My first image of Saturn

[archway69]

Hi all

This is my first ever attempt of photographing Saturn I was quite pleased with the results, until I looked at other people's now I'm a bit disappointed

[Russty]

If that was my first go at imaging Saturn I don't think I would be disappointed with it, looks good to me.

[Radar2312]

+1

fabulous, I'd have been well chuffed if my 1st had been that good

[JamesF]

I think that's excellent for a first attempt.

James

[mart rich]

Better than my first crack at saturn! Good start and keep up the good work.

Martin

[skywatcher250]

wow fantastic !!!! what scope / cam are you using ?

[MikeH1985]

nothing wrong with that for a first attempt, can see far more detail than what i've managed.

[nephilim]

For a first attempt thats an excellent image, much better than mine, many of the images you'll have seen on here are the results of a lot of practise, time & patiance so well done.

Steve

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Very good first effort, a good deal better than my first attempt

[Coastliner]

I posted my first image of Saturn a few days ago, and was quite pleased with it. Now I've seen yours, it's me that's disapponted! As others have said, this is excellent, plenty of detail there. Can you give details, eg scope type, camera, etc?

neil.

[JamesF]

I don't think either of you should be disappointed with the images. This is my first ever Saturn image:

From three years ago, I think. And this is one from last week:

We all have to start somewhere. Just try to get a bit better each time, and accept that sometimes the conditions will prevent you from doing so.

James

[archway69]

Hi all,

Many thanks for your kind comments the scope I am using is a Celestron 127SLT and the camera is the neximage 5mp

[JamesF]

The second image in my posting above was from a Skywatcher Skymax 127 -- basically the same as the 127SLT.

James

[archway69]

Hi James, how did you manage to get your picture so clear? I have been trying to use photoshop but can't get it anywhere near as clear as yours.

[Ben Davy]

Great picture, Id be made up with that if Id taken it. Ive not started yet, but will be happy if I get something like that.

[JamesF]

That night the seeing was fairly good. When the seeing isn't with you it will always be a struggle to get the best out of your kit. I posted a thread with four Saturns from four consecutive nights using exactly the same kit and you can tell the seeing is just going downhill:

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/185045-saturn-over-four-nights/

To get the best you can in any conditions you really need to get the focus as close to spot-on as possible. Even the tiniest possible movement of the focuser can make a difference. Common mods for the 127 Mak are to cut a plastic peanut butter jar lid to fit over the focuser knob, effectively making the focuser more sensitive. Another option if you don't like peanut butter or you're cheap like me is to use a spring clothes peg over the focuser knob for final adjustment. After using the clothes peg for some time I modded the scope to add a motorised focuser:

http://www.tanstaafl.co.uk/2012/02/skywatcher-127-mak-focuser-motor-drive-conversion/

which means I can sit at the laptop and tweak the focus back and forth for longer than I spend actually capturing images

After that it's just capturing lots of images, stacking using AutoStakkert!2 and wavelets in Registax 6.

There's no substitute for practice though. You learn an awful lot by getting it wrong a fair bit

James

[JamesF]

Oh, with that image there's no Photoshop processing either. That's pretty much how it came out of Registax. I couldn't see that there was much I could do that was going to make that particular image any better than I'd managed already.

James

[archway69]

Good idea with the peanut butter lid I have never thought of that one, looks like I'm going to the supermarket tomorrow, Thanks James

[JamesF]

If you have a hunt in the DIY section you may find a few examples of how people have done it. I'm sure a few people have posted examples there. There are also some examples of less "invasive" motorised focuser mods too, should you eventually decide to go down that route.

James

[lensman57]

Hi all

This is my first ever attempt of photographing Saturn I was quite pleased with the results, until I looked at other people's now I'm a bit disappointed

Hi,

Come on mate, that is a very good capture at any time. Well done, way better than my first.

A.G

[mitchelln]

That is a great pic! You should be very pleased with that. I think that's the best you could get considering the seeing conditions that night. There was quite a lot of turbulence here in Dorset. Here's one of mine from the same night:

Just about identical!

If you haven't used a barlow yet , try that to get more pixels onto it.

Cheers.

[The_PSY3NTIST]

Much better than my first go

[Oz Ramos]

Great job! My first shot looked like I took a polaroid of an etch-a-sketch drawing.

[DigitalDev1l]

Man, i wished i could take awesome Photos like these! Awesome shot!

[Pete Presland]

looks pretty good to me, a very nice start!