My first ever reasonable views of Jupiter...

[Nikolai De Silva]

Hello,

I have a 130p reflector and a homemade astro imager🙃 (a 720×1280 webcam). These are my first ever reasonable images taken and I'm satisfied with these for now. Taken with a 130mm f5 scope, and a 5x Barlow.

 

Looking to improve these and any ideas are appreciated! 

 

And also spotted this! The Moon is nearing the end!!!😫😱😂 

[Butterfly Maiden]

Hello Nikolai,

 

I am not into astro-imaging so I can't offer you any technical advice.

 

However, you have made a great start, and I am sure you will get lots of constructive advice from the more knowledgeable members on the Forum to help you.

 

[GazAstro]

How did you take the Jupiter images Nikolai, are they single frames or a registered and stacked video ?

Most planetary work is by 'lucky imaging'

Use Sharpcap or Firecapture to capture approx 3 minutes of video, then stack with Autostakkert.

Use Astrosurface or Registax to sharpen the image with wavelets.

 

All free programs (my favourite price 🙂)

 

[Nightspore]

I don't know anything about photography, it's not my thing. The red filtered Moon isn't bad, I can recognise a fair few features. 

 

Jupiter's never easy though, and the conditions (visually) have to be really good to get magnifications of around a 0.5mm exit pupil. Possibly as Jupiter has a large surface which is quite visually complex. I'm guessing a 0.5mm exit would be around 260x with a 130mm aperture. I don't know what magnification you were using for Jupiter. A 5x Barlow is quite powerful however.

 

 

It might be worth not having as much magnification on the webcam sensor, as then, not unlike the naked eye, any detail will be clearer, more precise and sharper. That's if webcams are anything like human eyes, which is unlikely lol. I can only give advice about visual, sorry.

 

Jupiter's not an easy target to get good detail all the time. It's also past opposition now. Furthermore, it will be better when it's at its highest in the sky. Jupiter is steadily getting higher now overall, after a few years of being low (from my latitude near the North Pole lol). The best time to view any planet is when it is at transit. As then it's at its highest in the sky (due south), so less turbulent air, amongst other problems. 

 

 

Jupiter at transit from the English Midlands: Friday, December 15th, 20:48:02 GMT. You can check planetary transit times from your own location with most astronomical software programs.

[Nightspore]

Also, photographing or observing the Moon when it's in the Full phase isn't necessarily the best time. Terminator shadows can often reveal detail not otherwise seen. Classic examples of features that require transit shadows (or proximity to) are: the Petavius Rille, Schroter's Valley and the Rupes Recta fault line. 

[Nikolai De Silva]

18 hours ago, Nightspore said:

The red filtered Moon isn't bad,

😂😂 I edited it just for joke!

[Nikolai De Silva]

18 hours ago, GazAstro said:

How did you take the Jupiter images Nikolai, are they single frames or a registered and stacked video ?

Most planetary work is by 'lucky imaging'

Use Sharpcap or Firecapture to capture approx 3 minutes of video, then stack with Autostakkert.

Use Astrosurface or Registax to sharpen the image with wavelets.

 

All free programs (my favourite price 🙂)

We have an android tablet. Those are softwares, and I think its not supported for phones. 

Any app or something supported for this?🤔

[Nightspore]

7 hours ago, Nikolai De Silva said:

😂😂 I edited it just for joke!

 

Either way, often red filters (and others) are used to help define features with a Full Moon. With no terminator shadows many details are either invisible or 'washed out' without filters. Red filters tend to need larger aperture scopes as they have poorer transmission.

[Nikolai De Silva]

On 12/15/2023 at 7:28 PM, Nightspore said:

It might be worth not having as much magnification on the webcam sensor, as then, not unlike the naked eye, any detail will be clearer, more precise and sharper. That's if webcams are anything like human eyes, which is unlikely lol. I can only give advice about visual, sorry.

 

Jupiter's not an easy target to get good detail all the time. It's also past opposition now. Furthermore, it will be better when it's at its highest in the sky. Jupiter is steadily getting higher now overall, after a few years of being low (from my latitude near the North Pole lol). The best time to view any planet is when it is at transit. As then it's at its highest in the sky (due south), so less turbulent air, amongst other problems. 

Thank you very much!😊

 

The scope is the SW Starquest 130/650.

I also understand that Jupiter isn't much clear at high magnifications. I have a 5x Barlow. And those were taken with the Barlow in place. Visually the views are great, clearer and well detailed🙂. 

 

This picture was without the Barlow, only the webcam (Just, not edited).

[Nightspore]

8 hours ago, Nikolai De Silva said:

Thank you very much!😊

 

The scope is the SW Starquest 130/650.

I also understand that Jupiter isn't much clear at high magnifications. I have a 5x Barlow. And those were taken with the Barlow in place. Visually the views are great, clearer and well detailed🙂. 

 

This picture was without the Barlow, only the webcam (Just, not edited).

 

You're welcome. I still say that Jupiter is not an easy target (visually) most of the time. Higher magnifications are possible, if the conditions allow. Anything around a 1mm exit pupil will be generally OK, any smaller though and the conditions need to be well above average. A Neodymium filter can help a lot. As can yellow or blue filters.

 

 

Also an eyepiece with very good contrast (like an orthoscopic) would be advantageous. 

 

 

I've seen Galilean moon transit shadows with scopes as small as 60mm.

 

Edited January 3 by Nightspore

[Lloyd-ss]

On 12/15/2023 at 2:31 AM, Nikolai De Silva said:

Hello,

I have a 130p reflector and a homemade astro imager🙃 (a 720×1280 webcam). These are my first ever reasonable images taken and I'm satisfied with these for now. Taken with a 130mm f5 scope, and a 5x Barlow.

 

Looking to improve these and any ideas are appreciated! 

 

And also spotted this! The Moon is nearing the end!!!😫😱😂 

 

Hello Nikolai, I know almost nothing about astro photography (other than that it looks like fun), but you say that your improvised web cam is 720 x 1280 pixels. How many pixels do you calculate that Jupiter actually is in your original picture?