Saturday night planetary

[Mickoid (Michael)]

There seems to be a drought going on of members posting planetary images. I know the weather has had a lot to do with it but surely over our vast country, someone must be having the occassional clear night. I thought I'd post my attempt from Saturday night, not because they are great shots but just to keep the interest going. Funny thing is most of the solar system posts have been from Melbourne, the capital of cloudy skies! I managed Saturn under reasonably clear conditions with average seeing earlier with the ASI224mc but then came the cloud and I packed the camera and laptop away. It had completely clouded over but with wishful thinking, I left the scope set up for a while. When I came out to dismantle it there was a small clearing in the clouds where Jupiter sat brightly looking down at me. I quickly grabbed the Canon 550d and chucked it on. I only got a 2min video grab with poor seeing before it got clouded out. Desperate? Yeah, probably but hey, you have to take any opportunity you can get this planetary season.

[Averton (P and C)]

Well done Michael. How the heck did you manage that? We were all raring to go with the weather report only to have clouds from horizon to horizon.

[Dave882 (David)]

Nice job mate. Pretty good shots under the circumstances thanks for posting!!
Yep it’s been slim pickings this season, and even when it’s clear (like tonight in Sydney) the seeing has been really sub par. Jupiter’s at opposition on the 26th so hopefully we get a break around then

[Mickoid (Michael)]

Originally Posted by Averton

Well done Michael. How the heck did you manage that? We were all raring to go with the weather report only to have clouds from horizon to horizon.

I guess I was just lucky that from my location there were brief opportunities to shoot between small windows of clear sky. I've noticed that if the cloud is not too thick, the seeing doesn't change much and you can still manage a result. You're right though, it certainly didn't turn out as was predicted, so it must have been disappointing for you.

Originally Posted by Dave882

Nice job mate. Pretty good shots under the circumstances thanks for posting!!
Yep it’s been slim pickings this season, and even when it’s clear (like tonight in Sydney) the seeing has been really sub par. Jupiter’s at opposition on the 26th so hopefully we get a break around then

Cheers David, keep your fingers crossed for the 26th but until then, take every opportunity you can to grab a shot as you never know what it will be like on the night of opposition.