Firstly... Thank you to the sky gods for opening up for the first time this week in brisbane.
Heres the first of many jupiter images to come from this evening. Image taken with my usual setup.. Im really really impressed with the detail in the SEB, I am fairly certain this is my best yet, thanks mostly to what were some of the best conditions my scope has seen...
Without further ado..
EDIT: 3 images now uploaded... in the 2nd you can see Io coming out from behind the disc, in the 3rd you can see the GRS coming around.. however a low level mist had started to settle, causing fairly degraded transparency/seeing so detail is not quite as good... this also ended my night (bout time I went to bed anyway...)
Hope you all like them...
3x Barlow and motorized focus will be here by friday!! BIGGER IMAGE TIME!
Mike: I actually think these are my most 'natural' looking jupiter images as far as color is concerned.. and to be very honest, I didnt do anything with the colors. it was simply a run through registax, mild wavelets applied, then the tif into photoshop for curves/unsharp and a slight L/R deconvolution..
Robert: I was stoked to see the little pimple in the avi as it was recording as soon as I saw it I was chomping at the bit to get it processed.
Doug: Agreed, I will admit that I always prefer a joop with the GRS showing, however that particular image stands out in my personal collection, purely for the fact that there is detail within the bands, where previously I've had very little... I got the email yesterday morning that Myastroshop had sent my barlow/focuser.. The wait is on!
Steve: Thanks mate, and my condolences on your loss of sky... Must suck with that kick arse list of gear you have!
I shall now get back to editing.. got perhaps another 10 - 11 12second avi's to go..
I remember seeing a moon popping into view about 2 weeks ago through the scope in a dark location round the corner and I got even more excited when I could see that it was two of them doing it at the same time..
Great work capturing it, I cursed myself at the time for leaving the camera at home.
To be honest, I was devistated, as about 20 minutes after Io popped its head out, Europa did the same, I could see it through the EP but the camera just wouldnt capture it.. 10 mins later the dew set in hard and I decided that my scope wasnt ready for a bath so I packed it in...
Was hoping to be out under it again tonight, however the mist has fallen thick and fast already, and I fear any images taken would be fairly adversely affected...
Ahh yes, I think we might be both starting to slide down the money pit of dew heaters et al in the near future, my neighbours wont tolerate the little portable hair dryer for much longer, although, the ones who let their cats out at night to poop in my garden can go jump.....
One minor suggestion for you though... with the great quality you are getting from the SPC900NC, try derotating the images in Registax before you save the cropped version using the big volume control or the left hand value box so that Joop lines up on the horizontal.
That way, everyone will think you have an EQ mount and not blast you for getting such great shots with a shhhhhhhhhh- Dobsonian mount - shhhhhhhhhhhh
Dob power is awesome Alex. I'm sure you can squeeze more out of this equipment with the new barlow and the resulting improved image scale
From what I've seen improved image scale is vastly more important than IR blocking.
You will be going off when the EQ6 arrives. Just don't try to align it too accurately: poor polar alignment is in my view the key to getting great planetary images out of budget equipment.
yeah, I've got to say, despite a lot of people saying that tracking/imaging a planet with a dob is tricky/frustrating, I find it to be fun.. especially after maybe 40 minutes of getting it only in frame for a second at a time, then you get the alignment just right...That 12 seconds or so when jupiter is floating through the center of frame is exhilarating! more so when the focus is nailed and you can see finer detail even during capture. And besides, I figure if I get the basics down pat now and can capture a good image with the dob, when I get that EQ6 its going to make life that much easier..
Whilst on the topic of capturing a good image... I processed another of the clips from last night, this one was taken perhaps 10 - 15 minutes after the initial "pimple" of Io image... and in my opinion, is actually a bit better, both in detail, and the fact that its no longer a pimple on jupiter.
Thanks mate, I knew I'd nailed the focus as soon as it came into frame.. It was incredibly crisp.. I wasnt sure how good it would be, although I had high hopes... after the processing I must say I'm very happy with it.
Just wait until you capture a detail on one of Jupiter's moons
The EQ6 is going to make the world of difference for you! I am amazed at what you have been able to pull-off without any tracking. My equatorial mounting is poor but at least the planet stays in frame for a few minutes at a time.
my pleasure re the pdf....I am sure you will find a cool trick down the track and share the idea right back.
I know Jupiter is in a great position for us, but the way we have all shared the processes over the last few years has really advanced Australian imagers leaps and bounds
shhhhhhhhhh- Dobsonian mount - shhhhhhhhhhhh
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