My imaging of Jupiter getting worse

[Nigel G]

I first tried imaging  jupiter 2 months ago and was over the moon ☺ with the results. Amazed with a decent picture of Jupiter and the big storm. At the time Jupiter was at a low to horizon altitude. 

Ever since then I have tried many times to capture as good or better images.

Last night was the best seeing I have experienced,  through the 8" dobsonian  with a 10mm and x2 barlow I could clearly see the red dot and all the bands, I  could even see smaller storms within the bands. Jupiter was high in the sky.

The scope had cooled and ep's and mirrors clear, 

So I  was careful with setting up and focusing the camera. ISO 800 , 30fps high quality , auto white balance  , I focused on Jupiter with live view on. Took about 1.5 minutes of video. I also tried a few other settings ISO 1600 and 400. I also used 2 stacked x2 barlows on the camera, I viewed Jupiter with a 30mm ep and the same 2 barlows and could see the mentioned details 

Waking up this morning excited to get processing run the videos through PIPP,  then stacked with registax, what a disappointing result. Better than previous tries but not nearly as good as my first attempt.

So stacked through autostakkert  and processed with registax , no improvement. 

I think I'm getting something wrong,  I just can't work it out. I think it's camera related although  my dso imaging is getting better .

Does anyone have any idea what might be the problem 

I have seen some stunning images of Jupiter taken through 8" dobs, I don't expect to be able to equal these but I would expect to get far more detail than 2 pale bands a red dot and dark poles. My first attempt I had 4 bands the red storm and pale poles. 

Cheers  

Nigel.

[ShrimpBoatSteve]

I tried to do Jupiter with my DSLR and the results are never that good. That's why I purchased the colour GP-CAM from Altair Astro. I've used it a few times now, but the seeing has only been poor to average.

This was my result from average seeing: Ganymede, Europe and the shadow of Io. 4000 frames with 80ms exposures, Baader 2.25x barlow. Autostakkert, PixInsight and Lightroom for processing.

[jsmoraes]

NIgel, I think that nothing is wrong. DSLRs aren't good camera to planetary images. And barlows can have some spherical distortion that cause blurred appearance (as out of focus).

DSLRs have large sensor, the planet will appear small. And despite of the pixel size the final resoluton (arcsec per pixel or miles per pixel) will be a bit poor.

To show it, see below: Telescope GSO 305 mm + Focal Extender 3x (a kind of barlow); size from ASI120MC, Canon 1100D with magnification in Photoshop to have the same size and the size from Canon 1100D mode 5x of BackyardEos.

This small photo is the natural size (1x mode) from Canon. Therefore the real image from Canon.

note: with Canon 1100D in movie mode x1 (planetary mode x1 of BackyardEos) the image scale is reduced to 1056 x 704 pixels. Therefore worse resolution than still images with 4272 x 2848 pixels.

The same loss of quallity I have if I shot the Moon with Canon.

 

Edited February 17, 2016 by jsmoraes

[Nigel G]

Thanks for your replies, 

It looks like the GP Cam is the way to head for better results.  The only problem with that is I have no way of running it unless I take my pc into the garden  ☺, I  don't have a laptop only a tablet and pc.

Unless there's one on the market for tablets it could get very expensive. Must check.

Cheers guys

Nigel.

[Nigel G]

Just now, Nigel G said:

Thanks for your replies, 

It looks like the GP Cam is the way to head for better results.  The only problem with that is I have no way of running it unless I take my pc into the garden  ☺, I  don't have a laptop only a tablet and pc.

Unless there's one on the market for tablets it could get very expensive. Must check.

Cheers guys

Nigel.

This was my first attempt of Jupiter,  I  was very happy to see this

 

[jsmoraes]

It is ok for DSLRs. Although a little bright and contrast may help.

[Nigel G]

10 minutes ago, jsmoraes said:

It is ok for DSLRs. Although a little bright and contrast may help.

This was my first 2 months ago , most recent about half as good.

[Nigel G]

I have come up with a compromise to try out. A bit drastic but constructed from unused items.

I have a wildlife mini cam and a 10mm ep I don't like.

The cam has a 60ft lead and software to operate. I can actually see my pc screen from my observing place.

Here's the really technical bit, I have super glued the cam lense to the ep ☺

I have tried the cam/eyepiece in my dobs looking at a pilon about 2 miles away, ? It works great, gin clear, also with a barlow attached. 

Now need to try it on Jupiter.  I'm quietly confident it will work , how good I will have to wait and see.

I think to start off with I will attach it to the 150p goto. 

Nigel.

[ShrimpBoatSteve]

I guess it's the thing with astro photography, it is a very expensive addiction! Although I'm using my good laptop at the moment, I'm intending to get a second hand one with a couple of USB ports to take outside. The 17" laptop is a bit bulky to haul around outside.

One of the lessons I learned very quickly is to ask questions, I bought a cheap USB camera ... it was rubbish, loads of noise and very few settings available.

Best thing I did was but Steve Richards book ... Making Every Photon Count. I ordered my copy at about 4pm and it was delivered the next morning. I can't recommend this highly enough, it has saved me money!!

http://www.nightskyimages.co.uk/making_every_photon_count.htm

Cheers,

S

[Nigel G]

2 hours ago, ShrimpBoatSteve said:

I guess it's the thing with astro photography, it is a very expensive addiction! Although I'm using my good laptop at the moment, I'm intending to get a second hand one with a couple of USB ports to take outside. The 17" laptop is a bit bulky to haul around outside.

One of the lessons I learned very quickly is to ask questions, I bought a cheap USB camera ... it was rubbish, loads of noise and very few settings available.

Best thing I did was but Steve Richards book ... Making Every Photon Count. I ordered my copy at about 4pm and it was delivered the next morning. I can't recommend this highly enough, it has saved me money!!

http://www.nightskyimages.co.uk/making_every_photon_count.htm

Cheers,

S

Thanks Steve, 

I'm going to order the book, I think it'swhat I need.

Nigel.

[Nigel G]

I found out the reason for my images going down hill....I had set the resolution to high, I didn't realise  smaller frame size was better, was trying to process 1920-1080 when I first used 640-480. Anyway here  is my latest image,  I'm very pleased with the result and realising the problem.