Another Go

[Mickoid]

Got home after dinner last night, the sky looked clear so I decided to shoot some footage of Saturn and Mars again. You never know just how good it will be until you see the image on the camera. Both planets were dancing around a bit so I wasn't expecting great results - and they're not but they still show some detail, so it was good fun even if it was only to see if Mars' dust storm is abating.

I think the storm is abating, though probably not quick enough in time before Mars diminishes in size and will be too small for my 8 inch to capture any detail. I'll call Mars the Halley Comet of 2018! :lol:

Both planets shot using eyepiece projection, 8 inch f5 Newt and the Canon 550d in Movie Crop mode on a RA motor driven EQ5 mount.

Edit: I had a go at reprocessing Mars, I think I got a bit more detail.

[cometcatcher]

Nice Michael. I had a quick look at Mars tonight. I could make out a polar cap and the faintest hint of surface markings but that was about it. I reckon teh dust is still pretty bad.

[Icearcher]

Nice work Michael

Can you tell me what programs you used? I have a 550d and want to give it a shot as well.

Also, how much magnification do you get from the projection eyepeice? would it be similar to a 2x barlow?

[Mickoid]

Chris, the raw video is converted to an avi in Pipp. I then stack that .avi in Autostakkert and adjust the wavelets from the resulting .tif file in Registax. They're all free downloads you can get on the net, just do a search for them. I finish the final sizing and colour adjustments in Photoshop.
These shots were taken with a 9mm eyepiece attached to a 2.5x Televue Powermate. The scope has a native 1000mm focal length so I think the final image enlargement would be over 250x.

[xelasnave]

Well done.
Alex

[Imme]

Love it mike.

This is one area I've really struggled on..... Ill learn

[ChrisV]

I'm with the others, really nice Mick.

[Mickoid]

Thanks Kevin, Chris, Alex and Jon for the compliments. Planets are the one thing that I'm not disadvantaged by light polluted skies to photograph them in. They're an environmentally friendly astrophotigraphy subject, no fuel was used to drive to a dark sky site! :D