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Showing results for tags 'planetary'.
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Hi all, I am using, though not so frequently, FireCapture to capture planetary/moon frames for subsequent processing with Registax6. My equipment is Meade 7"ED refractor 1600mm focal length on Losmandy Gemini II mount (manual), TIS DMK21AU618 mono videocam, and Baader RGB dielectric filters. Since about one year, I find streaks in the final processed images, similar to a moving picture, but not so well defined. I don't find anything similar in Jupiter and Saturn images. Nothing similar appears in galaxy images I shoot more frequently with different capture devices/software. I have tried to change several Registax parameters in the Align step, without success. I also tried not to align frames at all with Registax, by straightforward stacking frames taken with the Firecapture autoalign tool on, but didn't succeed in eliminating streaks. This told me that streaking is not Registax fault, but Firecapture's. So, at first, I resorted to set back to default all Firecapture settings to cancel out some wrong input I may have set erroneously and saved. The first option I got was "Updating Firecapture to last version": my version is 2.6.08 and the latest available update is 2.7.09! In addition, the system cracks as soon as I click "Download"! Does anyone have any idea whetherFirecapture ceased in the last many years? Or if the software was completely changed? Where else it can be found? I would also welcome suggestions of different and up to date software for planetary capture, suitable for TIS DMK21AUMoon_220316_201509_18_R.bmp618......maybe it's time to change... Thank you. Best, Francesco
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Hi all, This is my first post here so apologies if this isn’t the right topic to post this thread on. I’m a fairly new astronomer and use a Skywatcher 200P Dobsonian Classic, and had great fun with it. I’ve so far been able to get great views of Jupiter, The Moon, the Pleiades and also the Orion Nebula. All have been imaged from a heavily light-polluted location (central Tyne and Wear) but I don’t feel this has impeded viewing significantly. Saturn is currently in the evening sky, but it has been too low to image with the scope. I’ve also tried to find Uranus, the Pinwheel Galaxy and the Andromeda Galaxy, but it is difficult to locate any of these due to the light pollution washing out certain stars I intend to use as waypoints in the sky to locate these objects. Consequently, I’m looking for a sufficiently dark location in or near the North East with an unobstructed view of the West/South-West sky (hopefully to see Saturn before it disappears this month). I know of a few good areas with almost zero light pollution locally, namely Derwent and Kielder reservoirs, although their hilly locales still make it difficult to see objects low in the sky. Does anybody here have suggestions over appropriate locations? I’m happy to travel an hour or more, as long as the roads are safe and I won’t have to carry my huge Dobsonian too far from a parking location! Thanks in advance and all the best, JM. -
From the album: My (very amateurish) attempts at astrophotography!
Jupiter and 3 of its Galilean moons. Canon 70d, 8" Dobsonian, prime focus Manually tracked, composite image 1 x 30 sec video for Jupiter PIPP, Registax, Lightroom Single exposure for moons -
From the album: Edge 800 & 1100 HD
Jupiter on the 25th. x 2 barlow etc -
From the album: 2013/2014 planetary
First light with the ZWO ASI120MC planetary camera. -
From the album: My (very amateurish) attempts at astrophotography!
First attempt at Jupiter - not great, but it's a start! Canon 70d mounted to 8" Dobsonian at prime focus 30 sec video, stabilised in PIPP Stacked in Registax -
I went out this evening to image Venus, I'm just after starting planetary imaging and I want to get as much Venus images as I can before it gets too low in the sky. I recorded a 1500 frame video of Venus and I stacked and processed the image in Registax 6.1. I was surprised by my image and I'm glad it turned out alright, definitely my best Venus image so far. Tell me what you think! I would love to hear your opinions, and most importantly how I can improve. Thanks and clear skies! Adam
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My skills are lacking and what better way to improve than to process some older archived data from April of this year. This was taken with an 8 in. Newtonian astrograph , lxd55 mount , Spc900/3x and 6 attempts w/ reg6 on auto and 1 attempt going through and picking which frames to stack from my clipboard. Colors are still giving me trouble getting them just right and in the right places. -
I took this back in June and finally got around to processing it this morning, taken with 8 in. newt./lxd55/ Levenhuk T510NG /5x great seeing high in the sky @opposition. Merry Xmas
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So last night at 8:10 PM I decided to point my telescope to Alpha Piscium to start star hopping to Ceres. I hopped through a few 7th magnitude stars until I came across 3 stars in a crooked line. The one on top of this line was Ceres. I decided to show my Father, since he always wanted to see an asteroid with his own eyes so why not show him the biggest? At magnitude +7.6 it isn't at it's brightest but its magnitude is slowly rising back up to 8th magnitude so it's now a good time to observe it! The first image is exactly what I seen through my telescope ( Celestron 114 LCM 4.5 inch reflector) using Stellarium's optical view and the other images are just highlighting where Ceres is. I enjoyed looking at Ceres and I can't wait to watch it's path across Cetus! Clear skies!
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Vesta, The only bright asteroid I have not observed yet. After observing Ceres in Cetus and Pallas in Equuleus, the time has come and at a great time as well to observe the 2nd largest asteroid in our Solar System. I have put aside observing the main planets in the winter sky such as Venus, Uranus and Neptune and have started to challenge myself with looking for these mysterious wonderful objects. And Vesta is next on my list. Vesta is currently in Cancer the crab, which is starting to emerge into our evenings with other well known winter constellations such as Orion, Gemini, Canis Major and Canis Minor. Though Cancer is a very faint constellation and even I myself can sometimes be searching around for it, but I over came this problem by looking for the two brightest stars in Gemini, Castor and Pollux, and using them as pointers to Alpha Cancri. But Cancer possesses probably some of my favorite night sky objects, Tegmine or Zeta Cancri, a beautiful 6th magnitude triple star system. Messier 67 a fantastic open star cluster. But my favorite object by far, The Beehive Cluster. A beautiful, breathtaking, dazzling display of stars in the shape of a beehive, When people say to me around the Christmas holidays and it's a clear sky outside and I'm asked " Show us something through your telescope! " With no hesitation I am already slewing to the Beehive Cluster. And now, Vesta is paying a visit to glorious cluster. From now to mid December, Vesta will be to right of the Beehive and in early December it will be at it's closest to it. And at magnitude +7.1 on December 12th it will blend in quite nicely with the outer stars in the cluster. After it starts to move away from the Beehive and altogether leave Cancer and slowly ascending it's magnitude to +6.4 but only having a disc of 0.5 arc seconds.. It will be a nice object to observe over the winter, and a great photo opportunity with the Beehive! Clear Skies! -
I'm trying to get better at imaging Jupiter with my spc900nc and a 3x , I've not tried the 5x powermate yet, does anyone use a 5x on a webcam or is it just too much power? These lateral lines are just killing me is it because of gamma or gain set too high? This is caoptured with Sharpcap 2.8, any ideas rwg?
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Hello, I'm currently using the Skywatcher Skyliner 200P reflector telescope with the 10mm and 25mm EPs that came with it. I have been viewing for a while now and think its time I upgraded the eyepieces. My budget is around £500. I'd like to be able to get a range of EPs that will provide me with wide view and higher magnification viewing (a shorter length, longer length and a barlow (or perhaps a powermate but I dont know much about these other than they are seemingly better than barlows - perhaps a little over budget)). I enjoy both planetary and DSO viewing though if I had a preference it would be the latter. I wear eyeglasses having astigmatism in both eyes so eye relief is important. I mainly view from rural areas but will sometimes get it out in my rather light polluted back garden, so I am flexible with exit pupil size (the maximum being 31/35mm I reckon). There is quite a selection of vendors and I am hoping you folks can help me narrow down my choices with some first hand experience Cheers, Nathan
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Excellent seeing on the 16/17th which allowed the use of a 5xbarlow on my 200p Got the best jupiter image so far, pleased with the result
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1st Jupiter with TV5x power mate and t-ring through an 8 in. astrograph on lxd55 mount on a sorry night.
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Would anyone care to recommend an 8 mm EP to complete my collection. Will be used with the 200 Dob and primarily for Planets. I really like my WO 6 mm but they don't make the 8. The Vixens are fine but again no 8 I am not a great lover of Barlows.
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Attempt number 2 at processing Jupiter. Finding it incredibly frustrating trying to image with my current set up, so have invested in 'Making Every Photon Count' to help me decide what I should upgrade to! Composite image of Jupiter and 3 of its Galilean moons Canon 70d, 8" Dobsonian (prime focus and manually tracked) 1 x 30 sec video, stacked, for Jupiter I attempted eyepiece projection, but couldn't achieve focus... no doubt I am doing something wrong, but couldn't work out what!
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Hey StarGazersLounge Forums, I am an amateur in astrophotography and have so far taken photos of the Moon and some planets with my camera. However, I am looking for a major upgrade in order to take astrophotography to a professional level as I have long been passionate about astronomy. My overarching aim with astrophotography is to take high quality photos of many planets and continue my interest with the universe. I would be very grateful if anyone could recommend the best set up regardless of the price at the moment as I will work from there. This includes a camera, mount and eyepiece for the Celestron 8se etc so I can get a good idea of what I need to get some amazing planetary shots. By the way, for the camera, I am considering the Sony a7r iii (good choice?) for astrophotography and nature photography as well. Any form of advice would be much appreciated. George
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So I'm looking for the best grab and go planetary viewing (and maybe some DSOs) telescope that is relatively cheap (below 500$) that will also support some Astrophotography. I know the SkyMax 127 is a Maksutov and therefore has a high F number, but I'm okay with that because I'll just pop on a 0.5x focal reducer to bring it down to F/6 (still a bit high though.) With said Grab and Go I'm interested in viewing Saturn and Jupiter with high detail. What do you recommend? Clear skies, Leon. Edit: I need one that'll fit into the Sky Watcher EQ5.
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I decided to try imaging Jupiter for the first time last night - this was the result. Nothing spectacular, but it's a start I guess! I'm wondering if anyone can give me any tips on how to get more detail? I took this using a Canon 70d attached to an 8" Dobsonian at prime focus 1 x 30 sec video Stabilised in PIPP Stacked in Registax Wavelet adjustments Am I missing something? I mean, I'm happy with the result considering the video was terrible, but I'm sure there's something more I could be doing. Would adding a barlow lens give better results?
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Hi everyone. I recently acquired a ZWO ASI120MC-S and so with the bright summer skies I've turned towards solar and planetary lately. I'm not great at either, but I'm learning This is the result of my efforts from last night and I'm quite pleased with how it turned out given it was ~3-4 hours of sitting in the relative cold of my front garden. I've never managed to time weather & my availability with the GRS or a Jovian moon transit before so that's two firsts for me. The seeing was "soupy" to put it lightly, especially towards the end when the planet got lower in the sky and ended up over the roof of a house across the road, but I can't complain - at least it was clear! I took a video around every 5 minutes for almost 2 hours, stacked the best frames, then compiled into an animation of 19 frames that loops back & forth. Io started off about 1/3 of the way across the face of the planet when I started recording data so it's a bit tough to see but you can follow it back across once it pops out the other side. Thanks for looking! I hope the attachment works correctly because I couldn't seem to get the gif size down below ~14mb, so I apologise to anyone on a slow connection! Imgur link for the animation: http://imgur.com/HN2HuGn Gear: Skywatcher Skyliner 200P 8" newt with Skywatcher 3x 3-element barlow (3600 mm, f/18) Skywatcher NEQ6-Pro Synscan (unguided) ZWO ASI120MC-S camera Acquisition & Processing: - 19 individual images spaced approximately every 5 minutes from 21:55 to 23:45 BST - Firecapture [gain = 55-65, exposure = 20-25 ms, 960x960 1x1 bin] - 4500-5000 frames per image @ 45-50 FPS - Best 500 frames stacked per image in Autostakkert!2 - Wavelets and colour balance in Registax 6 - GIF created in Photoshop CC
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Just won a bid on a new TMB II Planetary 4.5mm EP on eBay from The Skies the Limit. Sure I know it's not a 'genuine' TMB Planetary from a few years back as the original manufacturers stopped making them for various reasons, but even so hopefully should be as good. For what I paid for it if it isn't then nothing too much lost! ?
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I've had a boiling Summer and imaging wasn't worth it , if we get a cold front I'll be out there. I happened to get a night where between dipping in the pool and running some planetary was made achievable without sweating to death. Jupiter 10,330 frame avi using 10,000 on the 1st image 7-15-18 and 75% of 10,330 on the 2nd with the GRS and the 3rd was the 1st taken with 80% of 10,330 7-15-18 and the 3rd was 7-14-18 and more data to process , yall . As2 and registax 6 wavelets was used to achieve these. I couldn't get the efw to work in Sharpcap 3 that night do to user error. I wasn't going to post but, it's the only night I've gathered any data this Summer and Jupiter is out of my FOV till Winter. Hopefully , I can try my hand at lrgb next time on this target.
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These settings during capture seemed to do better by lowering the saturation . But, why am I getting pixilation on the edges? HELP ADVICE?
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As we've had a summer full of clouds here in Scotland, opportunities to get the scope out have been few and far between! Luckily, there are a lot of lovely people out there who are happy to share their data so that others can practise their post-processing. This is my attempt at processing Saturn (original video taken by Abhijit Juvekar, so the credit must go to him! I can't find a website to link, but he posts some fantastic images here https://www.facebook.com/groups/astrophotographers/ ) It was a lot of fun to actually get the chance to work with good data. As I have a dobsonian, astrophotography is very frustrating to say the least! 1 frame from 1 min video vs processed image ETA - oops, not sure why the second image is huge!
