My first ever image of Jupiter!

[mcooke999]

This was taken with a compact digital camera at x240.

I know its absolutely rubbish but I don't care because it's my first ever image Through the EP I could clearly see nice red banding on jupiter but this hasn't come out in the pic.

[4lefts]

i like it. have you seen this article? i thought it looked quite useful (though i don't have a scope, it's fun to pretend...)

Astrophotography with a Dob - IceInSpace

[spaceboy]

There's nothing wrong with the pic for your first attempt. You may get more detail out of Jupiter if you can change the manual settings on your camera.

SPACEBOY

[johnh]

Thats great improvising its just too bright but we all know what it is with the moons, your first image however gained is special - onwards and upwards.

John.

[oldfruit]

Good first attempt and you got the moons too.

[mcooke999]

Onwards and upwards! I'm glad I got the moons. The 4th moon seemed to be miles away from Jupiter!

I used a standard 12MP Samsung Compact Camera, has anyone got some tips for the right settings. My problem is basically its too bright so can't capture the colours and detail although I can see them with my eye through the EP!

[spaceboy]

I may be wrong but there shouldn't be any colour to Jupiter through the EP

You will be unable to get Jupiter in detail and the moons in one shot. You will have to set your camera exposure and W/B to capture the moons which will make Jupiter over exposed and then capture Jupiter's detail. This then requires Photo shop or similar software to overlap the 2 images to make 1. It may be worth just concentrating on Jupiter at first to see what your compact is capable of. Regards settings you are best to fiddle with them until you get the best results. Most modern compacts allow a few manual settings but have fixed focus which can cause problems of it's own.

Good luck with your next attempt.

SPACEBOY

[LukeSkywatcher]

I may be wrong but there shouldn't be any colour to Jupiter through the EP

You will be unable to get Jupiter in detail and the moons in one shot. You will have to set your camera exposure and W/B to capture the moons which will make Jupiter over exposed and then capture Jupiter's detail. This then requires Photo shop or similar software to overlap the 2 images to make 1. It may be worth just concentrating on Jupiter at first to see what your compact is capable of. Regards settings you are best to fiddle with them until you get the best results. Most modern compacts allow a few manual settings but have fixed focus which can cause problems of it's own.

Good luck with your next attempt.

SPACEBOY

There's plenty of colour on Jupiter through the EP. For me i see the planet surface as a dirty yellow/champagne colour and the bands around the planet appear much darker. Even with my 90mm scope i can easily usually see 4 clear bands around the planet.

I agree though that to get both the planet and moons in focus in the same image actually takes 2-3 images and a composite created. For the above image the focus is on that planet, and the moons look like splodges, while the planet is pretty well defined and not to overly exposed.

I have images of Jupiter (dont we all) where the planet is one big bright overexposed dollop and the moons are pinpoint sharp.

This is my best ever (to date) image of Jupiter. It was taken with my 450D on a fixed tripod with 10X zoom function. Its out of focus but i was new to DSLR then and found it impossible to focus in the dark (i still do).

[LukeSkywatcher]

Here is my 1st ever Jupiter and moons (same night as the above image). Also taken with 450D and fixed tripod: planet is pretty over exposed and the moons show signs of trailing..............But it is one single image. Not a composite.

Im very proud of my images. They are pretty bad to the average astronomer/imager..............but they mean a lot to me.

Thats the secret.

Be PROUD of your work. Learn from it and progress at your own speed.

[spaceboy]

There's plenty of colour on Jupiter through the EP. For me i see the planet surface as a dirty yellow/champagne colour and the bands around the planet appear much darker. Even with my 90mm scope i can easily usually see 4 clear bands around the planet.

I was not 100% sure if distinct colour could be seen but it appears I was incorrect:o I was under the impression that our eye's see in monochrome in the dark to aid night vision. I assumed any hints of colour I do see were due to all the multi coatings, glass, atmosphere and other variables between me and the planet. The bands are obvious but again these are dense surface details and so I just put this down to how light is absorbed/reflected by the features and didn't consider it distinct colour. I am sure I have seen green in M57 but I don't see it every time so again thought my eyes not being properly dark adapted and seeing false colour in the multi coatings etc????

I will have to see next time (if there is a next time ) if I can make out any distinct colour.

SPACEBOY

[mcooke999]

Finally another clear night and another attempt at capturing Jupiter!

I fiddled with the settings on the camera, turning ISO down to 100 and EV down to -2 which I think darkens the image.

Although not sharp, the results are a great improvement on my first attempt, showing colour this time and the bands

Finally, it was nice to see the moons almost aligned tonight!

[spaceboy]

Your definitely getting there!

[mcooke999]

The 'mad' thing was that this picture was actually taken with the flash on! Somehow, when the flash was off, the image was too white and bright to see the colours... yet with the flash, even though doing nothing, the camera seemed to find the colours!?

Any idea why, i assume its the settings

[spaceboy]

I would assume it is the automatic exposure ??? When the flash is on some light would hit the sensor and so minimize the exposure time giving a darker image. When the flash is off the sensor will lengthen the exposure slightly giving a brighter over exposed Jupiter. It is the exposure that is important to DSLR owners as not all DSLR cameras allow you to manually make adjustments resulting in the same problems you face.

[kentronix]

I assume with the flash on, the camera reduced the exposure (aperture or shutter speed) to account for the extra light from the flash.

Can you manually speed up the shutter speed ? That should have the same effect, without blinding you

[mcooke999]

I dont think that the shutter speed can be changed on my camera.

I will play around with the settings, at the moment I tried custom settings but perhaps the macro setting would be better...

[kentronix]

You may find different camera presets have different exposures. Or you may have EV compensation where you can still use the auto settings but tone it up or down a bit relative to the auto setting. Thats what my pentax compact has.

[mcooke999]

Yes my camera has that EV setting which makes the picture darker or lighter... but does that actually change the shutter speed?

[mcooke999]

I've sort of had a play around with the image and tried to increase the contrast between the colours etc... I also used paint of all programmes to remove the fuzzy edges

This is my edited image:

[mcooke999]

compared with my un-edited image:

[spaceboy]

Are you taking single frame pics or AVI ??

[mcooke999]

Just single frame pics. I do want to take an AVI n then stack the images but I need to sort the settings coz these were taken with the flash on!

Also is it better to take with a video or have the camera on the setting where it takes multiple pics as long as you keep your finger down on the shutter?

[spaceboy]

Are you manually holding the camera ?? or do you have something like one of these?? Astro Engineering PH047 Ultra Afocal Digital Camera Support I have one but since getting a webcam I no longer use it but I managed these images below with only a cheap compact camera on pre-set settings and a plossl.You want to refrain from touching the shutter button and try using the hands free shutter, most cams have them.

These were both single frame shots with slight adjustment to contrast etc in Paint shop.

[Porl]

wow those are great photos everyone and mcooke999 that first photo of jupiter with its moons is brilliant i think I love the radially glow around the planet, it gives it a kinda awe inspiring look to me possibly a little more than the normal view of the planet.

Also the tweeked up image of jupiter you took is great too!! Im going to try to figure my camera settings out a little next time the clouds clear now as I was getting a little down about my photos not working and seeing yours im itching to get out there

Porl''

[mcooke999]

wow those are great photos everyone and mcooke999 that first photo of jupiter with its moons is brilliant i think I love the radially glow around the planet, it gives it a kinda awe inspiring look to me possibly a little more than the normal view of the planet.

Also the tweeked up image of jupiter you took is great too!! Im going to try to figure my camera settings out a little next time the clouds clear now as I was getting a little down about my photos not working and seeing yours im itching to get out there

Porl''

cheers matey :-) i'll look forward to your pictures!

It is hard to get the settings right though but im sure ill sort them out eventually! I dont have a tripod or anything like that either I just take them with my hands.