Finally: my first (stacked) image of Jupiter with XBOX camera

[Rihard]

Hi all,

just wanted to share my first stacked Jupiter pic. It's nothing special, but I'm happy enough as it is my first attempt at Jupiter with a webcam. Outside is very windy (especially on the roof) and cloudy, but I managed to capture some wobbly frames of Jupiter between the clouds

It was also the first time I was able to do some rough polar alignment and successfully track an object, and the first light for my new Vixen eyepieces and my new Antares 3X Barlow lens.

The preview on Sharpcap didn't show any color, even though the Saturation was about 70. I tried to increase it but the image was only showing artifacts rather then colors, so I ended up with monochrome captures any suggestion?

Telescope: Skywatcher Explorer 200P

Mount: Eq5 + Dual Axis Motor

Barlow: Antares 3X

Camera: XBOX Live Vision Cam

Software: Sharpcap + Registax 6 on Windows XP (Virtual Machine on MacBook Pro) and Adobe Lightroom for OS X

Location: Cork City, Ireland

Jupiter (click to enlarge)

And my rooftop:

I have captured several AVI's so I hope come back with better pics.

Clear Skies

Riky

[Rihard]

Re-stacked with Autostakkert and more post processing (maybe too much?):

[JamesF]

Jupiter is a tough target now, especially with a less sensitive camera such as the Xbox cam. I'd not be too disappointed with the lack of colour this time around.

James

[sologuitarist61]

Not too bad of XBox cam - well done

[Superdavo]

Nice shot!

[ArmyAirForce]

It can take a while of messing around to start getting good results. This first Jupiter image below was one of my first efforts. It's an ancient webcam, around 15 years old, using x2 Barlow and 1.5 Drizzle, taken 18-09-12. The inset image is one frame from the AVI video prior to stacking showing a reasonable image on its own as it was a still night.

This is my most recent Jupiter, taken March 30th this year. The colour is slightly off, but taken using the same scope, barlow and camera. Conditions on the night make a big difference, as does practicing with the processing. I was told not to shoot for more than 90 seconds, due to Jupiters fast rotation which would blurr longer exposures.

Keep trying every opportunity you get.

I tried something new with Saturn the other night, taking ten AVI's and stacking each to produce a TIFF. The ten TIFF's were then stacked together giving better detail than just one AVI stacked. See here - http://stargazerslou...april-4th-2013/

[stellawolf]

Nice shot indeed well done

[Rihard]

Thanks all for the comments!

Great pictures ArmyAirForce!

I listened to your advice and tried again just 20 minutes ago as the seeing was much better then the past few days, and the pictures are starting to look better!

I posted the new picture in this new thread !

[ArmyAirForce]

There you go, it just takes a while to get the best out of the equipment you have. Without changing anything in my imaging rig, the pictures have been improving, so it is all down to conditions and learning the capture and processing technique.

[A budding astronomer]

This is my 1st ever shot of astrophotography I have ever taken. It was taken over the summer. I took this through a 4.5 inch reflector with a Neximage burst and all I done was just I fiddled with the exposure and recorded Jupiter for a few seconds , no stacking , no processing. Please tell me that if I stacked this image would it turn out good? I still have the same telescope.

video0004.avi

[ArmyAirForce]

I've tried stacking it, but with so few frames to work with ( only 70 frames ), the results were poor. You want 60 to 180 seconds of video ideally. At shorter focal lengths and small diameter scopes, you can easily capture a 3 minute video without Jupiter's fast rotation blurring the image. I capture about 1 minute each of mono video through red, green and blue filters on my 8 inch scope at 3 metres focal length.

If your scope isn't on a tracking mount, try to align the movement of the planet along the long side of the camera sensor. You may also be able to nudge the scope a little to keep the planet on the sensor for longer. Hope this helps a little!

[Freddie]

As said a longer AVI with more individual frames is needed. At your image scale a 5 min AVI wouldn't be a problem.