Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexN
Great first go. Its always nice when your first shot resembles the target in some way, and yours is an unmistakable jupiter! my first thoughts are..
1 - using a barlow to increase image size helps, it makes focusing easier because you can see more, the more you can see, the sharper you can make the image. Also, extention tubes help increase image size also, I use a 2x barlow with the lens removed, so theres another 2cm of space between the webcam and the lens of my 3x barlow..
2- where was jupiter in the sky when the image was taken. My first attempts, because i got excited and wanted to image NOW rather than later, were all taken between 35° - 50° above the horizon. This causes a blury, wobbly looking image due to too much mess in the atmosphere at the lower altitudes. Waiting until it reaches the maximum altitude for the night proves to be the best way to image Jupiter, or anything for that matter.
3 - How were the images processed? it looks to me as if you used an unsharp mask, and perhaps a little bit to aggressively. or either a bit to hard on the wavelets. I have no doubt you've already seen these, but there are a couple of great guides to editing planetary images, both of which are written around Jupiter imaging.
- This, by Iceman
- This PDF was written by davidpretorius
The pdf helped me a great deal in my jupiter imaging..
Well done on your first image, and keep at it! |
Thanks Alex, I have found that i need to use an extension (barlow without lens) to get reasonable focus. I was using a 2.5 powermate along with the extension.
Jupiter was about 70deg at the time of capture.
I was using Mikes guide when i processed, obviously this is just a guide and dependent on the data. It is also dependent on the experience of the operator and how to manipulate the settings.
For a first go i was wrapped with the result. It looked like jupiter which is what i was after.
The processing is somthing that is trial and error and i will no doubt continue to learn as i go.
Thanks for the tips.