Filter Suggestions

[TWIGGY15]

Hello everyone,

Okay, so the clouds have finally disappeared and I have been able to get out there and have another crack at this astrophotography game.

TELESCOPE - Celestron Nexstar 4GT (4" focal length = 1325mm)
CAMERA - Philips SPC900NC with long exposure mod + 2x Barlow (Bintel)
SOFTWARE - wxAstroCapture & Sharpcap

I have almost sorted out my polar alignment (about 80% there, object slowly drifts).
However, I can not get a clear video of Saturn.
I don't get too much detail (no Cassini division, no cloud bands).
I get a fair amount of detail using a 9mm ep + 2x Barlow (bintel).

Is there a filter I can get to help improve the image?
Should I use a better Barlow? Like a TeleVue.
Am I pushing past the limit of the scope?
Would I be using the wrong settings?
Or am I just being impatient?

Any help or suggestions will be appreciated.
If you need any more info to help me, I will answer any questions.

Cheers
TWIGGY

[Poita]

A 4" scope will struggle to get a good image, and you will need good seeing.

Can you detail your capture and processing routine and post an image?

As a rough recommendation, basically you will want to get focus on a nearby star, use a bahtinov mask or similar to achieve as good a focus as possible, then slew over to saturn.
Capture a good few thousand frames for stacking, and then stack them in Autostakkert. Take the stacked image from autostakkert and process it using registax wavelets.

[mswhin63]

Hi Twiggy.

Can you send a short AVI to me. I will PM my email address, make sure it is not too big and I will have a look at it.

Other option if you can do it is post it to Youtube. The AVI would be good to see if it requires different processing.
I noticed that you have not displayed processing software in your list!?

[TWIGGY15]

Thanks for replying guys.

Yeah, I should of added that I am using registax 5 to stack.
I've never used it before and am learning that as well.
I've watched an read a few tutorials from YouTube and getting there slowly.
Basically, I just choose the clearest frame to start with, then select nothing under 95% quality, align, limit, optimize & stack and then adjust the wavelets.

Capturing, I use low gain, 1/33 shutter and 10-15 fps.

I'll try and send a short AVI and a JPEG of an unprocessed and processed version.

Thanks for your help.

[Poita]

Use castrator on the video footage first, and it will keep the filesize down.
http://www.astrokraai.nl/castrator.php

[TWIGGY15]

Thanks Peter.
This program seems like a very useful tool, especially for someone like me with a clumsy alignment. Why haven't I seen/heard about this before? hmmmm...
I also had a good look through the website as well, pretty awesome stuff.

Cheers