Jupiter, Mars & Saturn evening Dec 13th & morning Dec 14th
Hi All,
Jupiter is becoming a more difficult target to image, but we can't really complain to much as we have had far and away the best of it for this apparition.
Started imaging in the twilight, the seeing was poor with a lot of movement but the detail within the image was good.
Have posted 2 RGB's which came up quite reasonably that show a relatively high level of detail, considering the poor seeing.
Imaged Mars from 3:30 am CSST in the worst seeing that I have experienced for this apparition. I have posted one of my IR images. It is truly amazing how good a job the Astronomik IR 807+nm filter does and just how well suited decon filtering is to such very ordinary data.
Imaged Saturn, yep, first time for this apparition. This was late in the morning so I stuck with the same imaging setup as for Mars. I am very pleased to have my first Saturn data set for a long time, however as previously mentioned the seeing was abysmal this morning.
I really needed to image Saturn at a reduced focal length but I didn't really have time to change my gear as the twilight beat me.
The image scale of Saturn using my Mars setup is huge and I look forward to imaging it under better conditions over the next little while.
Nice shot Trevor.
How much of the histogram did you fill with Saturn?
Thanks Troy, for Saturn I was only able to half fill my histogram and thats with a 16" aperture. With Saturn at such a low altitude and with the associated poor seeings a much shorter F/L would be better, which would enable a faster frame rate and shorter exposures to fill my histogram about 95%. This image was at 8x but it would have been much better at about 5x for these conditions.
Wow! Nice stuff Trevor. Loads of detail with Jupiter and Mars. Saturn is a bit ordinary but probably fairly good given the obstacles
Thanks Clayton, I was pretty pleased with how well Jupiter and especially Mars came up but Saturn was a bit of a problem, although I was pleased to image it at all so early in the season.
I have attached one of my images of it from earlier in the year when it was better placed. Note the difference in the angle of the ring plane that is presented to Earth from April to December.
Thanks Trevor - seeing has been awful around here for the last few days, good to see some images from you!
cheers, Bird
Thanks Anthony, hope the weather clears up for you so that we get to see, at least a couple more, high res images as only you can do. That would finish the year of very nicely.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Doodles23
Terrific set. I suppose insomnia was a requirement for those shots. Saturn's rings are open but still dark...
Thanks Dave & Gale, yep sleep has been a bit of a problem of late. I seem to be doing a lot more imaging and processing than sleeping, but I love it.
Thanks Clayton, I was pretty pleased with how well Jupiter and especially Mars came up but Saturn was a bit of a problem, although I was pleased to image it at all so early in the season.
I have attached one of my images of it from earlier in the year when it was better placed. Note the difference in the angle of the ring plane that is presented to Earth from April to December.
That's a ripper Trevor. Something for us to aim for and you to surpass
Nice group of images - I especially like the detail in Mars - more please!
Thanks Matt, I must admit I was very pleased with just how well the Mars image came up considering just how crook the live feed looked.
I send my Mars data to the B.A.A Mars section and the ALPO Mars section and Richard McKim, director of the B.A.A Mars section was also very pleased with this image and commented that the third prong of Meridian Sinus in Aram was visible regardless of how bad I thought the seeing was, which is a pretty good result.
On another group Damian Peach has suggested posting a comparison Jupiter image, at the same image scale as in this post, to demonstrate his hypothesis that quietening of the SEB is accompanied by an intensification of the colour of the GRS.
I have done this exercise and thought some on IIS may be interested.
Both of these images have been processed in the same way with no post capture adjustment of colour in any way. This clearly demonstrates the fading of the SEB and an intensification in the colour of the GRS from Sept to Dec. These images also graphically demonstrate the change in apparent diameter from Sept to Dec.
On another group Damian Peach has suggested posting a comparison Jupiter image, at the same image scale as in this post, to demonstrate his hypothesis that quietening of the SEB is accompanied by an intensification of the colour of the GRS.
I have done this exercise and thought some on IIS may be interested.
Both of these images have been processed in the same way with no post capture adjustment of colour in any way. This clearly demonstrates the fading of the SEB and an intensification in the colour of the GRS from Sept to Dec. These images also graphically demonstrate the change in apparent diameter from Sept to Dec.
Hope this is of interest.
Regards
Trevor
Very interesting Trevor.
There certainly seems to be coincidence in this case. I guess historical images could provide more insight ?? and of course future images
Nice images Trevor, the IR filter does a great job in less than ideal conditions for Mars.
I like the Jupiter comparison images also, thanks for the view.
Thanks Lester, yes the IR filter works extremely well, especially in ordinary seeing.
I think the Jupiter comparison also demonstrates very well the changes in the SEB and overall apparent diameter.
By the way Lester, congratulations on the very nice Jupiter image of yours that is in John Rogers latest B.A.A report. If you haven't seen it check out the B.A.A. Jupiter section for the latest report.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Clayton
Very interesting Trevor.
There certainly seems to be coincidence in this case. I guess historical images could provide more insight ?? and of course future images
Thanks Clayton, Damien is an Assistant Director of the B.A.A. Jupiter section and has access to a considerable body of data so his thoughts on the relationship between the fading of the SEB coinciding with an intensifying of colour in the GRS is based on data from previous apparitions.
At the moment we are best placed to still get reasonable data prior to losing Jupiter hence his suggestion to put together this set of comparison images.
It is important for all of us, that are interested in making scientific observations, to take every opportunity over the next few week to take advantage of any reasonable seeing to see if the SEB starts a revival and to monitor the GRS.
Its a shame that so much is likely to start happening on Jupiter just when we are about to lose the ability to hi res image it.
