Jupiter 18th November + Io, Ganymede, GRS + video

[von Tom]

Hi everyone,

I was out last night in some pretty good seeing and did some images of the planets. I again attempted a large image of Jupiter with a 5x Powermate and a 2x Teleconverter on a Canon EOS 600D in 1920x1080 @ 30fps video crop mode through a Sky-Watcher 12" Goto Dobsonian, manually tracked and here is the result. Stacked in Registax 6.

I have added the second pic below as an improvement over the first one.

Here is a link to the video: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vontom/6374565897/in/photostream

Thanks for looking,

Tom

[lepton3]

Wow, fantastic image Tom. Some real action going on there, and nice detail on the moons.

[Saturn%5]

Very nice Tom like the moons.

[Quark]

A fine result for the equipment used Tom, I am sure there will be many others that look at your results and decide to have a go with DSLR cameras. A great way for an introduction to planetary imaging.

Well done/
Regards
Trevor

[von Tom]

Thanks for the comments guys. I know that the image is probably too large for the detail it presents, but it now makes me want a 16" :O


Trevor, I have been doing this for a year now with a DSLR and have been improving along the way. I believe the DSLR/Dobsonian combination is a very viable one and soon I hope to be able to write some kind of review on my experiences with it.

With a single sensor doing all red, green and blue at the same time there are the obvious drawbacks with colour management. I am very impressed, though, with the auto white balance of the Canon. I have noticed that in poor seeing the DSLR does not seem to manage anywhere near as well as dedicated cameras do (of which I have no experience though), but when the seeing is very good the DSLR starts to shine.

Thanks to everyone on this board for the insights/tips/feedback/inspiration to keep me going. Here is one of my first shots.

Cheers,

Tom

[trek1701]

Very good!
I guess framing is easier with a DSLR than a webcam?
Also you mention the white balance setting.
Exactly what were all your settings on your camera to achieve this terrific result?

Cheers Mark

[von Tom]

Hi Mark,

When I shoot stills I use RAW so I can modify WB, contrast, Picture Style etc later if need be. With these videos, you are effectively shooting jpg, ie you have to choose your settings in camera.

For my Jupiter, Mars and Saturn images I use:
Picture Style: Landscape (more vivid colours (but blue is enhanced), higher contrast)
Contrast: max
Sharpness: max
Saturation: max
These settings unfortunately maximise the noise as well, but that's what stacking is for. I have tried less aggressive settings but the resulting image ends up being more washed out. I believe the higher contrast compensates somewhat for the lower contrast in Newtonians.

ISO ends up being between ISO400 and ISO3200 depending on magnification/object brightness. Exposure is nearly always 1/30th sec (the longest) at 1920x1080 3x crop mode @ 30fps on the 600D. With my 550D I used the 640x480 video crop mode @ 60fps and 1/60th sec. the 600D gives you a wider image but less fps.

With Saturn and Jupiter I generally shoot 1min to avoid planetary blurring.

I've had no experience with a webcam, all I am used is attaching the camera to the telescope, selecting live view, focussing the image and taking the video. If I had to connect up a laptop etc I would be (as a personal thing) less likely to shoot as often.

Cheers,

Tom

[John Hothersall]

That shows splendid detail especially with the Moons, I have noticed your improvements over the months with the DSLR and scope - this image is very impressive.

John.

[von Tom]

Thanks John,

This image is overdone in terms of its size and the colouring of the Moons. I'll keep working on it. There is more detail to be had from Jupiter here. I will definitely be testing this out everytime there is excellent seeing.

Tom

[Derek Klepp]

Great pic Tom I'm nearly tempted to upgrade my 450D to one with video mode.
Derek

[strongmanmike]

Yeh, I recon that's pretty good too Tom, nice work.

Mike

[Shiraz]

That sure is a very impressive result Tom. Regards Ray

[von Tom]

Thanks Ray, Derek and Mike. I've attached some more images from that night.

Tom

[iceman]

Really good results for the equipment, Tom, but I think the processing lets the image down a bit.

A bit of extra knowledge and work in the processing could really make the image pop.

Have you thought about using a webcam like the DMK? Do you not have a laptop you could use by the scope, is that the reason for using the DSLR?

I hope you don't mind, but here's a quick process of your first image. If I took more time, I'd process the Moons and the Limb separately and combine them. I processed this one purely for the detail on Jupiter.

I realigned the colour channels, curves, saturation, colour balance, sharpening, and reduced the size. Images look sharper when they're smaller, so reduce them to 1000px or less first.

I hope it gives you some ideas.

[von Tom]

Thanks for your advice and ideas Mike, all of it is very much appreciated :). You are right about my processing, something I am quite inconsistent with.:question:

I do have a laptop, and I probably could use a webcam. My main reason for using a DSLR is the convenience (ease of setup/focussing etc). A webcam, I believe, would make it a little more time consuming for setup etc, and while it looks like I would get better results with one, I would definitely have less opportunity to image. I have always wanted to squeeze as much out of the setup as I can, and with the better seeing now with Jupiter I have had a good chance at it. Processing, though, is a challenge. A DSLR, especially the 600D, also gives me alot of flexibility in wide or narrow fields (evidenced by the Ganymede shot and the 4-moon shot above.

Thanks so much Mike for the advice and the tutorials you have given. I do't think I'd have got this far without this site :)

Cheers,

Tom

[von Tom]

I've restacked individually for each moon, downsized and reprocessed resulting in the following:

[von Tom]

Thanks Jan :) Video link now added to the original post and here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vontom/6374565897/in/photostream

Tom

[iceman]

Much better!

[orestis]

Thats is an awesome shot,

I was viewing the same event that night and took some photos of my own posted in the begginer photographer section.

Very nice,great detail on the planet and its moons

thanks for posting
regards orestis:thumbsup:

[SkySearcher]

Wow awesome shots, very inspiring.
I've never seen a skywatcher go to dob in action but they must track well!!

[Shiraz]

Hi Tom. The repro is a very classy image - well done. Regards Ray

[Derek Klepp]

Tom that was pretty good seeing thanks for the video link. I had a quick look the other night with the 16" GOTO Dob and the seeing was nothing like what you captured. Still its good to enjoy the views.
As an aside now that Venus is getting there in the West I would be interested in what you achieve with your setup.
Thanks for the views Derek

[michaellxv]

Nice work Tom. A very impressive image.

I gotta ask. Manualy tracked! How do you manage to keep it in the frame so well?

[von Tom]

Hi Daniel, the tracking on the Goto is pretty good, but in this image I manually tracked it using the hand controller. The reason why is that if manual corrections have to be made whilst autotracking, the backlash at some of these magnifications takes it out of view. Manually tracking avoids that and I'm too lazy to align sometimes (even though it's easy!). :) All that said, the autotracking is quite good.

Michael, I've gotten used to manually tracking over the last few months, so it's just a matter of time. The response of the scope to manual movements without autotracking is better than when autotracking is on. I guess it's just a preference.

Hi Derek, I did do Venus from that evening but haven't processed it yet, will put it up when I do.

Tom

[clem]

Great image! I think I shall try your settings with my 600D, once I figure out how to do it. :D
Did you have to convert the video from MOV to AVI or does Registax 6 have no problem with MOV formats? Never tried it before as I use Lucam's SER format (Starshoot planetary camera) and I still use Registax 5. Being able to use my 600D for planetary imaging would save time in changing cameras and refocussing, etc.

Clem

[von Tom]

Hi Clem. I use Avidemux to convert the MOV file into individual jpg frames, then drag and drop all the jpgs into Registax.

Tom

[steve000]

Well I guess I should throw the webcam in the bin, welcome to the age of HD DSLR's

Great image.

Steve

[von Tom]

Here's a shot taken earlier in the evening, with seeing a little poorer but I decided to go all out and use the magnification I had to hand: 5x Powermate, 2x Barlow, 2x teleconverter and 1.4x teleconverter with the 600D in HD crop mode. Out of interest I wanted to see if it was possible to get anything. Jupiter fills the entire screen with that setup. It makes me wonder what is possible with more aperture ;) and better seeing.

[Clayton]

Very nice Tom :thumbsup::thumbsup:
Looks like you were busy on that hand controller:rofl:

[von Tom]

Rob I could only get 19sec of video trying to track it!

[Ciarlotto]

Hi ICEINSPACE community,
Hi Tom,
I'm from Italy and this is my first message in this community.
Great images!
I have a 12"Sw dobsonian goto and a canon eos 550.
I have some questions for you:


Why did you changed the 550 for the 600? Is the 600 better? If so, Why?
Canon 550d has the following crop mode : 680x480 60fps (or 50fps), that is 7x. Since you use the 600d, always you write "HD crope mode": what did you mean, 3x or 10x?
I would like to buy a powermate 5x:if I'll use my canon 550 only in combination with a 5x powermate and in Full HD (no crop mode), how big will result Jupiter on the display? Does the full HD video could be opened with registax 6?
And if I combine the 5x powermate and the 7x crop mode, how big will result jupiter?
If you have some images (or videos) of jupiter taken with the canon eos 550 and the 5x powermate only, and with the 5x powermate in combination with 7x crop (640x480), please, may you show it to me, or send to: ciarlotto@gmail.com
Usually, I convert the .MOV file to .AVI file by using "zoombroswer" , the software included with canon eos package. Then, I simply open the .AVI file by using Registax6: why don't you use this method instead of Avidemux to convert the MOV file into individual jpg frames, then drag and drop all the jpgs into Registax.Thank you.

I'm sorry for my english language.
Thank you.

[von Tom]

Hi Ciarlotto.

Thanks for your questions (your English is perfect ) :).
I changed to the 600D for the HD (3x crop) mode. That let me get a wider view image of Jupiter and made it easier to keep Jupiter in the frame with the 5x Powermate.

The 550D gives a 640x480 crop mode at 60fps at the longest exposure of 1/60th sec.

The 600D gives a 1920x1080 crop mode at 30fps with a longest exposure of 1/30th sec.

I will post up some pics for you of Jupiter with 5x Powermate and the 550D 640x480 crop mode, and with the 5x Powermate and the 600D.
Jupiter at its largest with the 5x Powermate will almost fill the 640x480 crop mode frame of the 550D. If your tracking is good you should still get the same size planet in both the 550D and 600D but the 600D will have a wider field.

I never have tried Zoombrowser! I will have a look at it.

Will post again soon,

Tom

[Clayton]

Love the improvements Tom :)

[Troy]

Excellent Tom. well done :)

[Ciarlotto]

Thank you Tom for your ready and perfect answers.
I'm thinking about this: by using a Televue 3x, I'll work at 4500mm focal lenght (f/15), that (according to the Nyquist's Criteria) should be the best equivalent focal lenght for a 300mm telescope used in combination with a sensor of 4,3 micron pixel. However, because of Bayer matrix in colour imaging, I know that in very good seeing conditions, I should go up this focal lenght (for example , just by using the 5x powermate), as you well showed with your fantastic images..
Practically, using the barlow 3x, I should use it more frequently (because my seeing is not always very good as yours) and and I should'nt have great tracking problems (because the planet will be well contained in the 640x480 crop frame of 550)
So I'm torn beetwen a 3x or a 5x... What' s your advice about it?
However,I'll wait your pics...http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/../vbiis/images/smilies/winking70.gif

[von Tom]

WinJUPOS animation added :)

http://youtu.be/1xg4numxtBs