Jupiter + GRS, 14th June

[Tommohawk]

TBH I wasn't expecting a straightforward session because I'd only just got my software set up again after my Windows failure of a few weeks back. It took forever to get it all reloaded and then all the correct settings applied. Amazingly, Stellarium and Stellariumscope + the ASCOM software all decided to co-operate and the basics all went well.

I have a 40 minute slot between the trees where I can catch Jupiter just after the meridian so still about 23 deg elevation, but I have to work really fast - locate Jupiter with camera only, then switch in the powermate - fingers crossed that its still in the frame, and then focus double quick , and then go go go!

Actually I discovered a neat trick on my previous session for locating Jupiter if its out of frame once the powermate is switched in. If I rack up the gain, and deliberately defocus, the resulting image is much larger and some part of it is usually in the frame. From there by just moving slight E/W or N/S I can usually locate it precisely. 

Anyhow the one thing I did forget was to set the USB traffic in Firecapture down to 80 - I've no idea what this actually does, but the net effect was that the early AVIs the FPS was sorely reduced. I think I solved this previously by using the RAM buffer rather than changing the USB traffic settings, but this time I didn't get to experiment until after the event. Seems to work well with both USB traffic reduction and RAM buffer so that's what I'll run with next time. In the end I got just short of 200fps for red and a bit less for G and B. 

Anyhow this is the end result - the seeing looked very good given the poor elevation but the end result somehow doesn't quite match up to my expectation. In the end I processed just one 2 minute run for each of RG and B.

Quattro 250 with Powermate x5, ASI290MM (gain 390)+ ZWO EFW, Wavelets in Registax6, stacked in Autostakkert (best 15%), derotated in Winjupos, and a bit of final fiddling in PS. Hope u like it, grateful for any thoughts/comments.

[carastro]

Well done Tom, great result. 

Carole 

[Davey-T]

Nicely done Tom, I had a quick bash at imaging it the other night using Firecapture and had a similar problem with frame rate dropping to 3 or 4 fps so gave up, not sure why as the same setup runs at 30 + fps on the Sun.

Dave

[morimarty]

Thats a very good image with lots of fine detail on show. I use the ram buffer and it's been rock steady for some time now?

[Tommohawk]

Thanks Carole and David and thanks all for the likes. 

Those frame rates seem slow David. Depends on the camera and pc of course  - you need highish gain and reduced exposure time and the minimum size ROI you can get away with. Not sure what settings u use?

[chiltonstar]

I like the colour rendition which is pretty close to what I see by eye. Nice!

Chris

[MarsG76]

I don't know what your expectation is but that is a awesome image... 

[Tommohawk]

19 minutes ago, MarsG76 said:

I don't know what your expectation is but that is a awesome image... 

That's very kind of you- thanks!

This year I'm using a 250mm aperture rather than 200mm as in the past, so I was hoping to see some improvements. I guess this year its a bit lower, so maybe that's it. I had hoped to drive over to Spain or Portugal to gain some elevation, but that hasn't been possible.

BTW this is last years effort with 200mm which I think is better. Just checked and this was 33deg rather than 23, so that probably makes the difference.

[orion25]

Wonderful image, Tom! Nice color and definition

Reggie

[MarsG76]

10 hours ago, Tommohawk said:

was 33deg rather than 23

Oh yeah, that would make a big difference, especially coupled with stiller seeing.

[Tommohawk]

Thanks again for all the likes!

21 hours ago, chiltonstar said:

I like the colour rendition which is pretty close to what I see by eye. Nice!

Chris

14 hours ago, orion25 said:

Wonderful image, Tom! Nice color and definition

Reggie

TBH I tweaked the color slightly  - I think +12 in PS, so it's not entirely natural. But I use the R image as a 40% luminance in Winjupos which does fade the saturation a bit, so I think it's legit!

 

5 hours ago, MarsG76 said:

Oh yeah, that would make a big difference, especially coupled with stiller seeing.

Actually the seeing on the session last week was remarkably good in that there seemed to be minimal turbulence - it had rained a lot earlier and was quite cool which I think helped. But so much more air to look through when that low which must lose resolution. I think we have to wait til 2022 before we get any better here in the UK - bit of a waiting game!