Saturn 29-3-09

[Troy]

Just starting out with imaging planets, any feed back as to how I may improve would be welcomed. 2mins in each channel and stacked around 500 of the best. This was my first moon capture of Saturn Titan I think .
Scope: 235mm SCT
Mount: CG-5
Camera: Lumenera Skynyx 2-0 using Lucam Recorder
Filters: Astronomiks Type 2 LRGB.
Barlow: 3x TV with extension

RGB

RLB

red

[Quark (Trevor)]

Hi Troy,

A top effort at imaging Saturn.
Troy a few tips, not that I am an expert.

1) Don't be afraid of using very high gain, probably max gain for the blue channel.

2) Pay very close attention to the histogram, try for the same histogram for each channel. Not sure what capture software your using. I use IC Capture and aim to maintain the histogram for each channel at 190 / 200.

3) Obviously you want to capture the highest number of frames in the shortest possible time. If I am trying to identify storm structure I limit my capture time for each channel to about 1 minute at 30 fps and 1/30th second exposure. The aperture of your scope plays a major role in the gain, histogram and exposure you can get away with.

4) Be absolutely fastidious with collimation and focus.

From the images you have posted you are doing a good job, try experimenting with your settings to see what works best with your system.

Regards
Trevor

[Kal (Andrew)]

Troy, great stuff! Next Monday night there will be a Titan shadow transit (fingers crossed the weather plays nice!)

[iceman (Mike)]

Hey Troy, fantastic start. You've got the right gear and obviously the right skill to progress quickly.

A bit of work with levels would clean up your images very nicely but they look damn fine for an early attempt.

[Troy]

Thanks Trevor, I’ll certainly take your advice on board. Does full gain apply to other planets such as Jupiter?

Thank you Andrew, for the heads up on Titan and the encouragement.

Thanks Mike, the colour got a mention at SCP too I’ll take more care. After contacting Paul Haese for some technical advice on the camera I purchased my first mono camera on 9-1-09 since then I often wonder if I’m even on the right track.

[h45e (Anthony)]

How do you get saturn so large?

[spearo (Frank)]

nice work!
frank

[Quark (Trevor)]

Originally Posted by Troy

Thanks Trevor, I’ll certainly take your advice on board. Does full gain apply to other planets such as Jupiter?

Thank you Andrew, for the heads up on Titan and the encouragement.

Thanks Mike, the colour got a mention at SCP too I’ll take more care. After contacting Paul Haese for some technical advice on the camera I purchased my first mono camera on 9-1-09 since then I often wonder if I’m even on the right track.

Hi Troy,

You should always use your histogram as a guide to how much gain you need for the exposure that you are using. Jupiter is bigger and brighter than Saturn so you should be able to use a shorter exposure and still get a nice histogram without having to use max gain, experiment, experience is a great teacher and there is a lot of experience available on this forum, Bird, Paul and Mike have a wealth of experience in planetary imaging and have posted some stunning images.

Cheers
Trevor

[Kal (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by h45e

How do you get saturn so large?

It's large because of the focal length of the imaging train - a 9.25" F/10 scope with a 3x barlow is equivalent of a 7 metre long (focal length) telescope

[Paul Haese]

Troy, as I said else where well done.

Jupiter will be different to capture. You should be able to have a full histogram in each channel with that planet. Saturn is a hard one to cut your teeth with. It's brightness levels are very different from Jupiter and that makes it very hard to image.

Your question relating to full gain can be explained as follows. If you use the same gain levels on each planet you can manipulate the exposure and frames per second to adjust the histogram. Mars for instance will have differing exposure and frames per second than Jupiter and Jupiter will be different from Saturn and all vice versa.

These camera's exhibit such low levels of noise at high gain, the only thing that is stopping the image from being smooth will be the amount of frames you are stacking. Remember also the larger the image scale the less light you have falling on the chip at any one point in time. You cannot push the scale too far as your image will not be illuminated correctly. This is why we always go back to the histogram.

With some trial and error you will be working on the right track. You already have a great start, you just need to work on things from here. I would recommend reading a couple of books on photographic principles and in particular the way light interacts with the any particular medium. After all you are still doing photography.

[h45e (Anthony)]

Well I have a 10" dob ?

[Troy]

Thanks guy’s good info and much appreciated

H45e, use Andrew example with your scopes info

[Troy]

changed the levels

[bloodhound31]

Great to see Saturn starting to get it's ring-tilt back. Can't wait to start imaging it again for the Cassini division.

Great shots mate.

Baz.