First light - ASI120MC - Jupiter 2 Feb 2013

My very first light with the ASI120MC. The weather has been horrendous since the New Year and living under a constant jet stream in suburban London doesn't help either but had a clear night just after receiving the ASI120MC and tried out on Jupiter.

I used my 6" Astro-Physics (f/7.5) at f/18 (2.25x barlow plus extension) and took several 3 minute videos through FireCapture to test out parameters.

Only got round to processing them this week and although nothing in comparison to what others have achieved with this camera or in general , I am quite pleased with the sensitivity and frame rate. Well done ZWO!
I have not done any planetary imaging in years (last tried with a Logitech webcam in 2004) and have concentrated in DSO (which I took a break from in 2006) and solar (since 2012) - so my processing abilities are not up to scratch (there is so much signal in solar imaging that you cannot really go wrong).
For post-processing the attached I used Avistack (AS2 was much faster but I ended up with some artefacts in the stacked images which became obvious in post processing), then RL deconvolution in AIP4WIN/Iris and then high pass filter and saturation in PS6.

Main parameters for the camera in FC (beta 37) were 50 gamma, 50-60 gain and 16 to 25ms exposures depending on focal length. I did not de-rotate or separate colours before stacking - is that common practice for all video lengths?

Any input/comments greatly appreciated!

Roberto

And another one...

Nice, congratulations ! I wondering if 3 min would cause a bit of rotation blur for the larger one. Usually I shoot 90 sec videos max. I use the mono camera, but think I saw people saying they usually dont separate chanels for color ones.

Nice! I think you could push the f ratio a bit more with that scope.

Steve

Great!
The Io's shadow makes 3D feeling
My 6"telescope is F8,usually with 3x barlow and took at least 4000frames,for widefield Jupiter,3 minutes is a little less,4min may be more details

Many thanks everyone! I'm happy to de-rotate in WinJupos and I've tried it on the close up image but without much success so kept it simple with the others.

You are right I should push up the focal length more but my problem is the seeing - not the scope which is great. I rarely get sub 2" seeing in SE England and the evening I took the above was certainly not one of those nights.

Many thanks for the input again!

Wow, your first is far better than my first. I tried it at 2800mm on a C11EdgeHD and the seeing was very poor. Need to try again under better skies. I am done wind from 10,000+ foot Sierra Nevada range and this creates a lot of turbulence at my home.

I love your wide field showing the moons. The moon shadow is a great bonus.

A very nice effort.

Many thanks Jeff and Graeme!

Jeff, it mostly boils down to seeing really. Some scopes are better suited to planetary imaging that others and I bet that once you get your C11 under steady skies you'll be posting a cracking image!

Roberto

Very nice images!

Cheers Chris! Taking inspiration from all the ASI120MC owners - you included!

Roberto

That's really great first light!

Your doing Sam! Many thanks! Doesn't get anywhere near what you are doing from your terrace with a reflector though!

Roberto