Jupiter 16 12.24

[Mickoid]

Jupiter last night. 8 inch f5 Newtonian, 5 x Powermate, HEQ5 mount using ASICAP on my mobile phone with a Zwo Asi224mc ( sensor running at 31.5 degrees celsius! ) 96 Gain, 10 fps ( to keep noise low ), 5 X 90 second video takes for a total of around 500 stacked frames.
Warm conditions made it tough with Jupiter low in the sky over my hot tiled roof and mosquitoes eating me alive! :mad2:

[Dave882]

Well done mate and good on ya for braving the conditions and blood sucking beasties. I haven’t managed an rgb capture worth posting this season yet!!
Did I read that right you’re only at 10fps? What frame (ms) capture parameters? I use ASICAP on the laptop which I’ve found to give very good frame rates.

[Mickoid]

Thanks Dave. We've been so used to shooting Jupiter high in the sky during our cooler months that I'd forgotten the challenges shooting it low in the north in warmer temperatures. My thought was that if I ran it at a higher Gain such as 300 or so to get a higher frame rate and reduce exposure, noise with a sensor running at 31.5 degrees celsius, would have been horrendous. I chose to sacrifice frame rate for a smoother result and combine the best 10% of several 90 second video grabs to achieve this. I also shot these at 640 x 480 ROI to reduce data size and increase frame rate but that didn't make much difference, exposure was 100000 us. It was just a theory, really don't know if it helped much. :D

[Leo.G]

That's beautiful Michael and the perfect set of equipment which I just happen to have laying around myself (except for the quality camera). All of my previous 8" attempts on Jupiter were done without the aid of the PowerMate 5X which I now own IF I ever get my gear out.
Without the Powermate the images always looked like a tiny dot on paper.
I've not yet tried the powermate but had it well over 1 year, I don't think I've even had a scope out in that time, I must soon.....
Actually I may have tried it on Jupiter with my 8" RC which isn't great for planetary and I couldn't achieve focus but that's probably more my stupidity than anything else.

[Crater101]

That's a really excellent result, well done.
I had a go at simply observing Jupiter a couple of nights ago (C8, 2x barlow) but like you I was looking across the top of my metal roof at home on a very hot day. Add to that the frequent passing clouds :rolleyes: and I ended up giving in! So I have to acknowledge your dedication to such a fine result.

[Anth10]

Mick
Excellent shot of Jupiter laying low in the sky/

Perseverance and skill here produced a very respectable shot Mick/ nice colour and detail showing through/ always makes Jupiter eye” catching with the Great Red Spot on show too!
Well done.
Anth

[Mickoid]

Thanks Leo. That's a shame you haven't tried your 5X Powermate yet. Give it a go with the Newt. At f5 on the Newt you'll be running your shots at f25 which will be better than f50 with the 8 inch RC!


Thanks Warren, maybe I was expecting too much from my gear as I was a little disappointed with the result but conditions are not good for Jupiter this season here in the Sothern Hemishere.


Cheers Anthony, perserverance certainly played a big part on this occassion, some skill as well but those mozzies were telling me "thank you for giving us some skin to suck on tonight!" :lol:

[Leo.G]

Thanks Michael, a combination of lousy weather and health delays all of my plans, you should see my back yard, the grass is up to my waist (again, last time it was up to my chin).
And now we are back in winter, AMAZING summer weather (but I love the cold). I'm hoping soon for some clear skies, a change in health and my Nikon D810 coming back from the repair centre.