Jupiter at 3000 mm, correct orientation added

jgs001

jgs001

Brian Cox
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John
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Got a crack at Jupiter last night, this time using the 5x barlow...

C80ED (f/37.5), Antares 5x Barlow, QHY5v, 500 of 1900 frames

jupemonoqhy5v.jpg


I tried something a little different, and swapped the 5v for the SPC900 (I've not got the nosepiece yet for the 880's).

jupecolourspc900.jpg


and then, after completing these two, tried something, by combining the mono as a sort of luminance layer to enhance the detail, and keep the colour.

jupitercombo.jpg


I'm really pleased that I got the GRS in there as well
 
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I was happy with the white splodge & four specks of light I got with the Bigma last weekend, but this is something else! :eek:

I would love to get into this sort of photography.......expensive?.....
 
John - that's an amazing image.

I'm hoping to get out to night and do some imaging - I currently have a TAL 3x barlow which sits on a Skywatcher 120 'frac. When I hook up the webcam I have real problems getting focus - I'm always caught wondering if this is because I've exceeded my max magnification or whether atmospheric conditions are not up to it.

Any advice much appreciated!
 
I can make the band horizontal... the scope was at a funny angle, so were the cameras... I was more interested in getting the processing right, and I'll admit I didn't think about the orientation.

Tom, that's still pretty good going, but the crop factor on these cameras I used here is about 8.5x, so whilst it's 3000mm focal length, in 35mm terms it's much much more. As for expensive... it truly can be, with dedicated cooled mono cameras with APS-C sensors coming in at in excess of £4000... but it doesn't have to be ludicrous.

The mount is the expensive bit, but that's to get decent tracking etc, more for deep sky than anything, but it sure helps here. The mono camera is more than the webcam (there are some available for about £7 that are virtually identical http://www.morgancomputers.co.uk/shop/detail.asp?ProductID=6313&CategoryID=452&SubCategoryID=522)

Paul, with a frac, you often need at least one if not more extention tubes to reach focus when imaging at prime focus. They are designed to be used visually with a diagonal. You could try it with the diagonal in place and see if this lets you get focus. What SW 120 is it and what are you mounting it on?

Sorry about the rotation, hows this?

jupitercombonormal.jpg
 
Hiya John, those are great images, just as I saw it through the telescope last night too, although I didn't see the other planets. But then it was 1am this morning when the cloud finally cleared for me to have a peek. Sadly I don't have the fancy equipment to take photos, so will have to make do with just enjoying looking at the planet.

Fortunately a colleague gave me the telescope yesterday, so I set it up and wow I was amazed at what I could see. The moon was a bit too bright to look at.

Apparently tonight at 8pm will be a great time to view the planets, Jupiter and Uranus will be below the moon. So I am hopeful that the cloud cover here will disappear by then so I can do some more star gazing :)

Cheers

Dawn :)
 
Crap, I can't see the images on my work laptop :bat:

Look forward to seeing them when I get home though (y)
 
Thanks Dawn, the other two blobs in the image are two of the four large moons of Jupiter. You might have seen them and thought they were stars. You don't really need lots of fancy equipment for this sort of thing, although the mount really does make a big difference. What scope have you got ? The weather is always a defining factor, and can make this a very infuriating hobby ;). With the two planets, you'd do better much later, sometime around midnight. But don't worry if you didn't see them, they are going to be quite close together for a fair few days yet.

That's a shame Andy ...
 
jgs001 said:
Thanks Dawn, the other two blobs in the image are two of the four large moons of Jupiter. You might have seen them and thought they were stars. You don't really need lots of fancy equipment for this sort of thing, although the mount really does make a big difference. What scope have you got ? The weather is always a defining factor, and can make this a very infuriating hobby ;). With the two planets, you'd do better much later, sometime around midnight. But don't worry if you didn't see them, they are going to be quite close together for a fair few days yet.
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Hi John, I have a Celestron Firstscope 60 - Model #21055, with F6mm, H20mm, 2X Barlow Lens and a 1.5 erecting eyepiece. My friend who gave it to me, said that they bought it for their son about 10+ years ago.

It came with some instructions and I managed to find some further information about the scope on the internet.

I am still figuring out how to use it and am a bit baffled as to why when I look through the finderscope things appear upsidedown :thinking:

Unfortunately there has been a lot of cloud cover here so not had much chance to use it at night, but hopefully soon it will clear and I will be able to get more views of the planets and stars.

I recently bought a book about the night skies in the Northern hemisphere, so that will come in useful too when I am star gazing.

Do you have any tips or advice about using the scope?

Cheers

Dawn :)
 
The weather is always a defining factor, and can make this a very infuriating hobby
Click to expand...

Ha Ha! Yes since starting again in february the weather has not been kind - and I'd forgotten how bright the summer nights are! Mind you since I built my obsy (which is actually a plastic shed from Wickes, but that doesn't sound as good) things have been easier - much reduced setup time.

I'm using an Evostar 120 - which has delivered some great visual views of Jupiter and Saturn earlier in the year.

I've been imaging with a celestron NexImage - the diagonal make a difference, I think I'll look at extention tubes after my next serious try (assuming this infernal cloud breaks)
 
drodd said:
Hi John, I have a Celestron Firstscope 60 - Model #21055, with F6mm, H20mm, 2X Barlow Lens and a 1.5 erecting eyepiece. My friend who gave it to me, said that they bought it for their son about 10+ years ago.

It came with some instructions and I managed to find some further information about the scope on the internet.

I am still figuring out how to use it and am a bit baffled as to why when I look through the finderscope things appear upsidedown :thinking:

Unfortunately there has been a lot of cloud cover here so not had much chance to use it at night, but hopefully soon it will clear and I will be able to get more views of the planets and stars.

I recently bought a book about the night skies in the Northern hemisphere, so that will come in useful too when I am star gazing.

Do you have any tips or advice about using the scope?

Cheers

Dawn :)
Click to expand...

Dawn, it looks like it's the same as the 60mm I've got. Quite a nice light little scope. (I've been using mine for some solar imaging, you need special film for this, or you'll burn whatever is in the back or behind the scope). Don't you just hate that with the finder scope. I had one of those when I started out, and never got on with it. Upside down and back to front, managing to move in the right direction was always a total mare. I swapped mine out for one of http://firstlightoptics.com/proddetail.php?prod=bskysurfer3.

I hope you get to have a good look at Jupiter. Don't forget the moon, an ever changing target. Have a look at Stellarium, it's a free planetarium package, and will also help.

As for tips and advice... it's been a long time since I last actually looked through any of my scopes :D... have fun, start with things that are easy. Don't expect to see anything like the pictures posted online and in the magazines.. a camera over 10 or 20 minute per exposure and running at combined exposures of many hours is far more sensitive than your eye. Good luck with a break in the weather, there's some wonderful targets coming into view with the onset of autumn and winter and long dark nights.
 
Greenninja said:
Ha Ha! Yes since starting again in february the weather has not been kind - and I'd forgotten how bright the summer nights are! Mind you since I built my obsy (which is actually a plastic shed from Wickes, but that doesn't sound as good) things have been easier - much reduced setup time.

I'm using an Evostar 120 - which has delivered some great visual views of Jupiter and Saturn earlier in the year.

I've been imaging with a celestron NexImage - the diagonal make a difference, I think I'll look at extention tubes after my next serious try (assuming this infernal cloud breaks)
Click to expand...

hasn't it just... horrible weather this year... not really much in the way of breaks either. The summer doesn't count as that only gives 2 to 3 hours a night, and I can't do those hours... The obsy sounds great... I want one, but don't have the room. But I've got setup time down to around 30 minutes, which includes aligning the goto and getting the guiding running (for deepsky)

Nice big aperture, although I don't know that particular scope. I bet it's been great looking through that one. Tubes are the way to go (although you can test it, if you can remove the lens cell from a barlow, makes quite a good tube).
 
jgs001 said:
Dawn, it looks like it's the same as the 60mm I've got. Quite a nice light little scope. (I've been using mine for some solar imaging, you need special film for this, or you'll burn whatever is in the back or behind the scope). Don't you just hate that with the finder scope. I had one of those when I started out, and never got on with it. Upside down and back to front, managing to move in the right direction was always a total mare. I swapped mine out for one of http://firstlightoptics.com/proddetail.php?prod=bskysurfer3.

I hope you get to have a good look at Jupiter. Don't forget the moon, an ever changing target. Have a look at Stellarium, it's a free planetarium package, and will also help.

As for tips and advice... it's been a long time since I last actually looked through any of my scopes :D... have fun, start with things that are easy. Don't expect to see anything like the pictures posted online and in the magazines.. a camera over 10 or 20 minute per exposure and running at combined exposures of many hours is far more sensitive than your eye. Good luck with a break in the weather, there's some wonderful targets coming into view with the onset of autumn and winter and long dark nights.
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Hiya John, thanks for the link, I have had a looksie and think that may be something I have to invest in, if it fits my scope, it would beat fiddling about and all the faff lol.

I have just been outside and the moon is rising on the horizon, so hopefully I will get some great views tonight. My son (who is 5 years old) is so keen to look at the moon, stars and planets too and I think tonight we are going to have a great time, have a box of Milk Tray to accompany some hopefully great viewing too.

Now that I have sort of figure out how to use the additional lenses it may be a better experience tonight. I will keep you posted.

Good news is I also got my camera back today, repaired, so now I might have to start looking at getting more and better lenses for my camera. Not sure if there is a contraption that one can obtain to link to such an old camera to be able to take photos, but will do some more investigation.

In some respects my friend giving me the scope has come at the right time, especially with the earlier nights drawing in, which will mean a lot more viewing time.

I am planning to do some winter camping too in my campervan, and the scope will definitely be packed for those trips. Can't beat being out in the country with clear skies :)

Have a great weekend, and happy star gazing

D :)
 
Hi John,

Thanks for the links to the adaptors, I will have to definitely get some so I can take photos.

The viewing was fantastic this weekend, especially Saturday night. I wrapped up warm and spent hours in the back garden, the moon was amazing and I was surprised at how much detail I could see. I also saw Jupiter, although not as well as the other night. It appeared to the right of the moon and a bit further away.

I also had a look at some of the other stars.

It will be great if I can get the camera connected to the scope.

Did you manage to do any star gazing this weekend?

Cheers

Dawn :)
 
Excellent. glad to hear it. The moon is an amazing sight, same with Jupiter, specially when you see the planetary band..

No star gazing, although we had friends round, and we had a look at Jupiter. Then later that night I did some imaging on the moon... I'll post that up later.
 
That's great, I look forward to seeing the images.

Oh btw, I got my camera back on Friday and took some photos of the moon, but nothing good enough to post here :LOL:

Cheers

Dawn :)
 
How did I miss these!! John words often fail me on your shots and these images are no exception....so I'll shut up :)

(Fantastic!)
 
Why not post them up Dawn... at least we can look at them and maybe offer some help...

Thanks very much John ;)
 
Thank you
 
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