Kon

This is my first Jupiter for 2024 but also the last from this apparition. I said on an earlier post that my planetary season is over but I wanted one last go on Jupiter as it is drifting away now. I managed 2x120s captures before the jetstream made imaging awful. Some details are coming through. Jupiter is much smaller in comparison to a few months ago. 8" Dob, manual, asi462mc, 2.5x TV powermate.

Is your concern about visual or diving into imaging? In respect to observing and planets drifting away, opt for wider FOV eyepieces. I use 82 degrees ones, you can even get well priced 100 degrees eyepieces too. I use my 8" to do a lot of nebula observing (no imaging) and I do not find it an issue with targets drifting too fast as I am usually using a low poer eyepiece for them (only a few require high mag). Ps: The weather we have been having recently, would not support a 9mm with a barlow; yes larger image but probably very blurry. If you are planning to do imaging, will it be DSO or planetary? The 10" Dob is a fantastic piece of equipment (I have an 8"). As @PeterStudz Peter said I am all manual and I am doing all my planetary imaging this way (my work has been published in several astro magazines) , so I think the only limitation is the good weather and loads and loads of patience. Yes tracking will help you but it is not necessary. Regarding DSO imaging, you can still do it manually but you will be limited to very short exposures so I would advise against it. An Eq platform will get you decent results but if you are serious about DSO imaging then a proper mount will be required. Don't forget that Dobs are light buckets so if you can have the 10" mounted you will get great results.

Looking at the rgb in Registax the blue channel is way off. Did you change the white balance during capture settings at all (accidentally?)

Excellent capture and some details coming through Ian. I am not sure the yellow hue is true. Did colour balance not sort it?

Nice capture Ian. It seems that seeing wasn't great or at least it was good but more localised. A friend of mine 30miles west of produced a very good Jupiter similar time last night. Are these your sers derotated or a single capture ? Thursday is supposed to be clear but with Jetstream but worth trying. I will retry for Mercury.

I hope you managed some good shots last night Ian. I have seen some really good images from Wiltshire (and I am kicking myself for not getting out; the jetstream did not seem to be much of a problem last night).

Thanks Geof. It has not been the best consistency, weatherwishe, but we still managed a few good shots. I am looking forward to your Uranus-ring project and of course your other planetary imaging. I will probably do some ISS captures if weather permits. Yes some excellent advice on Mercury and as Thursday is looking good I might give it a final shot at daylight.

I do it manually until I get some of the Jupiter sharper features in focus (under good seeing) otherwise I opt to focus until the grander features look focused. I never focus on its moons as I find it can be quite off. For Uranus, I focus on Jupiter and move there, not ideal but it has worked for me to capture the northern polar hood so I don't think I am miles away (with your goto you might be able to fine tune it).

You haven't had much time with your new setup yet, have you? It's good to get all the teething out of the way now and when they are more favourable you can nail some good captures. I am not sure if seeing will be good tonight as the Jetstream is overhead but you never know if the winds are constant then it might be ok. It's meant to be a bit cloudy from now but clearing again around 8. You might want to play with an IR pass filter on both Jupiter and Uranus as well.

Thanks Reggie. It has been an awful winter for Jupiter. Yes we will have a busy summer and winter 2024. Fingers crossed for better conditions.

Thanks for the advice John. I thought after I found Venus it would have been 'trivial' to spot it. I had very thin haze and it may have contributed to not spotting it. I was using my finderscope rather than an eyepiece as you mentioned below. Can you get it on your finderscope or does it need a bit more magnification? So you reckon -0.5 is possible at daylight. I have seen it naked eye after sunset before so unless the haziness was contributing to lower mag.

I wanted to finish my planetary season with Mercury. As it is low on the horizon, I thought I will try during daylight. Unfortunately, at mag -0.5 it was not possible to locate it manually despite finding the much brighter Venus at -4.4. I captured Venus in IR as I was already setup. A tiny disc to end this planetary season or until Venus is much larger later in the spring. My usual 8" Dob setup.

Nice animation. The moons give it a nice depth.

We are 'bad' influence to each other 🤣. I think our planetary imaging season is over until spring/summer. (I might try Mercury if the weather improves...I will message you 😂)

Nice under this weather. Until I message you that we should be out imaging 😜.

Nice captures for the record.

First image is better although the bad seeing hasn't helped with finer details. Has the second one had Topaz as it looks really artificial and with a lot of weird artifacts. Avoid Topaz even ALPO is strongly against it.

Nice animation and hats off for the determination to stay out in this bitter cold to get it.

A good image under the bad UK conditions that we are experiencing for the past 2 months.

Nice record of the event. Unfortunately the bit of Jetstream above us is causing havoc. I had to pack up within minutes of trying to image as focus was impossible and too soft.

Very nice record of the event. Unfortunately, that bit of Jetstream above us is killing the seeing even at higher elevation.

That is impressive for a mobile. I wonder if you shoot at darker site you can get more out of it. I might give it a go with my Pixel 4a and my Hbeta filter (I do not have a UHC).; I am not sure my OIII will be of any use for the area.

That's spectacular Olly! It's like a family portrait with so many targets framed in this image.

I just noticed in your pipp that you had 30fps at 800x600. The 462 should be around ~150fps at 10ms on this ROI. What exposures were you doing?

I was out last night to do some imaging but the seeing was awful even in IR with overhead Jetstream. My images were too soft. Tuesday and Wednesday are looking promising this week. As others said, always focus on features on the planet. I check my focus every 2-3 captures or so unless seeing is really stable. What time did you image? Try when Jupiter is as high to reduce the atmospheric disturbance.