Best from Bad

[Mickoid]

These were the best I could extract from video grabs with the ZWOASI120MM-S guide camera last night. As mentioned in previous posts, the seeing in Melbourne last night was pretty awful and of the thousands of frames captured in the muck, these are a stack of a few hundred of the best.

Don't look too closely, they're as noisy as hell but I was rather pleased what Registax was able to extract out of them.

Taken with a 8 inch f5 Newtonian and TV 5X Powermate.

[Anth10]

Bonza!
Nice work Mick. Saturn is particularly good, Cassini division very well delineated and the cloud bands stack up nicely too. You must be very happy with that powermate and ccd combo. Makes a big difference compared with your DSLR shots used for planetary imaging.
Well done. Now bring on some good seeing and the results will be even better!
Anth

[Startrek]

Superb images Mick considering conditions
Well done !
I’m interested to know how high Jupiter and Saturn were when you imaged them ?

[Mickoid]

Thanks Anthony, yeah, bring on the good seeing and oppositions. Can't wait to try it out on Mars in a few months. I'll still be using the DSLR as well, it's great not having to lug out a computer in the cold and dark. LRGB imaging is a bit tedious for me but the filter wheel makes it a lot easier now. :)

[Mickoid]

Thanks Martin, I had to wait for them to clear the Gum trees that grow around the house so I'd say they were about 60 degrees up by then.

[jayconnor]

Michael these are unreal mate and give me inspiration too!!! love your work mate.

[jayconnor]

what 8 inch f5 Newtonian do you have?

[Mickoid]

Jay, I'm not sure what it is, it's unbranded but it's black and looks like a Saxon. I guess you'd call it a Clean Skin if it was a bottle of wine.:lol: The primary mirror adjustment screws are protected by a metal cover plate if that helps identify the brand.

[LostInSp_ce]

Mick, not only are these great captures in poor conditions but you have processed them beautifully. These two belong up on the wall. :2thumbs:

[Saturnine]

Well done , fine images, it is great to see so many on here having a good crack at the planets this season. And we have a few more months to go.

[Mickoid]

I'm humbled by your compliments LIS, it would have to be a pretty small wall as I don't think they'd look any good bigger than on a 5" x 7" print. I'll wait for a night of better seeing and see what I can produce under better conditions.

Thanks Jeff, I usually have a crack each year but normally with a DSLR. The little ASI 120MM does a pretty good job on planets as well as being a great little guide camera, which is what I purchased it for. It will be a first time using it on Mars and I'm expecting it will perform well. With Mars being so bright at opposition, I'll be able to run the exposure and gain lower to achieve a smoother result. This will up the frame rate too.:D

[carlstronomy]

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
Really nice, you should be happy with those images.

[foc]

Very Nice Images Mick! Would not know it was bad seeing looking at them. I guess that is your skills at processsing. Look forward to seeing results from an evening where you can put a larger stack together.

[Mickoid]

Thanks Carl, yes, I was happy to see such a good result extracted from a poor quality video capture.

Thanks Ross, I have been playing around with Registax for a few years now, so I should be learning some techniques to get the best out of any data I work on but Wavlets never ceases to amaze me how well it can extract detail out of even poor data.

[Imme]

Love your work Mike, you definitely have the planetary down pat. Create some amazing shots there.

Love the colours and details on these, showing those bands so Cleary is a great effort.

....bout time you start posting these over on the solar system page isn’t it?

Beginner, hmmmmm........not a term that springs to mind when I see these shots!

[Mickoid]

Ok, yes I'm probably not actually a beginner as such but there are many posting here that have a few years experience behind them. I guess it's because I still use beginners gear that I put myself into this category. If some of you saw how I go about getting these shots you'd be thinking that's a very primitive way of doing things. Old school is a good way to describe it. The ccd camera has certainly improved the results I'm getting. I took some more shots early this morning with a DSLR, so I promise Jon, I'll post them in the Solar System section just for you. :lol: