My first ever shot of Saturn.

[Dave47tuc (David)]

Hi all,
This is the first image I have ever taken of Saturn!
It was with my Mak and an LPI. Now the seeing was very poor and smoke in the air.
With a 3x Barlow as well.

15 images stacked with Meade LPI image software. Exposures 2 sec each.

But can I ask does the exposure need to be longer with more gain? Or shorter?
Or with less gain shorter exposures?

Sorry to show such a poor photo but I needed to, so someone can say apart from the obvious seeing etc what I maybe doing wrong re the gain etc.

Thanks in advance.

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

Nice one Dave! I can see Cassini and some banding on the planet.

[leon]

Great Dave, if mine come out like that for a first attempt i'd be very happy.

Cheers Leon

[bird (Anthony Wesley)]

Dave, that's a pretty darn good result for those settings. Normally you try and use the shortest exposure possible on planets to minimise the effect of turbulence, normal settings (depending a lot on the scope) are around 1/10 of a second or shorter, with the gain cranked up to compensate.

Capture a few hundred frames like that and then stack them and you should see an improvement.

cheers, Bird

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

You've done well for your first go.

[iceman (Mike)]

Great stuff Dave, well on your way! Tonnes better than my first Saturn!

I'd like to suggest possibly ditching the LPI and getting a ToUcam.. I'm sure you could pick up the Pro II fairly cheap 2nd hand, or get the 900nc + adapter for maybe $200 or so?

The ToUcam is miles ahead of the LPI in terms of chip/pixel size (larger image scale), less noise, faster frame rates.

The LPI is a good starter imager and will continue to serve you well while you cut your teeth, but the ToUcam is on the horizon for you - I can feel it

[Dennis]

That is a great Saturn image – well done.

I would second what Mike has written. I cut my teeth on the LPI with my Vixen 4” refractor and had a really enjoyable and fantastic 12 months taking images of the Sun, Moon and the Planets, as well as a few brighter DSO’s.

I then saw what people were doing with the ToUcam and so I got one and after the steep learning curve of avi’s and Registax, enjoyed a significant improvement in image scale (smaller pixels of the ToUcam) and image quality (higher frame rates and more images to stack).

However, my 12 months with the LPI was a great introduction to hi-res Lunar and Planetary imaging, not only in capture and processing, but the related techniques of setting up the ‘scope, placing the Planet on the small chip, tracking, etc.

Cheers

Dennis

[Dave47tuc (David)]

Thanks for the comments.
I did learn a fair bit in the first go.
It would seem seeing and focus plays a huge part in the image. Yes getting that image on the chip is a bit harder than one thinks. But I’m very happy with my mount and scope which is all working well.
A ToUcam maybe not to far away I shall see.
I’m enjoying playing with the LPI that’s for sure.

[ving (David)]

yup, the toucam aint all bad
you can get reasonable shots on it and some DSOs during winter with long exposures (no chip cooling). hard to tell what you need on your image as i have yet to even see saturn this season
you do need a shorter exposure and alot more frames tho.... with my jupiter shots i was getting up to 150 frames sometimes even 200... the more the merrier

[davidpretorius]

i am very impressed!

there is a report on cloudy nights that basically has the toucam hammering the lpi for planetary etc.

write a nice letter to santa

[Ric]

Hi Dave, that is a very nice first image, there is detail showing in the rings and banding on the planet.

I think you have done well, I look forward to seeing future images.

[spacezebra (Petra)]

This shot is excellent.

You should see my first Saturn you would get a giggle as it races across the screen, provided that you can actually make out that it is Saturn .

Cheers Petra

[Robert_T]

Hey Dave, good start! As a few have already mentioned you need shorter exposures and more of them stacked up. It will make a big difference

cheers,