Jupiter 27 January

[EricB]

Here is my latest Jupiter effort. This time I have used my recently acquired ASI 120MM instead of the DMK41. Despite the constant below-average seeing I experience at my place (I get a wobbly disc night after night), I am reasonably happy with the shot which is the most detailed Jupiter I have imaged so far. I have managed to avoid the onion rings, although I seem to still have concentric line on the extreme right of the disc.

Here are the capture specs:

Frames captured=1000
ROI=640x480
FPS=71
Shutter=-0.007ms
Gain=36
Gamma=50
Histogramm=90%

Stacked in Avistakkert, sharpened in Astra Image.

Thank you for looking.

Eric

[Larryp]

That's nice, Eric! Lots of detail and sharp.:thumbsup:

[Saturn%5]

A very nice shot Eric, Did you use a barlow for the shot, I ask this as im going to get that camera and the same dob.

cheers

Graeme

[EricB]

Thank you Laurie and Graeme.

Graeme, I used a Televue Powermate x2.5. With better seeing, I am sure the camera can do better. You will have fun with the camera and the SW10". I haven't really tried the combo on the Moon except for a test capture. With a X2 barlow or a x2.5 powermate one can get nice close-ups.

Now that I have a fast frame-rate camera to image planets, I have to seriously think about getting some RGB filters...

Eric

[Sebbie]

Great detail Eric, I certainly like what Astra Image can do in post processing!

[allan gould]

Eric
Excellent image with the ASI120mm but if you look at the other images from Australia you will see that everyone is suffering from low altitude as well as boiling skies. You have done really well and captured nice detail.
Allan

[EricB]

Thanks Allan and Sebbie for your encouragements.

Allan, I have been out most night since Christmas. Some nights Jupiter is no more than a dancing blob of light in the sky. Some other times, on better nights, the bands and GRS are visible but the disc is so unstable that no details are visible (I cool my scope and collimate it most nights). Still I persevere as I don't want to miss that one rare evening when the seeing will be good!

Sebbie, Astra Image is certainly performant. Love it!

Cheers,

Eric

[MGTechDVP]

That is awesome... I'm jealous... my Jupiters have all looked like crap.

[EricB]

Don't worry Mariusz. Most of my Jupiters do too! ;)

Eric

[rustigsmed]

very nice photo, you have gotta be happy with that!

[EricB]

Thanks Russell. I am very happy with it. But I hope I can improve on it ;).

I would say that perhaps that 10-15% of my Jupiter photos are at that level. The rest is below. It's the nature of the beast, I suppose.

Eric

[MGTechDVP]

My success rate is a lot lower... I only took 2 Jupiter images that I was stoked with, that was about a year ago... then there was my only reasonable image with the GRS.. was still a bit soft but still better then anything I got this Jupiter approach.
I'm starting to think it might be the direction in shooting at... There is a free way in the distance that might be causing distortion/smog. I had similar results with Saturn, all were soft in that direction but the image I got when saturn was about 60deg more to the north was the clearest I ever got... I'll try to image Jupiter in the next two weeks (weather dependent) but at 8PMish when Jupiter is not over the freeway. If that makes a big difference then that is what it might be.

[EricB]

Mariusz, I have had a look at my Jupiter AVIs taken since December (I have imaged every second night on average). I would now say about 10% are satisfactory. Most of the time, I get the bands with little detail on the disc. At the lower end of the scale, the bands are hardly discernible (see picture of screenshot attached).

My problem is that I have a lot of walls and paved areas surrounding me. In addition, Jupiter's trajectory is just above my house's roof. All these hard surfaces release heat at night. In fact, as soon as Jupiter gets to above my roof, the seeing degrades almost instantly. I now have a very small window of opportunity just be fore dusk, before the planet gets over the roof. My best pictures have been imaged then. I set up the scope at about 7.00pm, let it cool (I have a fan), at 8.00 I hook up the the camera and the computer. As soon as I can spot Jupiter (around 8.15-8.20 at the moment), I start imaging. by 8.30 I have adjusted my capture settings and am ready to roll. Because I can't align the scope in daylight, I track manually using the Synscan hand controller. By 9.15 it's usually all over as the seeing has gone.
Besides the seeing, the problem with imaging early evening is the 'gully breeze' I get in the Adelaide Hills (and the bl...dy mozzies, of course!)

Cheers,

Eric

[MGTechDVP]

Yeah, that last posting is pretty much what I'm getting.:question:

The pics I attached is the best I got this season. And that's with a lot of overlooking it and the last one I imaged a few days ago.
Both with a DMK618 cam, 3X televue/2.5X powermate and RGB filters.

I'll just have to keep trying until I get great clarity.
:D

[EricB]

Mariusz, there are some details in your photos. Still, yours and mine are quite far off most Jupiter pictures published on Astrobin, imaged with similar gear which you and I have.

In Australia Jupiter is quite low in the sky. That doesn't help. I guess we have to experiment in terms of set up, adjustments in our capture software, and location (I am yet to take my scope to a dark sky).

Using a x3 barlow would be pushing it with my local conditions. I stick to the 2.5 powermate.

Eric

[MGTechDVP]

Hi Eric,
Surprisingly I tend to get better images with the 3X televue barlow then I get with the 2.5X powermate...:question: Go figure...

I agree, that some of the pics posted by some people are amazing... if Jupiter was 15-20 degrees higher, I think it would make a world of difference.

Mariusz

[EricB]

Hi Mariusz

I think you are right. Also, conditions could be better in the middle of the night, but then Jupiter is out of view for me.

Eric