Jupiter image recorded on 22 Feb

[stargazerlily]

Hi everyone,

Finally managed to post this new image of Jupiter that I took last weekend.  A little thing called ... work ... got in the way.  I've also included the settings I used in SharpCap (see below).  I took a 2 minute video and processed the image in RegiStax (I've included the Wavelets settings as well) 

Please have a look and make some suggestions on how to improve the image I'm still learning how to do this

Many thanks

Pete

[Philips SPC 900NC PC Camera]

Frame Divisor=1

Resolution=640x480

Frame Rate (fps)=10.00

Colour Space / Compression=YUY2

Exposure=-10

Brightness=127

Contrast=49

Saturation=-19

Gamma=10

ColorEnable=255

BacklightCompensation=0

Gain=30

[SnakeyJ]

Pete, there's nice detail coming through in this image at this scale.

First rule is keep practicing and posting - you will get lots of helpful advice through quite a steep learning curve.

Second rule is to confirm collimation (don't be afraid) check out Astrobabe's guide to get you in the right ball park.   For planetary imaging, I would recommend using Metaguide to star test and confirm collimation with the camera and image train setup as it will be for imaging - though unless the seeing is good the fine tuning can be tricky.

Third rule is increase focal length for image scale/resolution - 3x-4x barlow or greater extension from a 2x barlow.   always dependent on viewing conditions and sensitivity of the camera.

Fourth rule - capture lots of frames and stack as many as possible by quality.   I typically aim for 20-25% of my captures - though appreciate that at 10FPS getting big stacks and avoiding rotational blurring is not so easy.   A modern fast planetary camera is a real boon here both in terms of sensitivity and far higher frame rates, though in good conditions the SPC can still produce decent results.

Fith rule - never believe any weather forecast, which at best are educated guesses.   Always keep one eye on the real world conditions outside.

Not a rule, but quite a useful recipe for R6 Wavelets.   Select Guassian and Linked Wavelets.  100% on slider one, zoom the image and denoise until smooth.   Then repeat the last stage for slider two.   Bring up the histogram control box, select log histogram, slide white point left to end of curve, slide black point right to peak (don't clip too much) and then stretch.   Do all and save.    This should give a pretty good result and is very quick and simple when processing lots of captures.

None of this is prescriptive and we all probably have our own ways of working, particularly on the processing side - but hope some is useful

[stargazerlily]

Hi Jake,

Many thanks for your reply.  

First Rule ... am trying to get out as much as possible but other things (e.g. work, family, clouds) get in the way

Second Rule ... never collimated my scope ...... sorry  ... dreading it actually  I've got a copy of Astrobabe's guide ... just need to be brave.

Third rule ... I've got a x3 Barlow so will try that.  Could I also use an extension tube and x2 Barlow?

Forth rule ... I think the max frame rate I can capture is 10FPS using the web cam and SharpCap.  I have thought about getting a new planetary camera ... but can't decide which one to get.

Fifth rule ... couldn't agree more

Thanks very much for the R6 wavelets tip ... I'll give that a go.

Cheers

Pete

[SnakeyJ]

Hi Jake,

Many thanks for your reply.  

First Rule ... am trying to get out as much as possible but other things (e.g. work, family, clouds) get in the way

Second Rule ... never collimated my scope ...... sorry  ... dreading it actually  I've got a copy of Astrobabe's guide ... just need to be brave.

Third rule ... I've got a x3 Barlow so will try that.  Could I also use an extension tube and x2 Barlow?

Forth rule ... I think the max frame rate I can capture is 10FPS using the web cam and SharpCap.  I have thought about getting a new planetary camera ... but can't decide which one to get.

Fifth rule ... couldn't agree more

Thanks very much for the R6 wavelets tip ... I'll give that a go.

Cheers

Pete

Cheers Pete - It wasn't meant to be the PI version of the ten commandments, but I got carried away

R1 - Never easy and don't I know it!

R2 - Brave up, it gets easier with practice and there's lots of help and advice here if you need it!

R3 - Just the same, though you might need to experiment to get the extension right.   I'd use which ever was the best, though there's a good argument to keep the train as short as possible.

R4 - Anything beyond this is horribly compressed on the SPC I here as it's USB1.   If I had to buy now, I would look for either the ASI120MM-S or, if I could afford the extra the new ASI174 (both are USB3 and support faster frame rates at full resolution.    Though with a new camera out it pays to look around on the second hand market.    I had the QHY5l-II which has provided very good service and is still be a very useful guide cam if I get something different!

Hope the wavelets recipe helps!

Jake