Having problems with Mars and Jupiter

[chiralchemist]

Having had some recent success with a couple of wide-field shots I thought I'd use last nights break in the weather to have a go at something different; Jupiter and Mars. Used a Nexstar 127 and a webcam with Sharpcap to control. Jupiter wasn't too bad....

..although the most frustrating problem I had was finding the image on the screen after centering in the eyepiece. After many wasted minutes slewing slowly back and forth it appears that fiddling with the focus was the key (the focal point of the webcam must be significantly different to the eyepiece). This caused so much of a problem that I couldn't face trying to add a 2 x Barlow as well, which many recommend. The final iimage looks OK, but there is a 'halo' around Jupiter, probably caused by my sharpcap settings (back to this later).

Mars was a different beast. No matter how I fiddled this is the 'best' (and I do use this word very loosely) I managed to achieve.

I think that the problem lies either in Shapcap or the webcam that I got here...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-3MP-USB2-0-Digital-Eyepiece-Telescope-All-OPERATION-SYSTEMS-PCs-/140938459595?pt=UK_Photography_Telescopes&hash=item20d09639cb

...as I can't use the recommended settings that a number of people have posted.

So, any clues or tips on how to improve these especially with the horrifc Mars image are greatly appreciated. I should point out I did try to generate images using APT and my DSLR, but I think they are overexposed and may need some adjustment to settings that I'm not aware of.

[kenny k]

You can try to make sure your fimderscope is aligned to your scope,make note of any movement between removing EP and inserting camera in your finder,it helped me for sure.

Goodluck

Kenny

[Leveye]

I go the HD movie converted to single avi frames road when doing planetary.Usually about 90 seconds worth of frames stacked. Personally i think it's one of three things. The quality of the "seeing" conditions, focus or your simply going beyond the quality of your gear and using too much magnification. After some time goes by you'll just know what the cause is and carry on. Keep plugging away!

[chiralchemist]

Do you have any recommended settings for the HD movie? I did try this but the image looked way too bright.

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