My first ever Astro Photo (Yes, it's Jupiter! ;-)

[Xiga]

Hi guys

Having recently picked up a DSLR (a Canon 60D) i finally decided to have a go at some planetary photography. So i bought a copy of Jerry Lodriguss' excellent 'A Guide to DSLR Planetary imaging' and on Saturday night i ventured out into the night to see what i could manage. As it turned out, it was more than i expected for a 1st attempt:

Was chuffed i managed to pick up Io as well, wasn't expecting that!

I used a C8 on a HEQ 5 Pro. The unmodded Canon 60D was used in 640x480 Movie Crop Mode (which gives perfect 1:1 pixel mapping) at ISO 800. I used a cheapo x2 barlow (it's actually a combined T-mount and barlow in one). My scope has a Revelation Astro Superfocus RnP Focuser, which enabled me to focus as best i could (on a nearby star first at x10 in Live View). So no computer was involved, everything was done on the camera itself.

I took a 2 min video which gave me just over 7,000 frames. Once i cut out the first and last bits (due to me touching the camera), and also one or two sections in between which were poor, i had about 5,000 frames left. Seeing conditions were not good, the bits i cut out in between were when the planet dimmed significantly.

Stacking was done in AS2!, i think i stacked the best 15%. Wavelets were done in Registax, then final processing done in Photoshop. Part of the Photoshop processing was to double the image size, something i notice most people don't seem to do but which JL suggested.

Feedback greatly appreciated guys. I'd like to attach the original stacked .TIFF file but it's 24MB in size!

Clear Skies!!

[Space Cowboy]

For a first go that is outstanding! Especially with a DSLR!

[SnakeyJ]

That really is very good for dslr and at first attempt, brilliant - nicely done Xiga :-)

[Davey-T]

Excellent, I had a go at Mars and Saturn last year using 60Da in crop video mode, was planning to try Jupiter before now but got side tracked by Comet Lovejoy

There's an old thread on it somewhere will see if I can find it.

Dave

[baggywrinkle]

Very nice.

[si@nite]

I agree thats a good image indeed taken with your dslr!

[Vox45]

Good job on your 1st try !

[T_Tucks]

I hope my first shot is half as good as that!

[Xiga]

Thanks for all the kind responses guys

Even though it was taken at a dark sky location, I'm convinced i can do better as I really don't think the seeing was great that night. Plus I'd like to get the GRS in there too, but only being able to do the stargazing on allocated weekends i just have to work to Miss Jupiter's schedule on that one!

I had never used AS, Registasx, or Photoshop before, so i have a lot to learn in the processing game too (i was basically just following JL's guide tbh!). Without doubt, the wavelets part of Registax is somewhere that needs a bit of experience due to the trial and error nature of it. If anyone has any tips on this I'd love to hear them! I think i will try running the .avi through PIPP next to see if that makes any difference.

ps - Next time i want to also take a 2nd image/video to capture all 4 Galilean moons, and then make a composite image using Jupiter from one, and just the moons from the other. What do i need to do to capture the moons? Should it be a photo rather than a video? if so, what exposure/ISO would you recommend? if it's a video that's needed then i suppose i just do it the same as i have done for Jupiter?

pps - Any feedback on Damian Peach's book? The thing i loked about Jerry Lodriguss' book was that it was targeted directly at DSLR's, so perffectly suited my setup. If Damian's book is suited mainly to dedicated planetary ccd's then i suppose it wouldn't be of as much use to me?

[Pete Presland]

Congratulations on your 1st image its a very good start!

[mitchelln]

Congrats on your first try!

For the moons I usually do another video run immediately with the exposure ramped up. This washes out Jupiter, but captures the moons. Then procees both vids and overlay the two images with the overexposed Jupiter as the back most layer.

[leelee970]

Outstanding, well done.

Lee

[celestron8g8]

I agree with all here , outstanding especially with a DLSR and your first time . I've imaged Jupiter hundreds of times and never got a clear image like yours but I didn't have movie capability either . .