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Hello people, I'm back sort of after not looking at anything in the night sky since april.

I managed to get some very nice images of Saturn, Mars and Jupiter using a modded webcam and a 2x barlow and without the barlow which I am happy with and am not going to attempt to get any other images of them unless something drastic happens.... Although I will probably do Saturn again because of the change of postion of the ring.

Anyway, the question I really want to ask is this:

Using a Skymax 127 Mak on a dobsonian base, would it be possible to get a very short video of Neptune/Uranus?
I don't think I would bother with the friustration of using a 2x barlow on such a small target.

Does anyone have any settings/advice they would be able to offer on capturing Neptune with a webcam? High exposure/gain etc? As I do not know where to begin with Neptune or Usanus come to that!

Second question is about Mercury.

Has anyone managed to get a short recording of Mercury using a webcam?
I would like to try it, but I really don't know what dates mercury is furthest away from the sun when rising in the east before sunrise. Can anyone help with that?

Here are the photos from my 127 Mak, all taken manually.
Thanks in advance!
 

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I can't coment on technicalities since i don't own any telescope but those pictures are nice!

One question on Saturn Image: Is that thin black gap on the rings (to the left) a hint of the Cassini's Division or are my eyes playing tricks on me?

Hope you get some answers to your questions :)

Clear Skies.

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Hello people, I'm back sort of after not looking at anything in the night sky since april.

I managed to get some very nice images of Saturn, Mars and Jupiter using a modded webcam and a 2x barlow and without the barlow which I am happy with and am not going to attempt to get any other images of them unless something drastic happens.... Although I will probably do Saturn again because of the change of postion of the ring.

Anyway, the question I really want to ask is this:

Using a Skymax 127 Mak on a dobsonian base, would it be possible to get a very short video of Neptune/Uranus?

I don't think I would bother with the friustration of using a 2x barlow on such a small target.

Does anyone have any settings/advice they would be able to offer on capturing Neptune with a webcam? High exposure/gain etc? As I do not know where to begin with Neptune or Usanus come to that!

Second question is about Mercury.

Has anyone managed to get a short recording of Mercury using a webcam?

I would like to try it, but I really don't know what dates mercury is furthest away from the sun when rising in the east before sunrise. Can anyone help with that?

Here are the photos from my 127 Mak, all taken manually.

Thanks in advance!

Hi Charlie_132

many thanks for sharing your great astro experience with us.

I'm very curious about the photos you've taken of Jupiter, Saturn and Mars, great job! I also have Mak 127 and I'm interested astro photography...

Did you really used a webcam to make the photos..?

Cheers and clear skies

Todor

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I can't coment on technicalities since i don't own any telescope but those pictures are nice!

One question on Saturn Image: Is that thin black gap on the rings (to the left) a hint of the Cassini's Division or are my eyes playing tricks on me?

Hope you get some answers to your questions :)

Clear Skies.

Hello, it may be the cassini divison, although I'm not 100% sure either!

I was planning on editing that image again so its less red and so that mars is less red and more the natural colour. They could like fine though..... I dont know.

Todor - Yeah I used a 127 mak and MS Lifecam. I have got some images I took using a xbox 360 modded webcam too. They are just as good, just the lens got a little dusty and it because too much of a mission to clean it before as i couldnt get the right section of dust off that caused me trouble.

Once I have a decent image of Venus, Neptune, Uranus and Mercury, I will most probably sell my webcams on ebay or wherever.

I will only image jupiter/mars and saturn if anything massive changes about them like jupiter losing a band or gaining an extra easily visible band..............

Saturn would be interesting to image once a year so i could get a full rotation of the rings. But I can take a quick image of that using my mobile phone.

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The Mak 127 is a great scope for planetary / lunar imaging at f/11 - don't be so hasty in getting rid of the web cams, though....

Your Mars and Saturn are a touch too red for my eyes, but you can make out details - including Cassini in Saturns rings. They could probably benefit from a bit of TLC with wavelets in Registax too - you can re-align the RGB channels as well in Registax.

Jupiter is a nice image - clear and plenty of detail, including the GRS!

Shame about your imaging strategy - part of the whole fun for many people is to see the changes in surface detail or the change in the rings as they open / close.

As for Neptune / Uranus, well, they're gonna be no bigger than a little dot with your kit - even with a barlow. You'd need a 4 or 5 times to really make it worthwhile - IMHO of course!

Mercury is possible with a webcam - see this guys images to get an idea, he uses a Makl 127 too.. http://flickrhivemind.net/Tags/toucam,webcam/Interesting

And finally, for the details on its (and any orbit) you need a planetarium - Stellarium or Carte du Ciel are both free ones

Keep posting your images though :)

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My experience with the Lifecam is that it does tend to produce images that are biased towards the red, but that can be sorted out in processing.  I'm far from an expert with that camera though.

I reckon a 2x barlow is about right for this camera and OTA.  Much less than that and you're not capturing as much detail as you might.  Much more than that and you're not capturing any more detail, but making things harder for yourself into the bargain.

I found that Dave Mitsky's monthly guides are handy for Mercury.  They used to be posted on SGL but now only appear to be on CN.  He does give the times at which Mercury is at its furthest eastern and western elongations from the Sun, which is when it's most suited to imaging.

James

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I am going to try to lower the redness of saturn and mars, but I have tried a couple of times and failed...... I find it very difficult to get the correct colour for those two.

Also, I don't think I have the ice caps in my photo of mars? I have some clouds though, which looks like a S shape.

JamesF - Does mercury appear furthest away from the sun east and west atleast once a month? I can remember you have done quite a lot of imaging. Did you ever manage to get mercury manually? Also, did you ever manage to see what neptune and uranus loook like through either the xbox cam or the life cam with no barlow?
Last thing..... Do you think I would need high exposure/gain to find uranus/neptune to even get it on my screen? Or is trying to image those two planets next to useless with my 127 mak with no barlow and manually?

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From memory I think that if Mercury is at it's greatest separation from the Sun (say to the west, so it will be visible before sunrise), then about seven weeks later it's as far to the East as it gets (and visible in the evening).  Mercury's orbit is relatively eccentric however, so sometimes it can be far more easterly/westerly than others.

I've seen Mercury naked eye, through binoculars and through a non-GOTO scope numerous times, but I've never attempted to image it.  Uranus I've seen through a small scope and was quite easy to find manually (and it had a fairly clear green/blue tint which made it obvious).  Neptune was an absolute pig to find manually with the 127 Mak.  I did so eventually, but it was barely possible to distinguish from the stars in the field of view and I was only really sure I'd found it because it was in the right position amongst the stars according to Stellarium.

I've not imaged either of these though once I get the obsy up and running I shall certainly have a go.  Uranus may be feasible with the Mak and the Xbox cam or Lifecam I'd think.  My guess is that Neptune will be quite hard.  I'd start off at high gain and long exposure to try to get them on the sensor and then back it off as necessary.

To find and image the outer planets manually with a small scope and webcam is a tricky task, I reckon.  But what is life without a challenge, eh? :)

James

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Haha exactly.

I think I will give mercury a miss imagine wise until I have seen it a few times with just my eye and binoculars. I am guessing a small power pair of binoculars can locate mercury with it being quite a good mag? Isn't it visible by eye as long as you know what you are looking for at the right date/time?
 

I reckon it would be easier just to take a photo of it with a decent hand held camera  rather then trying to find it with a webcam and mak. As you proabably know... The planet drift can be a nightmare, and by the time I have figured all that out the sun will be up.....

Saying that, I will probably give it a go with the webcam, but it will be a pain because atleast with bigger planets you can learn the drift of the planet onto the screen then if it isn't working one night you can pack up and try the next clear night. But wiith mercury I will have one attempt to get it right every other month as I can only use the East when it is furthest away from the sun at sunrise.

I have just came inside from my garden looking for uranus. I failed. I just do not know what I am looking for other then it being pale green/blue.

I might try again another night with an app on my friends phone so I can see roughly where it is then look for something that colour. All I could see tonight was the multi coloured stars rising when they seem to be flashing different colours.

I think I will give neptune a miss with the 127 mak.

I still think I need someone who knows what uranus and neptune look like and how to find it easily to show me where it is in the sky and what it looks like through the finder scope, even if it is with a goto scope.

Just seems no one from Stevenage has seen this thread yet maybe.

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