Seems like Jupiter is top dog. What about ?

[Cloengaa]

Hey all.

I notice mostly its jupiter that people image. I see a few Saturn and Uranus.

How come nobody imaged the Venus Mars which was close to each other right now ? I know Venus is featureless but that just means one has to work harder on getting good results.

Mercury should also be a target right now.

Is nobody working on these planets ?? would be awesome to seeing something new in here.

All though I must say all you peoples Jupiter and Saturn pictures are wonderful, I just fancy something else.

So lets see those other planets.

[Freedom2099]

Jupiter just passed opposition few days ago (beginning of february), hence now it is a great time to look at it! On the contrary Mars and Venus are extremely far from opposition right now and although it was a great view having them close to each-other at this moment through the eyepiece there is not much to see!

[JamesF]

Currently Jupiter is close to opposition and a good target.  Mars is quite the opposite as it approaches conjunction in mid-June (I think), so isn't really a particularly appealing target at the moment.  It's almost as small as it gets in terms of apparent diameter.  Saturn will become a better target over the next few months (opposition is late May), but it's still very low in the sky in northern latitudes, so an awkward and not particularly rewarding target for many of us.  Venus isn't too bad, but perhaps coincides with people travelling home from work and all that early evening stuff and imaging may well therefore rely on suitable weather at the weekends for many.

So it's probably mostly down to people concentrating on the targets that are offering the best opportunity at the time.

James

[Cloengaa]

That was the feeling I had also. It just seemed like a perfect opportunity to get Mars and Venus in the same picture even though Mars is far away. I still have to see a picture taken by an amateur of Mercury hehe.

[ronin]

Saturn is smaller then Jupiter (in angular terms) and there is more detail to get at on Jupiter. Uranus is again small (very small). As the magnification goes up so does the general loss of detail.

Venus has the problem that although bright it is effectively 100% cloud covered, so all you image is the top of planet wide clouds. Not really a lot of interest. Bit like imaging top top of a cotten wool bud.

Mars is small so again the magnification required means a less sharp image, also being a rocky planet not really a great deal to drag out.

Jupiter sort of manages to have the size and the detail to be the best object, equally one of them has to be the best.

[Cloengaa]

Well off course Jupiter is the favorite planet to image because it has a lot of detail and its so big. But it also makes it a somewhat easy target compared to many of the other planets. 

Let's take Venus. Yes it is cloudcovered but could there be drawn any details out of the cloudcover ? could there be different colors in the clouds ? I have seen venus in my telescope and it seems really hard to get a good focus because it is cloudcovered, but as with all clouds there must be features. Now that would make it a hard target to lure those details out of and a more challenging target.

What about Mercury ? is there any chance of luring details out of that planet ?

[Thonolan]

What about Mercury ? is there any chance of luring details out of that planet ?

Of course there is. I've seen some outstanding photos of Mercury taken with a C11. A good example here.

[Cloengaa]

That is a very good picture.

[Virgoman]

Hi Christian. Couple of images for you. The Mars composite was posted by me a short while ago and illustrates, I think, why this generally isn`t a good time to observe the red planet. The Venus image was taken by me last month and to all intents and purposes shows a featureless ninety odd percent phase of the planet. To tease out cloud structure you would need to use an (expensive!) UV filter. However, I for one shall be trying to capture and record how the phases of Venus alter in the coming months as Venus climbs ever higher in our skies. Mercury is not well placed for observation at the moment. However, the above post by Thonolan shows that capture is possible albeit with a sizeable aperture.

Finally, do you do any planetary imaging yourself? Maybe you could try a few captures?

[Cloengaa]

Hi Virgoman.

Well that sure is a huge difference in size on mars. Venus is as I would expect it to be but I wonder why there is not more cloud detail in the cloudcover of Venus.

Well I have worked off course a couple times on Jupiter but not with my skymax 127 and phillips 900 webcam. I am missing a laptop at the moment so I am trying to see if I can hook it up to my desktop inside.

I also have a canon DSLR camera, the 1100D that I want to use but it is really hard to get the exact right exposure times for planets. I am thinking of trying to video the planets with it instead.

So for now I am not really set up for imaging all though I have the bits and bobs.

[Pete Presland]

Venus is certainly near the top of my list over the coming weeks and hopefully Saturn as well. Unfortunately work/diner/setting not long after sunset all take there toll, but hopefully very soon i will imaging her. Saturn means either late night or early morning again work makes this problematic.

I am looking forward to trying the 742 pro planet filter again on Saturn and on Venus as well.