Jupiter with ASI120mm

[allan gould]

Im no planetary imager for sure but I thought I would trial my new ASI120MM camera as a planetary camera with my 10"SCT at 2500mm FL. Ie I didnt use a barlow and just plugged in the camera to the scope and shot at 640x480 at about 60fps. Took a 90 sec avi and stacked in Autostakkert and then wavelettes in Registax.
I compared it to Asimovs image and although Jupiter was boiing like crazy and the conditions were cr@ppy the amount of detail is quite good.
I should state that as a guider its absolutely brilliant with PhDguiding and gives a beautiful clean frame after dark subtraction and absolutely pinpoint stars to guide on.
Comments welcomed.

[h0ughy]

WOW you know it almost makes me put the 14" back onto the mount

[Sebbie]

Great you got the white ovals!

[allan gould]

Thanks David, just go for it

To be honest I was more interested in getting the GRS and planned the image for that which wasn't the best I could have done as it was boiling hot as the sun went down and everything was cooling off. And what with Jupiter being quite low I was happy to get anything.
The exercise was to see what I could get with the camera and I'm sure in a competent persons hands it's capable of far better resolution.
I should say a big thank you to Goudong for his efforts in getting these cAmeras into Australia and making them available to IIS members.
Allan

[guodong]

Great to you see your image, you are so fast!:thumbsup: The camera is powerful with big telescopes.

Unfortunaly to me, holiday means if not push the work forward then leave it afterwards. It's there:mad2:.

[Saturn%5]

Very nice, been waiting to see some results from people on iis using this camera, Now that i have come to terms with winter here in tas time to get me a camera, thanks for sharing.

Graeme.

[allan gould]

Thanks for the comments Graeme, it's appreciated.

[asimov]

Looks like this cam has good potential, Allan. Well done.

[allan gould]

Thanks John, I had fun rather than frustration doing these images. Here is one from a little earlier in the night which may have a little sharper focus, but it was difficult as everything was boiling.
Allan

[jjjnettie]

That's a great shot Allan. I'm so jealous.

[peter_4059]

Nice shots Allan. Just need some colour filters now ;>)

[allan gould]

Thanks for the comment Nettie, much appreciated.


Hm...... you know you need one Peter. :D
I think Ill get better at the ability of capturing good B/W images before I attempt to mess it up with colour.

[stardust steve]

I like the amount of detail captured in the prevailing conditions. I have been following these cameras on the other thread and I am happy there is a website link to still get them. Another goodie for me to think about:thumbsup:

[DJT]

Hi Alan

Congrats on first light with the new Cam. Have been fiddling around with mine but sadly too many clouds. Can I ask which software you are using for capture?

Great image!

[allan gould]

Thanks for that Steve, I'm no planetary guy and the conditions really did not do the camera any favors but I'm satisfied with it and since it doubles as a guider I'm very happy.


using Sharpcap for capture as it has a great ability to take a 90 second avi every 5 min automatically. Very handy but I also trialled out Virtual dub and also it works with Firecapture but the latter was not tested by me.
Allan

[DJT]

ok. Is there a setting in sharpcap somewhere that you need to set to get those frame rates? I am getting exactly half what you are getting so suspect I have missed something. I see there is a tweak in firecapture on the ZWO website, but not for sharpcap?

[allan gould]

David
I think the frame rate in Sharpcap is entirely dependent on your POI. If you set the farme rate to maximum then as you alter the size of the frame then you increase/decrease the frame rate. Setting the frame rate to maximum ensures that you have less dropped frames I have found. Also the latest version of Sharpcap is actually on the ZWO site and not the developers for some strange reason.
Hope this helps.
Allan

[DJT]

hanks Allan

Much appreciated

[allan gould]

David
For your further information, I followed the instructions for using Firecapture and that also works well. I ve been playing withthe processing and I must have had the gain set too high as I have been plagued with 'onion rings' but finally managed to get a file where they were not too bad. I think with a barlow and appropriate seeing this camera is a killer for the price.
Allan

[DJT]

Thanks Allan

Found the settings so thats all good. Looks like I may get a crack at Jupiter tonight. Good to know re firecapture as well.

Thanks again, and yes, impressed with the images we are starting to see