Jupiter early 03-10-2010 (not again :) )

[mswhin63]

Decided to pull out the webcam agin and really in for a shock. 10:30 pm till 1:30am. My wife doesn't like the cold as she had to help me get the scope back inside.

Anyway images from both 450D live view recording with APT, and images from my you beaut webcam.

I am a bit gobsmack really best images I have ever done on Jupiter and now considering getting a dome ;).

These images are all quick processing, I may reprocess them later but for the moment I am all smile :D:D:D

Colour was hard to acheive on the webcam but I am quite confident it show the best detail.

Images 1 and 2 450D, the rest are various webcam image different resolutions and scaling.

[michaellxv]

Well done Malcolm, these are getting better and better.

[edwardsdj]

Hi Malcolm,

Those webcam images are looking heaps better.

You have caputred some fine detail in these.

That YouTube video you posted the other day shows you are getting much better conditions than I have in Brisbane lately. It looked like quite usable data to me.

Take care,
Doug

[mswhin63]

Thanks all for the comments

I must admit the Webcam images look better overall. The processing of DSLR needs to change due to slower frame rate in comparison. After 2000 frames a lot of time and planet rotation has occured whereas the webcam frames are a lot quicker. From what I can see though the DSLR is truer to colour (although a bit overexposed) than webcam, but have managed to make some improvements toward 1:00am but not a lot of time left to experiment. Maybe next time.

[Clayton]

Well done Malcolm. Some nice shots there

[Screwdriverone]

GO MALCOLM!

They are pretty darn good indeed.

Must have had some good seeing, the processing looks good too, the last is a bit too sharp I think, but sensational details.

Well done!

Cheers

Chris

[Quark]

Good job Malcolm, the webcam is far superior to a 450D for planetary work and offers the possibility of very hi res images.

You have some very nice detail in this data. The trick is to improve the signal to noise ratio by capturing at high frame rates and stacking hundreds or thousands of frames, depending on the frame rate that is possible with the camera in use.

Well done
Regards
Trevor

[edwardsdj]

You have to be careful with this. I use the Philips SPC900NC which is a USB 1.0 camera. The data must be compressed to get the video over USB 1.0. Consequently the lower the framerate, the less compression is applied, and the more the image can stand up to processing without artefacts appearing.

[mswhin63]

Fortunately mine is a USB 2.0 15 fps @ 800 x 600 and 7.5fps at 1280 x 768. Not bad for a webcam, Found of the resolution 800 x 600 was the most optimal for size and clarity, whereas I didn't capture enough frames for 1280 x 768 too really test it properly.

With lower fps the only other thing is to get enough frames with minimal field rotation as I have found with the 450D. It looks as though I get 6 -8 frames per seconds.

I am still reprocessing and have had some improvements too, no imaging for a while as my mounts parts arrived and working on some new parts to improve mount stability.

One of the next things is to create some darks and flats for the webcam to improve further imperfections possibly.

I would say overall must have been great weather. How long before that happens again, I can only wish.

[mswhin63]

Thanks everyone for the comments, it is a fairly addictive hobby loving every attempt.

Anyway spent a bit of time re-processing the images and came up with the best webcam images. Each one showing the 3 resolutions I attempted. Unfortunately the larger one I only managed 500 frames so not a lot to get rid of the noise but shows some detail.

Gonna work on the 450D see if I can spruce them up.

[mswhin63]

Hi All,

After spending a bit of time on re-processing the DSLR images I am no longer going to discount the DSLR as a planetary camera for beginners or for DSO imagers when the full moon is out.

I managed some surprising results. The main culprit was focus. I jagged the webcam quite well but from the best DSLR image posted it seems obvious the focus was a bit out. Also rotation of Jupiter was the possible cause as well.

I also noticed there is an issue with DSLR configuration (ISO, Exposure, and Whitebalance) when set correctly provided the best image out of 18 processes producing the least noise, This was enhanced using the sharpen feature from APT to get a bit of detail, Although sharpening produces what could be called noise it still product a detailed image using AVIStack with average out any introduced noise, again al-be-it out of focus. For every 4000 frame I changed the setting on the camera which is also why I got differing results. The next time will be to determin the best settings for the best results.

The image shown is the best out of 18 processes in total I had to work with 20,000 frames and learnt something about the rotation of jupiter at the same time.

The link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADBHM7U6M5Q is an animation although rough as guts shows varying settings for each ~1000 frames processed. I learnt not to process any more than 1000 frames too, The first images at the top of the post are 4000-5000 frames which blurred due to Jupiters rotation.

One really important advantage of the DSLR is alignment of colour none of the processed image received any colour fringe (that blue stuff around the edge of Jupiter) DSLR was perfectly clear all processes. The webcam was difficult to manage this issue.

[beren]

:thumbsup: Coming along nicely Malcolm, you have captured nice detail there, top work with the DLSR

[midnight]

Malcolm, glad you posted some webcam comparisons there. Your shots are really coming up fantastic with very good detail in the lower contrast areas which I haven't got there yet.

I'm getting up to 16FPS on the 40D (1024x680) giving me for eg 1min 35sec with 1623 frames with the liveview AVI recording (based on the recording time and what Registax is telling me it's loaded). I don't know if there is that much difference to the physical sensor between the 40D and 450D. I know the 40D is certainly one of the faster DLSR units but I would have thought liveview would have been similar between the two.

Hooked on Jupiter though for now!! and the weather forecast for the southwest is looking great for late this week. Planning a real big night on Friday but my 40D starts to really suffer from thermal noise above 15 degc.

Darrin...

[mswhin63]

Wow that is fantastic spec, I think once you have acheive the optimum point you should get much better than me.

I am only getting 848 x 568 and possible 10FPS, although I have never recorded the time. I will do a series of tests next time. I am pulling apart the mount now so I won't be imaging for a while.

One thing to look out for that may be producing the artifacts, set the ISO 1600. It wont affect the picture or noise it will allow more light to appear on the screen, I think it is a electronic compensation for live view not real time.
Secondly choose the high possible shutter speed without over saturating. Take a few test shots before, My best images are using a higher speed, I did try different ISO setting but forgot to take notes, ( I was in a hurry) I believe if the shutter is to slow the atmosphere moves while taking the exposure.
Finally try set the white balance. APT doesn't have this feature, I use the canon utility to set the white balance. It makes it easier to process the colours after. I use Registax only for colour balance when the white-balance is a bit off. I use AVIStack to register and stack frames.

Have a nice weekend, good luck, I wish I was there but have commitments as usual. :)

[Yoddha]

Hi Malcolm,

It is very intersting comparison and great images!

White balance...listed :)

[asimov]

Nice work Malcolm!

[mswhin63]

Appreciate all the comments, I must admit I feel it is a fluke to get it right. I am so happy I am still playing with the images seeing the mount is still a work in progress.

I have re-processed 2 images now a 800 x 600 (the best) and 1280 x 960 one a big improvement, took about double the amount of time than before and has given me a new way to process too.

Still playing with other AVI's

[Stu Ward]

WOW How do you manage to get the images so big and with so much detail ?
Was this with you dob and webcam ?

Stu

[mswhin63]

Hi Stu,

Yes but I also have an EQ Platform which makes the difference. without it I wouldn't be able to capture enough frames to process. I can also use a 3 x Barlow as well alhough i am pushing it to locate it in the centre of the screen. I am planning on getting a 5 x Barlow but not sure how well that will go.

Also good seeing condition helped enormously.