Hi All,
Imaged Saturn tonight in the early evening, best seeing I have had since May 5th about 7/10.
For so early in the evening the seeing was very steady. I have attached 3 RGB images taken 10 minutes apart starting from 09:40 UTC.
Each channel is a capture of 900 frames with the best 450 frames stacked. Each RGB represents 1350 frames. The storm is quite bright and is marked. I have been tracking this storm since January. I have also attached an animation of the 3 RGB's.
Images were captured with a DMK 21 AU104, Orion filter wheel with Astronomic RGB filters, a JMI Moto focus on a 16" F4.5 Newt on a GEM with Annsen Technologies dual axis drive and drive corrector. My primary mirror has a Peltier cooling system.
Thanks Bird, this storm may set a new record, still seems to be fairly bright.
Quote:
Originally Posted by desler
Really sensational images Trevor, A real pleasure to see!
Darren
Thanks Darren glad you liked them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by troypiggo
Awesome. Can definitely make out the storm in this one. I have trouble making them out on some other images.
Thanks Troy, yes the storm is easy to see in these images, however the researchers who I send my data to don't really care how pretty the image is, they just want verification of the position. They then compare the optical positional data with the radio data they get from the Cassini space craft. Any changes in morphology that show up in my images are really a bonus, it depends very much on the seeing. I image the storm as often as I can, weather permitting, sometimes it is difficult to pick out the storm structure but I have now had a lot of practice at doing just that. Sometimes, when I think Georg may struggle to find the storm, I include an animation as proof that I am not just seeing things.
Quote:
Originally Posted by iceman
Very nice work, Trevor. Amazing how dark the rings are getting now.
The storm is definitely bright, very easy to see.
Thanks Mike, just had a look back through my ephemeris data and over the last month, although the ring opening relative to the Earth has maintained about 4 degrees, the distance from Saturn to the Earth has increased by about 65 million km.
Thanks for the explanation. Didn't realise you send them off to researchers. Fascinating. That must be very rewarding.
It is very rewarding, I got involved in Feb 2008 when I stumbled across a storm on Saturn, it lasted 7 months and was the longest lived storm ever recorded on Saturn.
I became involved with part of the Cassini team out of the University of Iowa and contributed about 170 images of that storm. Living out here in Broken Hill means that I can supply a very consistent stream of data, due to the generally clear weather and good seeing.
My researcher has since returned to the Austrian Academy of Sciences, still doing the same research. I am part of his group of amateurs around the world that supply him with imaging data, there is about half a dozen I think.
The storm I am tracking now formed in Jan 2009 and is the second longest lived storm ever recorded. It may yet take the record.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hotspur
Fanastic!!!
really great work.
Thank you for let us view your pics,
i liked the little video
well done
regards Chris
Thanks Chris, although the storm is relatively bright at the moment I still think it looks good to see it in an animation.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dennis
A very impressive piece of work Trevor. A set of very nicely processed images and excellent animation.
Cheers
Dennis
Thanks Dennis, my capture and processing regime for Saturn has been refined now over about 15 months and about 300 avi's.
Nice images, Trevor. Really smooth and good colour. You're very lucky with your skies.
Thanks Graeme, being so isolated creates a few problems for us but it is great for astronomy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by coco smoko
You may as well be sitting on the cassini probe.The photos you take are really nice. Spurs me to do better.....Really good!!!!1
Steve.
Thanks Steve, I can see a steady improvement in you images as well. I think persistence and attention to detail are the thing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by h0ughy
congratulations Trevor - a fine imaging run with great results
Thanks Houghy, the advice and support I have received on IIS has really helped me to refine my technique.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lacad01
Well done on those images, at least we on the clouded East coast can enjoy and share vicariously your skills
Thanks Adam, I sympathize with your weather situation, sometimes we also experience crook weather but it never persists for very long.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lester
Outstanding image of Saturn.
Well done Trevor.
Thank you Lester, I am pretty pleased with these images. Registax V5 has been out for a while but I have really only just sorted out how to get the best from my data with it.
