Neptune and Triton

[lukebl]

Following Michael Morris's excellent recent work in imaging Uranus and Neptune with a DSLR, I thought I'd have a go and see if I could image Triton with a DSLR.

So I hooked the DSLR up to a 3x Televue Barlow onto the f/5 200mm Newtonian, and did a series of 10x2 minute exposures at 800 ISO. I took a load of darks too, but couldn't get DSS to stack properly, so I quickly did it manually in Photoshop without the darks.

Bingo! There was Triton, close to the planet. And only 6 degrees from the nearly-full moon! Here's the first effort, without darks so its a bit grainy and with a few hot and dead pixels. Will have a better attempt at stacking after a night's sleep! I'll also work out what the field of view was (this is a full-frame image).

And here it is with labels:

[michaelmorris]

Truly excellent result.

[Demonperformer]

Great result

[lukebl]

Truly excellent result.

Thanks Michael.

Just wondered how you got your Uranus and Neptune images to stack in DSS. I can't get it to register the images because there aren't enough stars in the image, so it just won't do it. Do you know if there's a way of manually selecting the registering points?

[lukebl]

Here's a version with the stars identified and a scale added:

[Demonperformer]

When you register checked pictures, go to the advanced tab and move the slider to the left. Can also untick the box. Both of these will increase the number of stars detected

[geoff_k]

That is a splendid result, especially with the Moon so near.

Geoff

[lukebl]

When you register checked pictures, go to the advanced tab and move the slider to the left. Can also untick the box. Both of these will increase the number of stars detected

Tried that, but it still can't find any stars. There are basically just 7 stars in each frame, but the software can't find them or it's decided there aren't enough. Maybe they're too bloated or something? I tried using comet stacking, but it wouldn't allow me to click on Neptune as the 'comet'. So, I'm rather stumped.

[AztecastroMcJ]

superb result there Luke

(personally i would like to see last pic with bit of blue added to planet

and spikes removed from planet also, just my opinion)

thx for posting James

[lukebl]

......and spikes removed from planet also...

You're probably right. Here it is without spikes

[DarkerSky]

Nice capture Luke. I'm yet to track down Neptune.

[TheThing]

Triton is loads clearer without the spikes. Cracking photo, well done.

What with you and Mr the DemonPerformer, the rest of us will have to raise our game a bit!

Trans Neptunian objects anyone?

[FranckiM06]

Luke, it is fantastic result with your 200mm. I will try it with my TSA 120 refractor + the Powermate x4 to see if I can have some thing interresting !

So, it is beautiful image. I like it.

Franck