Capturing Jupiter on Cam

[shaneaust]

Hi:

I've been trying like the devil to get a vid (or pic) of Jove using my scope (as below) and my Barlow tube, but am having no success at all - very, very difficult to get the planet in my cam's sight and when I do get it for a split-second or so, it's blurry/huge.

Can anyone give me some pointers on this? I hope Mike Salway is logged on, cos I've got a similar setup to his.

Should I take out the Barlow lens?

I have got some reasonably good shots of the Moon (who hasn't....?) but getting Jupiter on vid or photographed is turning out to be almost impossible!

Thanks!

[asimov]

I'm afraid youv'e left your run a bit late for this object, getting a bit low in the mirk now. Don't wait for nightfall, as soon as you can spot it in the finder (just after sunset) the better. You will need smaller image scale as well. (2X barlow perhaps).

[iceman]

Hi Shane.

Start without the barlow, until you've perfected the technique.. Webcam astrophotography with a non-tracked dob is very difficult, and frustrating.

Once you've got better at lining it up without the barlow, then chuck the barlow in and watch the frustration increase :) It all comes down to lining up your finderscope with your CCD image.. so without the barlow, get Jupiter in the FOV of your CCD, nudge/push/pull until it's in the middle, and then align your finderscope so that Jupiter is right in the middle of the crosshairs...

Then, once it has drifted out of the FOV, you can nudge the scope to put Joop on the "other" side, allowing it to drift through the FOV of the CCD.

Remember to orient the CCD so that it drifts across the horizontal direction (640px) as opposed to moving up or down, which only gives you 480px in which to capture.

With Jupiter so low, and disappearing so quick after sunset, it's going to be a very difficult task for you. Maybe you should keep practising on the moon until Saturn gets a bit higher :)

anyway, everything I said above is in my article: Astrophotography with a Dob (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/index.php?id=63,201,0,0,1,0)

Hope it helps!

[shaneaust]

Yup, I am using a 2X Barlow - and where I am viewing from gives me a really good view of Jupe! Just can't record it, that's all.

[asimov]

oh, as Mike says if your nudging! (no barlow)

[shaneaust]

hmm..."nudging"...hadn't heard that one before!