[deadsimple (Ash)]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the reply.

Sorry for the novel I wrote below but I just want to illustrate I've put a lot of effort into each capture/processing stage

Originally Posted by iceman

What camera and filters are you using? How long are you capturing for? What's your processing routine?

I'm using an SPC900NC with Baader UV/IR filter, capturing for 60-90 seconds. Images first split into R/G/B, then ppmcentred followed by processing in Registax (Gradient Align @ 95%) separately and recombined+offset in GIMP and further touchup in AstraImage.

In terms of webcam settings, Brightness: 50%, Gamma: 0% and:

Oct28: 8:05pm - 1/33, 10fps, 60 gain, 3x Barlow + 2cm Ext
Oct29: 8:14pm - 1/33, 10fps, 68 gain, 3x Barlow + ? Ext
Oct31: 7:39pm - 1/25, 10fps, 40 gain, 3x Barlow + 5.5cm Ext

The gain was carefully picked in each configuration (barlow extension, shutter speed) so as not to saturate the red channel nor be so dark that I got no detail.

Maybe the processing is letting you down?

I've spent many, many hours on the same data. There doesn't seem to be much difference between whether I chose 60 or 90 seconds of data, 100 or 300 frame stacks, nor if I let AstraImage do all the wavelet processing instead of Registax prior to combining channels. I've also tried many combinations of wavelet processing and deconvolution, sharpening, etc .. still can't improve on this.

They're pretty good - I agree the 31/10 doesn't look quite as sharp.
Maybe it's as simple as the seeing wasn't as good?

Well in the actual final image for 31/10, you can see much more detail in the bottom of the planet that's not visible in the other two images. I even slowed the shutter speed and lowered the gain as the seeing seemed great. I've included animations below to give an idea of the seeing on the 3 days (left to right with Oct31 being the third GIF - it's so still!).

In terms of my B channel, I started a thread about it last week but got no response so I assumed no one had my B channel problem. I've also included a snapshot of my channels below - B is just junk regardless of seeing! Also what's interesting is that my best shots have been with gain (or WB-Red) that was higher than what was appropriate - high enough to saturate the red channel such that it no longer had much detail but contributed to brightening up the image, with the G channel providing most of the detail (the image with the GRS is an example).

I took many movies at different settings each night so I might try processing the 1/33 shutter Oct31 movie. Perhaps the 1/25 shutter blurs things too much even with decent seeing?

Thanks,
Ash