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Why is my Jupiter a white orb


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I tried getting a picture of Jupiter and it was just a white orb. I could see the Galilean moons, but Jupiter was just like a big star. I'm unsure if it's because I had my setting over exposing the picture or if it was because of like the Sun's reflection. (It was about 4:00-4:45 when I took the pictures.) Can I fix my problem or will I need to wait for Jupiter's position to change?

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Jupiter's moons are much fainter than Jupiter, more than 6 magnitudes, so any exposure which records the moons will likely overexpose Jupiter. You need to make a composite image with two exposures, one for the moons and one for Jupiter itself.

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You don't explain how you are taking the image. If you are using a planetary camera, the capture software should have a histogram tool or suchlike to tell you if the image is correctly exposed.  If you have live view, adjust the exposure till you can see the cloud belts.

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9 hours ago, putrigo said:

I tried getting a picture of Jupiter and it was just a white orb. I could see the Galilean moons, but Jupiter was just like a big star. I'm unsure if it's because I had my setting over exposing the picture or if it was because of like the Sun's reflection. (It was about 4:00-4:45 when I took the pictures.) Can I fix my problem or will I need to wait for Jupiter's position to change?

You need to give us details of the equipment used, both telescope and camera so we can advise what you were doing wrong

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On 17/05/2022 at 02:40, malc-c said:

You need to give us details of the equipment used, both telescope and camera so we can advise what you were doing wrong

I was using a Celestron NexImage Burst Color and Celestron Astromaster 130eq

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Some astro images are composed of several separate captures. For example images of the sun showing surface details and prominences are usually done seperately, the surface detail short exposure and the prominences longer (over exposed).

The same is done with Jupiter, if the image shows the moons the surface of Jupiter will be over exposed. So take multiple images and edit them in Photoshop or equivalent.

 

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On 18/05/2022 at 04:53, StevieDvd said:

Some astro images are composed of several separate captures. For example images of the sun showing surface details and prominences are usually done seperately, the surface detail short exposure and the prominences longer (over exposed).

The same is done with Jupiter, if the image shows the moons the surface of Jupiter will be over exposed. So take multiple images and edit them in Photoshop or equivalent.

 

 

On 18/05/2022 at 05:12, Elp said:

Your exposure time is too long, or the gain is too high, but pretty much guess it's the former.

Alright, I'll keep these in mind. Thank you!

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On 18/05/2022 at 12:32, putrigo said:

I was using a Celestron NexImage Burst Color and Celestron Astromaster 130eq

What software are you using. Try something like SharpCap or Firecapture. They are excellent for planetary imaging. Take videos and stack them in software like PIPP, Autostakkert, DSS etc. I would have recommended SIRIL but its not really suited for planetary for the moment.

Edited by AstroMuni
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12 hours ago, AstroMuni said:

What software are you using. Try something like SharpCap or Firecapture. They are excellent for planetary imaging. Take videos and stack them in software like PIPP, Autostakkert, DSS etc. I would have recommended SIRIL but its not really suited for planetary for the moment.

I wasn't really using anything to process or stack, I just saw it looked like a big star from my Burst Color's view.

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This is exactly why beginners should be using a histogram meter. As it helps this exact problem. I mentioned this problem a while back and here is the reason its safer not to ignore levels.

And its not only completely overblown that is a risk. Clipping is a risk generally. Sorry guys its not true if you have the moons of Jupiter in a image you are overblown.  I have had many hundreds of images correctly exposed with moons in. 

Now thats cleared up. yes it sounds like over exposure causing the white blob. Next time you image personally i would look at a histogram meter. Sharpcap has one. And if your that unsure. which it sounds like you are. It will prevent not just being completely burned out, but even slight clipping ( or slightly burnt out ) Shorten your exposure to around 1/60th secs. Or 16.7 MS. At your size scope that should at least get you in the ballpark. Unless its very misty and you might have to use a longer exposure like 1/30th secs or 33.3 MS. Aim for a histogram meter reading of around 70%. This will certainly not leave your image over exposed. And will leave room for later levels lifts post processing.  Over time you gain experience with these settings for your particular telescope. sky conditions and the quality of the image. But no one size fits all can be advised. Because even if you know a scope size. Sky transparency can vary from night to night quite considerably. If your wondering about gain. It will have to be juggled with exposure. But read noise will likely be very minimal around 250. But higher and lower will also work. with different effects on the image. The important point is not over expose. Which is why i personally think histogram meters have there use.  These are only very broad guesses that should help you. There is a bit more too it than this. But following this advice should at least get you a image with gas bands and not just a white blob. Hope it helps. I dont normally advise on here anymore. And its a place i prefer to be. But you did need help so ive tried, Hope it helps. 

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One trick I learnt from the days where we didn't have cheap astro cameras let alone modern smart phones is to bracket exposures.  For example with a film based SLR camera I would start at a point I had an educated guess at, say for a bright object, 5 seconds, then increase exposure by 5 seconds through to say 40 seconds.  Granted you ended up with a lot of wasted film to start with, but after a while you soon get a feel for what is a good starting point and end point as you get to understand the capabilities of the equipment (A Vixen 4"  refractor) and could reduce the number of bracketed exposures to a point where it only needed 3 or 4 images.  These days with digital cameras and modern software things are a lot easier as less costly :)

 

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12 hours ago, putrigo said:

I wasn't really using anything to process or stack, I just saw it looked like a big star from my Burst Color's view.

Try out the capture software mentioned. They allow you to see the histogram whilst changing exposure and gain. Aim for around 70-75% and you should start seeing the blob clearing. Take a short video and then use the stacking software to pull out the individual images and stack them. The detail will pop out. Here is a helpful link for Firecapture https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/698787-official-firecapture-tutorials/

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