Jupiter 28/10/2010

[firstlight (Tony)]

Gave the Merlincam another run last night. Must have been pretty optimistic as we were treated to a classic SE Queensland storm in he afternoon. Early in the piece, the sky was absolutely clear, but while setting up and finally starting to capture the clouds started rolling in. I got 4 sequences, first for one minute @ 30fps, the last 3 for 2 min @ 30fps

Same set-up as my last effort:
WO 110mm Magrez
4x Powermate
2x ED barlow
"Merlincam" - SPC880 flashed to SPC900NC webcam
Stacked in Registax
Processed in Registax and PS CS2

Despite the obvious moisture and clouds in the air, seeing was much improved from a week ago. Need to win lotto to get more aperture .

[Clayton]

Shows some promise. Exposure looks OK, and ability to resolve detail.
Which one of the sequences was this?

[firstlight (Tony)]

I was the second I took, the first of 120 secs. I haven't checked ouyt how K3CCD numbers the files, either the time stamp is at the end or the beginning of the sequence. at any rate about 22:17 AEST.

I would have played around with the setting in all honesty to see if I could get a better capture, but with the cloud rolling in I just captured for as long as I could because I was getting SOMETHING. As the saying goes, if it ain't broke...

[Matt Wastell (Matt)]

Thanks for sharing your experience!
Thats a fine job on Jup!

[firstlight (Tony)]

Thanks Matt,

I took part in a n event last night with some friends in a local club, and the evening was nice and clear. As a result I missed capturing the Io shadow transit, Io reappearance, and the transit of the not-so GRS. When we got home, I took extra care in making sure the scope was aligned properly and when I swung onto Jupiter the high level cloud rolled in and the image was, shall we say, not optimal.

Too buggered tonight to get set up again tonight and the weather is expected to turn c*@p... Opportunities lost, however I had a ball showing the participants some of the night sky in the 4" Vixen.

Cheers
Tony