Jupiter 19/11

[oldfruit]

Well tonight i have tried to increase the focal length by having 2 empty barlow casings as extensions on the 3x tv barlow. Also i have been doing 3 min captures (as suggested by another forum member;)) to see if i could capture any more detail.

No GRS tonight but i still think the results are interesting and judging bu the results tonight i will continue to try 3 min captures and see what i get.

Equipment, 8 inch Helios reflector, 3x tv barlow, philips spc900 and revelation ir block filter.

Just one thing bothering me and that is a slight onion ringing on some of the images but i think that this may be having the gain slightly too low. Any advice on this would be appreciated.

Thanks for looking.

Mark.

[ScubaMike]

That's not bad going Oldfruit.

Nice bit of detail there.

I'm battling dew here.

First light with my DMK21.

Hope to have something later, will be mono though as I don't have the filterset yet.

[oldfruit]

That's not bad going Oldfruit.

Nice bit of detail there.

I'm battling dew here.

First light with my DMK21.

Hope to have something later, will be mono though as I don't have the filterset yet.

Thanks, just brought my scope back in and it is dripping wet:rolleyes:.

Not to worry, there is always tomorrow.

[rawhead]

Some very nice captures there

[WayBig]

Brilliant, I tried exactly the same tonight for the first time, using an empty barlow tube (the best use for my Kson barlow that i've found)....here is mine (skywatcher 10 inch auto dob with goto handset, phillips webcam, 2x barlow and extension tube)

[malc-c]

manged to grab this tonight, before the mist rolled in and everything became wet !

Uhmmm background is not a s blue, with no blue ring around the planet on the image before attaching it

[FranckiM06]

Wow, it is beautiful images with lot of details.

Franck

[astrosphinx]

smashing images oldfruit.

nice cloud detail.

[neil phillips]

Some good detail coming through

[Clayton]

Nice work Mark. You have captured some good detail there, albeit a touch soft, most likely due to seeing, but perhaps focus or other issues. Your focal ratio seems to be at about f23.8 ATM.

The shots are a little under exposed, but not badly so. Without knowing the settings you used it is a little hard to advise you, but you could try either bumping up the gain or lengthening the exposure (either may also help with your Onion Rings) I would be tempted to try both options and make a comparison. I suspect that lengthening the exposure may be the better option as the level of noise present already is noticeable but not detracting from the images, but I think that more noise would not help in that respect. I can't recall if your capture program has a histogram display or not. If not then I recomend getting one that does, even if you just use it to set exposure, then shut it down and use your normal program for the actual capture (it should retain the settings) aim for a histo that is around 80% full as a rough guide. The brighter image should help with focus as well.

Also whilst experimenting I suggest that you play around with upping the frame rate I know all the naysayers will jump on me for this but I found a real improvement when using the ToUcam Pro 840K by increasing the frame rate to 20fps :eek: But you will get dreaded compression artifacts(CA) I hear lots of experts say It may well be true that my images contained compression artifacts, but if I couldn't see them and others thought that my images were improved, did I really care :DMy theory was that at 20fps the CA's were still quite small and stacking twice the number of frames smoothed them out

At 30fps however the artifacts were quite pronounced and spoilt the image

This may not work at all for you though, even though your camera is a direct decendant of the TouCam. I suggest you try tests with all the framerates from 5-30 and compare them (this does involve a bit more work than lengthening capture times ) Nothing ventured.....

Apologies in advance for the following pic's Mark but I simply wished to demonstrate a couple of things All are based on your second image

In the first pic I have used R6 to stretch and colour balance, in the second I have used the CS3 "Auto Color" function ( a bit too agressive IMHO) and in the third I have resampled to about 140% in CS3 purely because I think it shows off the detail better, not because I think it is a better look. I believe that the detail present shows promise of better things if everything comes together with seeing, focus, collimation, and camera settings

[oldfruit]

Thanks Clayton, you have certainly given me a lot to think about and try in my next imaging session. I think all advice is helpful and am prepared to experiment with capture times and settings. If nothin else this builds experience and allows us to understand the capture process better.

I really appreciate you taking the time to reply and hope to make improvements with the images over the next few sessions.

For the record i do not mind anyone tinkering or tweaking my images as this may show better results or something that i had missed or not thought of.

Many thanks for all the comments.

Mark.

[Space Cowboy]

Cracking images Mark you really are getting the best out of your equipment now.! I would be very interested to know what settings you used. 20fps will almost certainly give you video compression rings. I think Claytons toucam pro worked slightly differently to the spc 880/900 in that respect.

[Telrad]

Fantastic images Mark, great contrast and detail in all of them!

[lukebl]

Great images. I know I've said it before, but these are some of the best images I've seen from an SPC880/900. Not sure what your secret is!

[oldfruit]

Thanks for the encouraging comments.

No secret at all Luke , just luck and a lot patience.

To be honest it has been a frustrating process getting to this point and it is only when i refer back to images that i did in the past that i realise how much difference having the right combination of kit, conditions and knowhow can make. And that is where i was struggling before. Not reading up enough and doing research, trying to run before i could walk so to speak. Having been spending a fair bit of time reading older posts from other members and seeing their results, i have had the benefit of their experiences and been able to apply their findings to my own methods of imaging Jupiter. Granted i still have a fair way to go but am much happier with the results i am getting now.

With regard to kit the bits that have made the biggest difference are the tv 3x barlow as the image is so much clearer than using a normal barlow, secondly the Revelation ir cut filter has enabled me to capture sharper images than without one, thirdly the skywatcher auto focuser as this makes focusing so much easier. No more image dancing all over the screen when you touch the scope:D.

Thanks again folks.

Mark.

[Mike Hodgson]

Great images, very sharp and detailed. Was thinking about getting the SW 8" and seeing these has made me more eager.

All the best,

Mike

[rodrigol]

Great images. Thanks for sharing!