Jupiter and 4 moons

[timboo]

Hi all! With my Celestron C8, I saw for the very first time, Jupiter and it's four moons which was spectacular (although small with the standard eyepiece) so naturally I wanted to take a picture, so used my trusty Logitech 9000 Pro held up to the eyepiece - the results are attached.

I was wondering if there was a way I could improve the images - that is, stronger eyepiece, filters, even modding the webcan - is the lens on the webcam creating a too blurry image? any tips would be appreciated! I can see some detail through the scope and would love to replicate that through imaging.

Cheers
Tim.

[RobF (Rob)]

Careful Tim! YOu're just on the edge of the gravitational attraction of a large black hole called "astrophotography"

The humble toUcam webcam is fantastic value and hard to beat. There's a thread going on a UK dealer selling them cheap along with 1.25" adaptors currently. Or you could buy new from an Aus dealer (or try 2nd hand off IIS).

You will definitely get better results without the webcam lens, but you do need a fast and sensitive webcam (or other fast camera - Imaging Source or Flea 3, etc).

An IR/UV filter is handy for better clarity, but decent camera is first step.

If you've got some sort of movie camera already might be worth shooting some AVI and stacking in something like Registax (freeware).

[paulF (Paul)]

Hey timboo, great first effort
The image is over exposed and a bit out of focus i believe!
Not sure if that camera can be modded but what you can do is use a powermate to get a larger scale image and start doing some prime focus imaging instead of afocal
Cheers

[timboo]

Thanks Rob and Paul, I appreciate your help. I've ordered the ToUcom from the UK with the adapter - and also thanks for the tip on afocal vs prime focus, I've been reading up on this too. I'm not unhappy with my first effort, and know as I learn more and develop better techniques, images will improve!! I'm also looking for a cheap powermate too - an expensive piece of gear, but looks to be well worth it?

[RobF (Rob)]

Do you have a barlow Tim?
With your focal length a x2 barlow would be all you should need for a while I'd suggest. There will be plenty to figure out with focus, data collection (highest possible frame rate), and image processing before you worry about even more focal length.

I used to piggyback two 2x barlows before I got a powermate, but my FL will be half yours I imagine.....
(note I'm hardly a planetary guru, but have got a few decent shots over the last couple of years like this as per gallery below)