I'm updating my blog again, that must mean it's chucking it down outside.

However, rather than go on about the weather, I wanted to share my first attempt at imaging from a couple of weeks ago. As you may have read else where on the forum, a large number of SPC880NC web cams have become available very cheaply and that they can be flashed with the SPC900NC firmware. This has meant quite a few people (myself included) have been able to try astro imaging for the first time.

Before anything else, here's my first Jupiter that I'm willing to share:

I think I got very lucky here as I was just messing around with the capture settings and not only did I manage to catch the Great Red Spot, I also caught the shadow of Io's transit! Unfortunately, I forgot what settings I used and so when I next went out, I was unable to get anything nearly as good. I had trouble focusing the image and getting the exposure right.

The new dimension I was referring to in my title was not imaging though. One of the other members of this board, rwg, has written a very nice bit of software called SharpCap for capturing videos on your PC. The best bit about this software is that rwg has also released the source code.

This has allowed me to play around with it and add features I would like. It's been while since I've done any meaningful programming outside work and it's given me something to do while I can't get out with my scope. Although the weather is foul, I can still work on something useful for when the skies are clear.

Rwg has very kindly accepted a couple of my features so I highly recommend that you at least download it and take a look :D