The weather hasn’t been too good for a solid session of imaging, so last night, I thought I’d slew to Neptune and have a gander. Well, after a 10 sec exposure (at prime focus) I was surprised to see a bright object to the right, where The Sky Pro V6 did not show any stars!
I then had a look at Starry Night Pro V5 and lo and behold, I had captured an image of Triton, at magnitude 13.5.
I slipped the TeleVue x2.5 Powermate in and took another exposure of 10 secs just before the clouds came and imaging halted for the night.
The distance between Neptune and Triton is approx 14 arc seconds.
great stuff Dennis, looks good in mono too, might have to give that a go on Neptune and Uranus - wonder how many of Uranus's little family I can score...
great stuff Dennis, looks good in mono too, might have to give that a go on Neptune and Uranus - wonder how many of Uranus's little family I can score...
cheers,
Hi Robert
Thanks! I did a little more research today and it seems that fortuitously, I picked the brightest moon of Uranus and Neptune!
The moons of Uranus are fainter and from what I have read, more difficult to image as the light from the planetary disc swamps them. Also, I was using the ST7e ccd camera which is vastly more sensitive than the ToUcam, so you’ll have your work cut out for you if using a web cam.
Good luck though, it would be nice to see some colour!
Thanks Paul - this is a project within reach of an 8inch f10 SCT from what I have read today. A sensitive or modded (long exposure/cooled) camera makes it easier.
Well I gave it a go last night Dennis with the SAC 4.2. No go unfortunately. Too much magnification and not enought experience with the camera I'm afraid. That damn moon didn't help either I did get a shot of Uranus though in 2/10 seeing
I will get it though. Your focal length was 6250mm with the powermate? Yes?
Thanks for the link, I really enjoy seeing the work of others as it both inspires me and give me new projects to work on. I came across this site earlier and drooled over the Takahashi 9" F12 SCT.
The photographer used the ToUcam for the planet Neptune and then a (more sensitive) ATK - 1HS II monochrome ccd for the moon Triton.