Post Processing

[poider]

G'day, just wondering what sort of processing you usually do to planetary photos?
Peter

[luka]

Wavelets in Registax to bring out the details.

[raymo]

Peter, Planetary work is usually carried out with webcams, or dedicated
video cameras, or sometimes using a DSLR's video mode.The resulting
several thousand frames are processed in Registax, or other similar software. Because of atmospheric turbulence it is very difficult to get a decent result from a single frame with any telescope/camera combination.
raymo

[poider]

So then is it possible to take a video of jupter and it moves across the sky with the sigma 150 - 600mm without any tracking device and then use that video?
Peter

[ZeroID]

For very short bursts, yes. 10 secs or so will keep the planet in the frame but does make it harder to process for the software. If you are using an EQ mount or tracking with a DOB and the target stays reasonably central then more frames are possible and better. You don't need to guide as you do with longer exposures for DSO targets though.

[raymo]

Even 4 or 5 secs would give a better result than a single frame.
raymo

[Mickoid]

A 600mm lens will still only show Jupiter as a small dot and I would doubt if you would see any surfsce detail at all, you may be able to discern the disc shape of the planet. That would depend on the optics and the accuracy of your focus. It would, however, pick up the moons of Jupiter as well if that's what you're after, depending on your exposure.

[raymo]

If you have a teleconverter you can of course make it a 1200mm.
raymo