Identifying moons of Uranus

rogerg (Roger) · #1 14-11-2010, 02:36 PM

Anyone got a way to identify the moons of Uranus? I thought TheSky6 would be able to, but seems not. There's a tool on Sky & Telescope's website but seems to be out of date.

Taken last night:
2010-11-13 13:48 (UT)

First images captured for a few months, was relieved that the equipment functioned fine first try

'bit dusty tho.

Thanks,
Roger.

chrisp9au (Chris) · #2 14-11-2010, 03:11 PM

A quick grab from CDC provides the attached picture.

Cheers

Chris

chrisp9au (Chris) · #3 14-11-2010, 03:22 PM

On second thoughts you might like to check it out yourself in Carte Du Ciel, I may have stuffed up the UT component!

But CDC is the easy way to go, I think!

Cheers

Chris

chrisp9au (Chris) · #4 14-11-2010, 03:38 PM

My revised screen grab!

trust the time is correct!

Cheers

Chris

Dennis · #5 14-11-2010, 03:52 PM

Nice shooting Roger.

The attached screen capture comes from SkyTools. However, SkyTools does not draw Miranda and you have a couple of blobs on the limb of Uranus – one of these could be the elusive Miranda which I have been chasing for a couple of years.

Cheers

Dennis

John Hothersall · #6 14-11-2010, 04:36 PM

Thats a nice catch of 3 moons but Miranda is the difficult one as it is never more than 8-9" from Uranus so will need a shorter exposure to shrink Uranus size.

John.

rogerg (Roger) · #7 14-11-2010, 05:19 PM

Interesting, thanks everyone for your replies.. That last map looks like an exact match thanks Chris.

I think they key is in processing here. Uranus isn't overexposed in the raw frames, having an ADU of about 16219 out of 65000 max. However I'm having trouble stretching and curving it in photoshop to isolate the inner detail, which appears to me to be in the right spot for Miranda. If I had of optimised my exposures better to get around 50000 ADU for Uranus I think I'd have a better chance in the processing.

Having said that, atmospherics were horrible last night, stars twinkling like rainbows, so it would urprise me if I have captured something which Dennis has been trying years for

I've attached a zip of the FIT incase anyone wants to have a play.

Thanks,
Roger.

Dennis · #8 14-11-2010, 08:31 PM

Starry Night Pro shows that Miranda “should” have been feasible, lying some 8” from Uranus as shown in the attached file.

Cheers

Dennis