Uranus with northern polar hood and moons (28/09/24)

[Kon]

I finally found the time to process my Uranus capture from the 28th Sep. This was a 15 min capture with IR pass at 742 nm. Despite this the northern polar hood came out good and the five main moons popped nicely after a gentle stretch, including Miranda. The moons from top to bottom are: Oberon, Umbriel, Miranda, Ariel and Titania. False coloured.

 

Edited Tuesday at 18:34 by Kon

[bosun21]

Lovely Kostas 👍. I'll have to get you to explain to me how to layer images to bring the moons out. I understand the theory just not the know how.

[Kon]

24 minutes ago, bosun21 said:

Lovely Kostas 👍. I'll have to get you to explain to me how to layer images to bring the moons out. I understand the theory just not the know how.

Thanks Ian. It's not too difficult. I have two versions, one that is my normal processed image and another that's more stretched. I open the two as two layers. I then select the moons and paste them in the non stretched one. You can also add the two together with some masking of the overbright planet. Message me if you want a more step by step guide.

[JeremyS]

Impressive 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[bosun21]

21 minutes ago, Kon said:

Thanks Ian. It's not too difficult. I have two versions, one that is my normal processed image and another that's more stretched. I open the two as two layers. I then select the moons and paste them in the non stretched one. You can also add the two together with some masking of the overbright planet. Message me if you want a more step by step guide.

Thanks Kostas. I'll do a bit of research on it and if I need some help I'll message you if that's okay.

[Kon]

2 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Impressive 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Thanks Jeremy.

[Sunshine]

This is great, i have never seen an image of Uranus and moons in this forum, before.

[CraigT82]

Lovely stuff 👍🏼

[JOC]

'Lovely' is what came to my mind too.  I find it simply amazing that we can resolve such a realtively small planet, let alone clearly see a good number of its moons to that level of apparent magnification and detail from sitting here on our planet.  OK, I know some of you imaging people have some pretty fancy set-ups, but before I owned a telescope and joined this forum I was under the impression that images like that and some of those fantastic false colour nebula shots were taken from space.  It just seems incredible that such results are achievable literally from people;s 'back yards' and are within the grasp of anyone with sufficient kit and know-how.  They aren't just the realms of professional imaging sites with huge dishes pointing to the sky, sort of Jodrell bank, level.  Images like that above are just simply gob-smacking given how they are achieved and with what kit.

Edited yesterday at 07:33 by JOC

[Kon]

3 hours ago, Sunshine said:

This is great, i have never seen an image of Uranus and moons in this forum, before.

Thanks. You probably missed the other images, as I and others have posted in the last Uranus apparition 😉.

[Kon]

33 minutes ago, CraigT82 said:

Lovely stuff 👍🏼

Thanks Craig.

[Ouroboros]

I was just about to say the same as @JOC.  An amazing image and, as you say, not taken from space or with a huge ground based telescope but from a back garden. Herschel, who I think discovered Uranus from his back garden, would be amazed that such was  possible. 

[Kon]

1 hour ago, JOC said:

'Lovely' is what came to my mind too.  I find it simply amazing that we can resolve such a realtively small planet, let alone clearly see a good number of its moons to that level of apparent magnification and detail from sitting here on our planet.  OK, I know some of you imaging people have some pretty fancy set-ups, but before I owned a telescope and joined this forum I was under the impression that images like that and some of those fantastic false colour nebula shots were taken from space.  It just seems incredible that such results are achievable literally from people;s 'back yards' and are within the grasp of anyone with sufficient kit and know-how.  They aren't just the realms of professional imaging sites with huge dishes pointing to the sky, sort of Jodrell bank, level.  Images like that above are just simply gob-smacking given how they are achieved and with what kit.

 

1 hour ago, Ouroboros said:

I was just about to say the same as @JOC.  An amazing image and, as you say, not taken from space or with a huge ground based telescope but from a back garden. Herschel, who I think discovered Uranus from his back garden, would be amazed that such was  possible. 

Thank you both. I totally agree with you that amateur telescopes are capable to deliver excellent results both visually and imaging. To be honest, I did the same last year with my 8" without tracking; it took a lot longer exposures but it shows that mass produced telescopes are still extremely capable of fantastic results. My highlight  is capturing Venus clouds with my 8" in 2022/23 at very high resolution.

I have only been doing this hobby since 2021/22 and I am really blown away every time I get out to do visual or imaging.

[morimarty]

What a great image Kostas. You have certainly encouraged me to give Uranus a go.

[geoflewis]

Excellent image Kostas. The 5 main moons, so next stop the rings.....😉

[Kon]

2 hours ago, morimarty said:

What a great image Kostas. You have certainly encouraged me to give Uranus a go.

Thanks Martyn. Looking forward to what you can get.

[Kon]

2 hours ago, geoflewis said:

Excellent image Kostas. The 5 main moons, so next stop the rings.....😉

Thanks Geof. That was the plan but high clouds ruined the long capture and by the time they cleared daylight started breaking. The rings are my goal for Uranus this apparition. I wonder if I should add the 610 in the mix but others seem to be able to pull them with the 742 only (including your attempt).

[Barv]

Excellent results Kostas. I have got reasonable results on this some time ago, but as you know, everything has to be right! When I did it, 1 hour exposures were really a necessity. These days, with more advanced and sensitive cameras, this has clearly been reduced. I must give things another try! 😀

[Kon]

59 minutes ago, Barv said:

Excellent results Kostas. I have got reasonable results on this some time ago, but as you know, everything has to be right! When I did it, 1 hour exposures were really a necessity. These days, with more advanced and sensitive cameras, this has clearly been reduced. I must give things another try! 😀

Thanks Barv. Cameras these days are really sensitive to the various wavelengths and makes imaging together with software a lot easier once the conditions are right. You should be able to get some really nice results with your current setup.