My best ever Jupiter .... honest

[middy]

I was so excited that I just had to process this before hitting the sack.

Taken this evening (14/4/07) with the Toucam. The seeing was a lot better than a few days ago at my last attempt.

This time I didn't overexpose Jupiter. 300/1650 frames. Resampled 2x with Mitchell filter in Registax 4.

[astro_south (Andrew)]

Some definite improvement there Andrew . I still need to drop in my 3x barlow to you as well - someone might as well be using it

[matt]

Well done, Andrew.

A 3x barlow will definitely help with your images.

What's the focal length and f ratio of your scope?

[middy]

Originally Posted by matt

What's the focal length and f ratio of your scope?

8", 1200mm which puts it at f/6

[matt]

Well... I'd recommend your next purchase be a Televue 5x Powermate.

That will give you an effective focal length of 6000mm and you'll be working in the general planetary imaging sweet zone of f30

If you later add an extension tube you can get even more focal length. However, you'd need quite good seeing to push your 8" to those lengths.

Bintel has a bit of a special on at the moment on Televue product.

Also, keep a regular eye on astromart.com

Televue Powermates come up quite regularly

[middy]

Originally Posted by matt

Well... I'd recommend your next purchase be a Televue 5x Powermate.

That will give you an effective focal length of 6000mm and you'll be working in the general planetary imaging sweet zone of f30

Eeeek

I'm just trying to imagine how fast Jupiter would fly across the field of view with a 5x Powermate before I would have to nudge the scope again. Maybe one day when I eventually build my EQ platform and have some form of tracking.

[matt]

D'oh!!!!

Completely overlooked the fact your "Dobbing" ... untracked.

Yeah... get yourself a platform too

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[ving (David)]

well done mate a 2x barlow and extension will go good in the 8". you have to remember you dont have the aperture of matt so the image will become very dim at the FL he is talking about.

[matt]

Ving.

There's not much difference between 8 and 9.25 inches so there's really no point stressing the aperture difference. In terms of light grasp, I used to have a 8" Skywatcher newt and it was hard to tell the diff on planets like Jupiter and Saturn in terms of brightness

Jupiter was very bright in the 8" with a 3x, so I'd imagine it would still hold up with a 5x.

You'd need a little more gain, but Registax will fix the graininess.

Like anything, see if you can try one before you buy one. Otherwise stick to a 3x...or even 4x barlow.

Jupiter is so bright, it shouldn't be an issue.

[Ric]

Very nice Middy, a great and detailed image.

Cheers

[iceman (Mike)]

Excellent work Middy, a very fine effort for a non-tracked dob!

[middy]

Reprocessed the image by splitting into separate R,G,B channels. This one looks much nicer.

[Dennis]

Top stuff Andrew - bet you never thought you'd be producing these amazing images of Jupiter when you first started out with your 40mm refractor!

Cheers

Dennis

[middy]

Originally Posted by Dennis

Top stuff Andrew - bet you never thought you'd be producing these amazing images of Jupiter when you first started out with your 40mm refractor!

I remember being very pleased with my first hideously fuzzy image of Saturn through the 40mm refractor.

I think there is still room for improvement yet in the processing stage. I think if I get more selective in the frames I use then I can get a clearer image. At the moment I just let Registax do its stuff and sort the frames itself.