Motion of Galilean Moons over a 2 hr Period

[Xiga]

Hi guys

So then, what to do when the skies aren't dark enough for any DSO work? Something a bit different...

I wanted to try and show the motion of the 4 Galilean Moons, so i set up the C8 on the HEQ5-pro and hooked up the D5300 and a basic x2 Barlow. 

After faffing about trying to get Jupiter on the bloomin chip (not as easy as i thought it would be!) and then getting focused, i managed only 2 hrs of real-time motion. I would have loved to capture more, but Jupiter is so low in the sky here at 54 degrees N, and my neighbour's house eventually gets in the way too, so 2 hrs is about as good as i can manage right now. 

I did PA through Eqmod and then Sharpcap, and i was guiding using a Finder-Guider. Yeah, i know, a Finder-Guider! But i figured it would still be better than nothing, as i really needed to keep Jupiter as stable as possible. I think PHD2 was reporting an RMS of between 1.2" and 1.5" so not too bad considering the weight of the C8 and the lack of FL of the Finder-Guider. 

I took 750 stills, about one every 10 seconds over the 2 hr period, and then ran them through PIPP to create the video below. Note, i did also take another 750 stills at a shorter exposure for Jupiter itself. The shots were taken in unison (one short, one long, then repeated 750 times) as it was my original intention to combine them so that the final video would not show Jupiter over-exposed, but try as i might i couldn't find an automated way to do this. I did get a video made, but i wasn't happy with the outcome, so i scratched it and just went with the simple option instead. 

Obviously a DSLR is not the best tool for this job, plus with Jupiter at between only 15 and 20 degrees altitude it really wasn't the best conditions, but as i wasn't interested in showing detail, and only motion, i figured what the hell, let's have a go all the same. Plus, it's not something i've really seen anyone else try much. So hopefully now someone else with better equipment, skies, skills can do something similar only way better! I'd love to see what others could achieve with their setups. 

Anyways, hopefully someone found this interesting! lol

 

https://youtu.be/NGqAy_dJ0qw

[Demonperformer]

Cool! Nice demonstration of their movement.

[Xiga]

Made a slight improvement. Exposure of Jupiter is now much better, and the video has been sped up to help show the motion a bit better. 

Still not mind-blowing by all accounts, lol, but better than nothing i suppose!