Jupiter, Saturn & Neptune - 8/10/2022

[evltoy]

Hey All,

Seeing conditions wasn't the very best and I was tired so only managed 1 planet transit which was Saturn around 9:30pm. No GRS on Jupiter, but I did find Neptune for the very first time!! I have struggled to find Neptune on all my past attempts and almost lost my $h*T when I saw it on the screen :)

Saturn at 9:25pm - 9:45pm with fair seeing conditions.
120sec videos captured in FireCapture, stacked in AutoStakkert, wavelets in RegiStax, WinJUPOS & wavelets in RegiStax.
An avg. of 15% of 8 videos capture was used

Neptune at 10:40pm with fair seeing conditions.
120sec videos captured in FireCapture, stacked in AutoStakkert, wavelets in RegiStax.
An 13% of 120sec video capture was used

Jupiter at 11:00pm - 11:45pm with fair seeing conditions.
90sec videos captured in FireCapture, stacked in AutoStakkert, wavelets in RegiStax, WinJUPOS & wavelets in RegiStax.
An avg. of 10% of 18 videos capture was used

Celestron C8" (fl 4100mm, f/20)
ASI462MC
ZWO UV/IR Cut filter
ZWO ADC
ES 2x focal extender
BinTel SCT crayford focuser
Sky-Watcher NEQ6 Pro

I'm still learning so any feedback is welcome

[Averton]

Nice images Wayne!
We particularly like the Saturn image, it has come up really well.
Neptune can be a bit of a challenge to find sometimes. Just keep hunting til you find the big blue star :)

As to your techniques and processing it looks like you are doing all the right things. The only suggestion is if you haven't already got the Planetary Astronomy book it is definitely worth getting. There is just so much information in it, you learn something new every time you look at it.
https://www.planetary-astronomy-and-imaging.com/en/planetary-astronomy-the-book/

[Anth10]

Nice collection Wayne.
Neptune is a good catch and yes very exciting to see as you pointed out.
Good work!

Anthony

[evltoy]

Thank you both for the positive comments and yes P&C, I do intend to get that book :)

[Dave882]

Nice work! Although they’re not as dynamic as the closer planets, Uranus and Neptune are quite interesting and worth viewing/imaging. You’ve done very well!

[evltoy]

Cheers Dave

I have to agree with you that Uranus and Neptune are quite interesting.

An issue I have had with my ASIair+ was I cant do a star alignment at 2000-4000mm FL. But I have now got a work around which doesnt require me to pull my gear apart to create a 1200mm FL.

This workaround will now see me being able to view the other planets... cant wait for some clear skies :D

[Dave882]

Yes I use ASIAIR as well and yes it doesn’t plate solve very well with small sensors and long fl. I’ve started using a small guidescope and my guide camera which when aligned to the main scope, provides very accurate gotos and platesolving. It’s pretty much my only option to find small targets at 8000mm.

[evltoy]

haha! another ASIair user :thumbsup:.

They are a wonderful product, but are lacking in the planetary department for now. I'm very sure ZWO will be improving on this area soon to complete the package.

Until then I will be using FC to capture and the air to control the mount.

[Dave882]

Wayne- If you’re already using zwo products I can strongly recommend trying out ASICAP for planetary imaging. I’ve found it very easy to use and seems to get absolute maximum frame rates out of the gear. While it doesn’t have all the features and options of FC, it’s got all the main stuff even ADC calibration and guiding. FC has been very glitchy for me as of late and just can’t match the frame rates of ASICAP.

[evltoy]

I think I did try ASICap but can remember the outcome. I will need to revisit this again. Saying that, all of my learning are from others are using FC so its easier for me to understand what the hell is going on. lol.

Edit * ASICAP doesnt save files in WinJUPOS time stamp.

I did just discover last week that my genuine USB 3.0 cable was not giving me the frame rates I should of been getting until I swapped the cable out for the ZWO flat USB3 cable.


ASIFitsView is what I use for "Poor mans Blinking" my DSO subs until I anti-up and get PixInsight

[Averton]

We use KStars/Ekos on both a Raspberry Pi and directly on our notebook to control our gear but when doing planets we only control the mount and/or the guide scope, but not the primary imaging camera. KStars on the Pi is very similar to the ASIair. We feel that the issue with plate solving with longer focal lengths isn't specific to the ASIair. In KStars we can load astrometry files to any magnification we like and you still have more and more plate solving issues with increased focal length. There just ends up not enough stars in the FOV to solve, particularly from our light polluted backyard. Plate solving from the guide scope is the way to go. In KStars you can choose whichever camera you like. You definitely want to directly connect your primary camera to your notebook and not the ASIair or in our case Pi as these do not have enough grunt to capture fast enough.
We also cannot get FC to capture as quickly as ASICAP regardless of whatever settings we have tried. So we use ASICAP on a reasonably spec'd notebook with a fast solid state drive and a powered active USB 3.0 cable.

Wayne, you can get ASICAP to use WinJupos file names in the settings. See pic attached.

[evltoy]

Thanks for the info P&C

I used to have a 60mm/280mm guide scope and then a ST80 on my SCT, but took them off and went to a OAG for DOS imaging, flexture was a killer at long FL. Looks like I might have to reinstall the small 60mm for the sake of plate solving and star alignment.

I'll have a look at ASICap again as I didnt know it did WinJUPOs file naming. This could just be just enough for me make the move.

[Averton]

:thumbsup: