

Andrew

[Quopaz (Nick)]

Pretty good start. I just started myself a few months ago too using similar equipment. There is a lot to learn. When I started the planets were low, just above the horizon. I had issues with the scope slipping down because it was nearly horizontal so I added counterweights to the end of the tube. (just some lead sinkers in a sock tied with string) might help balance your camera weight. Find I don't need it now with the planets being higher in the sky but it worked at the time.