Uranus

[Barv]

Hi Guys.

I shot this one of Uranus back in early November. I thought you may find it a pleasant change from all the current Jupiters. (Mine included).

The challenge here was to try and get some cloud detail on this bland planet. (I don't believe it has been done from Earth with a coloured camera).

Although there is not much showing, doing this was both trying and tiring! Both images were constructed from over 60 minute avi's and in excess of 15000 frames. The second image was again taken using the coloured camera. - It is the wrong colour because I used a Baader 610nm filter. It clearly shows something I am sure you will all agree.

Both images were taken through the C11 and the ZWO120MC camera on the 4th November.

Thanks all for looking, your views would be much appreciated.

Regards Barv

[jambouk]

60 minute avi! Wow, that was some file. How dis you process it? My version of registax would have blown all its gaskets if i even thought about that!

The first is a lovely image. Well done!

James

[Superdavo]

It's always  nice to see a planetary image of Uranus for a change! And a good one too!

David

[cstew]

Nice images, but I still snigger every time I read Uranus 

[Barv]

60 minute avi! Wow, that was some file. How dis you process it? My version of registax would have blown all its gaskets if i even thought about that!

The first is a lovely image. Well done!

James

Thanks James.

I actually processed it in AS2 (stacking) with marginal wavelets in Registax 6.

Regards

Harvey

[jambouk]

Cool. How big was the file out of interest?

I keep toying with this crazy idea of doing a long avi of jupiter to get a full rotation... 10 hours worth!

James

[Barv]

Cool. How big was the file out of interest?

I keep toying with this crazy idea of doing a long avi of jupiter to get a full rotation... 10 hours worth!

James

I'm not actually sure James. I had to reduce the region of interest down to the minimum size but I don't think it was that large. It went into AS2 so I suppose it couldn't have been. I've had to remove it like you do with this imaging game cos the PC runs out of memory fairly quickly! 

[Barv]

Cool. How big was the file out of interest?

I keep toying with this crazy idea of doing a long avi of jupiter to get a full rotation... 10 hours worth!

James

Hi James.

I've just found the file, it was 15.2GB!

Cheers Harvey

[Cath]

Uranus spins faster than Earth, it's day is 17.9 hours, which is 20.1 deg per hour, which will cause quite a bit of cloud smearing when trying to image it.

An hour might be a bit long to image the clouds, depends how big the clouds are and their shape I guess.

[Barv]

Uranus spins faster than Earth, it's day is 17.9 hours, which is 20.1 deg per hour, which will cause quite a bit of cloud smearing when trying to image it.

An hour might be a bit long to image the clouds, depends how big the clouds are and their shape I guess.

Hi Cath.

Yes I realize this. I can't worry about the smearing as things are so faint anyway. I was only ever likely to pick up an equatorial belt and detail was never an option. If I didn't image for that long I wouldn't have even picked that up! Thanks for your input though!

Regards

Harvey

[cgarry]

I am not sure whether or not you have captured cloud detail or just sharpened some noise or another image artefact.

The easiest way to see would be to process the first 20 mins of your video into one image and process the last 20 mins of you video into another image and then flick between the resulting images.  If it is really cloud detail then you should see some movement.

Nice images though!

Cheers,

Chris

[ChrisLX200]

Looking at the Uranus image it looks somewhat like a donut to me - slightly darker in the center which is not what I would have expected. Did you check focus throughout the session?

ChrisH

[jambouk]

Big file!

Jd

[Cath]

Here's what to aim for Harvey. It's what the Hubble space telescope has been able to image of Uranus

As Uranus is basically tilted onto it's side (as seen in the Hubble image), and as this image was taken in 2006, it will still pretty much look the same (rotation angle/direction wise), ie the clouds will be moving vertically as the planet rotates rather than in the left/right direction.

[Barv]

Here's what to aim for Harvey. It's what the Hubble space telescope has been able to image of Uranus

As Uranus is basically tilted onto it's side (as seen in the Hubble image), and as this image was taken in 2006, it will still pretty much look the same (rotation angle/direction wise), ie the clouds will be moving vertically as the planet rotates rather than in the left/right direction.

No earth based telescope has ever imaged Uranus like Hubble. I don't know what makes you think that I can? Oh well, at least I got the colour right!

[Barv]

Looking at the Uranus image it looks somewhat like a donut to me - slightly darker in the center which is not what I would have expected. Did you check focus throughout the session?

ChrisH

Sorry Chris, can't see the donut myself. If you're talking about the slight darkness in the centre it is also on the red image aswell, but clearer on there. I'm assuming that this is the same thing but not as visible in the blue light. Focus was checked at regular intervals. I frankly couldn't be bothered to waste my time capturing the image for 62 minutes if this step hadn't been carried out!

thanks Harvey

[jambouk]

Article here on Uranus:

http://www.damianpeach.com/images/articles/uranus_abel/JBAA%20121-4%20Uranus%20Abel%20&%20Peach.pdf

JD

[JamesF]

Well worth the attempt, I reckon.  I've been meaning to have a try at this for some time myself.

I guess it may get a little easier as we get towards Autumn when it reaches opposition, though the improvement will be nowhere near as pronounced as it is with Mars or Jupiter.  Must try to have a go at it this year.

James

[Kirscovitch]

I tried viewing Uranus once. I may or may have not seen it depending on the goto alignment. If I viewed it, it just looked like any other star around it.

[todd8137]

Man o man that's some file 15gb

[Barv]

I tried viewing Uranus once. I may or may have not seen it depending on the goto alignment. If I viewed it, it just looked like any other star around it.

Yes, it was never going to be easy, particularly with a coloured camera. I believe one of the voyagers struggled to get detail on it and that was a hell of a lot closer than me!

[Barv]

Article here on Uranus:

http://www.damianpeach.com/images/articles/uranus_abel/JBAA%20121-4%20Uranus%20Abel%20&%20Peach.pdf

JD

Interesting that. Especially that DP recommends imaging for an hour or more to even show an equatorial belt. I will have to try with a mono cam and a red filter again next time. The extra sensitivity of the mono cam may just produce something.

Regards

Harvey

[sologuitarist61]

Well done, I think that may be the best you will get with amateur gear!

[Barv]

Well done, I think that may be the best you will get with amateur gear! [/quote

Well done, I think that may be the best you will get with amateur gear!

I think that a handful of imagers have got more by using mono cams and filters. That is what I'll try next time round.

Thanks Richard

[Barv]

Well worth the attempt, I reckon.  I've been meaning to have a try at this for some time myself.

I guess it may get a little easier as we get towards Autumn when it reaches opposition, though the improvement will be nowhere near as pronounced as it is with Mars or Jupiter.  Must try to have a go at it this year.

James

Yes, have a go James, because it is so difficult, it is a real challenge. I can't work out why more people, - particularly the experienced ones, don't have a go at this. When favourably placed, there is a real chance of just getting something. I find it really enthralling, it's one of my favourite targets. I will get something, - watch this space!

Cheers Harvey