Hi all, it's been a long time since I took images of Uranus and Neptune, so inspired by Dennis' recent hunt for Miranda I had a go at them the other day.
Image details:
Date: 30/09/2011
10" Newtonian f/5, ToUCam Pro SC1, 5x Powermate, No filters
Uranus: 1100 x 1/25s (moons 644 x 2s)
Neptune: 850 x 1s (Triton 91 x 5.5s)
About the image:
This image shows Uranus with the four largest moons Oberon, Titania, Umbriel and Ariel - and Neptune with its large mooon Triton.
The image was taken with my 10" f/5 Serrurier truss Newtonian and is a composite of short exposures for the planet discs and longer exposures for the fainter moons. Miranda, the smallest of Uranus' five larger moons, was very close to Uranus when the image was taken and therefore lost in the glare of the planet itself in the long exposure image used to capture the moons. The orbits of the moons were added to illustrate the scale and orientation of the two systems as viewed from Earth, with South being towards the top of the image.
Both Uranus and Neptune are so far away from us that their angular diameters are only a few arcseconds, being 3.7" and 2.3" respectively. This makes it extremely difficult to discern any details on then and they nearly always appear as tiny cyan/blue balls except when imaged by large observatories or the Hubble Space Telescope. In fact, the entire orbit of Triton would easily fit behind the disc of Mars when the latter is at opposition. Still, with relatively modest equipment it is possible to get a good glimpse of these fascinating icy worlds.
Hope you enjoy it. Comments and critique is welcome as always.
Beautiful work Rolf and what a stunning presentation. Showing the orbits is a really cool idea and makes these images really leap of the page.
Which application(s) do you use for planning your sessions for these planets? I have found a few slight differences for the moons plotted positions between Starry Night Pro and Sky Tools, the two apps that I normally use.
Another excellent presentation Rolf - inspiring. Thanks very much for posting. Regards Ray
Thanks a lot Ray
Quote:
Originally Posted by DavidU
Fabulous images Rolf.
Thanks Dave
Quote:
Originally Posted by iceman
Beautiful images and excellent presentation!
Thank you Mike, glad you liked it. I enjoy doing these presentations.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dj gravelrash
sensational --cheers for sharing.
Thanks Dino
Quote:
Originally Posted by StephenM
Great stuff Rolf! Very well captured.
Cheers,
Stephen
Thank you Stephen. One of the good things about Uranus and Neptune is that one can keep shooting and get lots of frames to stack because at this distance there aren't really any features which will be blurred by rotation.
Quote:
Originally Posted by koputai
Inspiring, Thanks!
Cheers,
Jason.
Thanks Jason
Quote:
Originally Posted by Clayton
Lovely work Rolf
Thank you Clayton
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ric
Great images Rolf
I also agree the presentation is a beauty.
Thanks Ric, glad you liked it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by John Hothersall
Not enough bother with these two ice giants and orbits shown set of the dynamics of these distant systems. Great work.
John.
Thank you John. I noticed it made Universe Today as well, so at least these far away giants get some exposure. They are a bit overlooked, but great fun to image!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dennis
Beautiful work Rolf and what a stunning presentation. Showing the orbits is a really cool idea and makes these images really leap of the page.
Which application(s) do you use for planning your sessions for these planets? I have found a few slight differences for the moons plotted positions between Starry Night Pro and Sky Tools, the two apps that I normally use.
Cheers
Dennis
Thanks a lot Dennis. I was really just wondering about the orientation of the orbits, and then I decided to add them which turned out quite well I think. You are right about Starry Night, the positions of the moons are always off by a bit, don't know why. I haven't tried Sky Tools. I found that NASA's Solar System Simulator shows the exact locations - it is a great tool: http://space.jpl.nasa.gov/
- Actually I think it's 5 now from IIS members!
