Jupiter with Io transit - 6/7 Nov 2023

[geoflewis]

I had another session with good seeing last night and was chatting with @Kon whilst we were both trying to make the most of it. Kostas attention was mainly on Uranus, with superb results as he's recently posted. Whilst I also had a try at Uranus, my main course remained with Jupiter, whilst Io and it's shadow were transiting. I ran 3 sequences of 9x1m RGB, then a single set of 9x1m IR, followed by a couple of experimental runs with the CH4 (methane band) filter, all captured with the colour camera (ASI462MC) through my C14.

After discussions on my thread from the previous (5 Nov) images, I held back on the processing a tad, so will be interested what everyone thinks.

I'm still trying to get to grips with CH4 imaging, so this is best 30% from a single 3m SER. The other SER was 5m duration and Jupiter's fast rotation left that looking quite blurred. I'm feel that I'm getting on to the right tracks, but probably would do better by derotating and stacking the best frames from a few 2m SERs, so I'll give that a try next time.

[Ags]

Superb!

[Space Cowboy]

Terrific images again Geof! I prefer the processing on these. Much cleaner with more natural colour balance.

[Kon]

Excellent set of images from the preview I saw earlier. In my eyes these images are a lot better in terms of processing and details compared to the previous post.

I am baffled on how you pull these details under our skies 😜. Seriously, I gave up on Jupiter last night after 4 captures as it was a soft mess. I should have persevered but like you said Uranus got my attention.

[Kon]

1 minute ago, Space Cowboy said:

Terrific images again Geof! I prefer the processing on these. Much cleaner with more natural colour balance.

I agree with Stuart.

[Kon]

I will not comment on the CH4 as we had our chat but in brief several 1-2 min captures with derotation.

[geoflewis]

Just now, Space Cowboy said:

Terrific images again Geof! I prefer the processing on these. Much cleaner with more natural colour balance.

Thanks Stuart,

I agree. I held back on colour sat + vibrance, as well as the wavelets, so gentler processing throughout. Despite doing this for years, it's still very easy to get carried away.....🙄

[geoflewis]

16 hours ago, Kon said:

Excellent set of images from the preview I saw earlier. In my eyes these images are a lot better in terms of processing and details compared to the previous post.

I am baffled on how you pull these details under our skies 😜. Seriously, I gave up on Jupiter last night after 4 captures as it was a soft mess. I should have persevered but like you said Uranus got my attention.

Thanks Kostas,

As I said in reply to Stuart, it's so easy to get carried away and press a bit too hard with the processing when looking at good data. It's the excellent feedback from you and others that allows me to step back and then go again with a gentler touch. Always learning, so keep the feedback flowing please.....🤞

Edited November 8, 2023 by geoflewis

[Neil_104]

Thanks for posting Geof - as we were discussing just the other day, I've been comparing a sketch I made at the time to your first image. Nice to see what was actually responsible for the detail I was seeing. Great images 👍

[geoflewis]

9 minutes ago, Neil_104 said:

Thanks for posting Geof - as we were discussing just the other day, I've been comparing a sketch I made at the time to your first image. Nice to see what was actually responsible for the detail I was seeing. Great images 👍

Thanks Neil, it's great to know that my images are helping with your visual observations.

[Barv]

Fantastic job on those Geof! You've really nailed focus too. That C14 is clearly performing well for you. Do you have any cooling issues with it?

Cheers

Harvey

[geoflewis]

27 minutes ago, Barv said:

Fantastic job on those Geof! You've really nailed focus too. That C14 is clearly performing well for you. Do you have any cooling issues with it?

Cheers

Harvey

Thanks Harvey,

I have the C14 pretty well dialing in I think, but do get lazy sometimes, by not checking collimation as often as maybe I should. Cooling can be an issue in summer or after a hot day, so I'm reluctant to open the RoR too early when the Sun is still shining, maybe open a crack with the door open to allow some airflow in the obs. This time of year temperature is less of an issue, plus I have aftermarket fans fitted, so will usually run those onopening up to help stabalise air inside the tube with conditions outside. I sometimes run the fans during imaging, but generally I'm good to go without them after running them for 20-30 mins, or so this time of year.

[Pete Presland]

Superb images, the seeing seemed pretty good on the 6th, my bed (work) was calling unfortunately before the transit started. got some nice views of the GRS though before

[geoflewis]

On 12/11/2023 at 06:55, Pete Presland said:

Superb images, the seeing seemed pretty good on the 6th, my bed (work) was calling unfortunately before the transit started. got some nice views of the GRS though before

Thanks Pete, I lost touch with the hobby for the best part of 30 years, due to family and work comitments, but since I retired in in 2012, work at least has been one thing I haven't had to juggle in my life...

[Pete Presland]

8 hours ago, geoflewis said:

Thanks Pete, I lost touch with the hobby for the best part of 30 years, due to family and work comitments, but since I retired in in 2012, work at least has been one thing I haven't had to juggle in my life...

It is a great time to be an astronomer, imaging wise anyway. The digital advances have been spectacular in recent years, does not seem 5 minutes ago i was using an Philips Toucam Pro ( + Selotape) for the planets. 

Unfortunately the unrelenting march of light pollution has killed it for many visual astronomers.

[bob-c]

Lovely Geof.

[geoflewis]

56 minutes ago, Pete Presland said:

The digital advances have been spectacular in recent years, does not seem 5 minutes ago i was using an Philips Toucam Pro ( + Selotape) for the planets.

That's so true Pete, it's changed hugely since I took early retirement 11 years ago and even in the past 2-3  years the advances in camera technology has been phenominal.

[geoflewis]

13 minutes ago, bob-c said:

Lovely Geof.

Thanks Bob