3878 replies to this topic

[BKBrown]

Hi folks,

Jupiter reaches opposition this weekend and it won't get any better than this. I would love to see what folks with smaller aperture scopes can do while we have this great opportunity. Here is The King on Friday morning, taken with my SW100ED (4") at f/36. Seeing conditions were only average/fair, but the small refractor still gave a good account of itself. Interested in giving it a go? Good luck!

Clear Skies,
Brian

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[AlanL]

Dang, that's impressive for a 4" scope!

[lcd1080]

Great job with the small bore Brian! I've got a question about imaging Jupiter with a refractor; I was trying to use a 3x barlow on my 92mm TMB-92L refractor but I couldn't get enough back focus to accomplish that. Do you increase the effective focal length of your refractor with a barlow or with eyepiece projection? How high can you increase the effective focal length of your system?

Pete

[rg55]

Beautiful shot!
What camera?

[BKBrown]

Thanks Alan, Pete, and Richard! Pete - With the SW100ED I use a Barlow to boost the focal length from f/9 to f/27 through f/45...this shot used a Siebert 4x Barlow for f/36. In order to reach focus with your refractor you may need a tube extension - I do. I prefer the ones from Stellarvue.
Richard - This image was taken with an Imaging Source DBK21AU618 (a one shot color camera) and a Baader UV/IR cut filter.

Clear Skies,
Brian

[TerryWood]

I'm still very, very new at imaging. Really green. But, this is one I took on Thanksgiving with a Questar 3.5, no barlow, and re-sized.

V/R

Terry

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[TerryWood]

And one more.

V/R

Terry

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[rg55]

Here's my humble contribution:

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[BKBrown]

Nice job Terry and Richard Ya'll coaxed some nice detail out of those images, let's see what else we can get...

Clear Skies,
Brian

[rik ter horst]

Here's my contribution. I used a 130 mm F/11.5 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope and a 3x barlow to capture this image on the 14th of November. The camera is a DBK21 and I used about 1700 frames. Stacking was done with Autostakkert!2, wavelets with Registax 6 and further processing with Photoshop CS2.
Conditions were fair to good that night.
Cheers,
Rik

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[lcd1080]

In order to reach focus with your refractor you may need a tube extension - I do...

Thanks Brian. How do you calculate the required extension tube length for your barlow/refractor combination? Is there a formula for doing that?

Pete

[BKBrown]

Hi Pete,

I am mortally certain there is a formula but I have no idea what it is and did not use it myself. The operational way to tell is to plug in your planet cam and keep racking the focuser in and out until you score focus or see an out-of-focus blob at maximum in or out travel. If you get the blob (most likely at maximum extension) you need a tube extender. You can get them from Orion, TV, AP, Stellarvue and elsewhere; I like the ET3 model from SV: http://www.stellarvu...m/adapters.html, you are looking for something that gives you about 2" extra travel. You will need a 1.25" adapter to receive your nosepiece, I find this centering adapter from Orion does a great job keeping everything tight and properly aligned: http://www.optcorp.c...ing adapter&... Hope this helps!

Clear Skies,
Brian

[BKBrown]

Great job Rik! Very nice image with lots of good detail; personally I would down scale it by about 25% to 35% for presentation...that is just a personal preference. Thanks for posting

Clear Skies,
Brian

[lcd1080]

Thanks again Brian, I rummaged through my box full of accessories and found an extension tube and two adapters, one for a DBK camera and one for a DSLR. Thanks for your detailed answer and for motivating me to look through my accessory box!

Pete

[BKBrown]

Your welcome, looks like you have what you need there. Good shooting!

Clear Skies,
Brian

[azure1961p]

You guys with your small aperture and hidef images are astounding. Times this is some great work.


Pete

[ToxMan]

Well after seeing this thread, and since I was not having much luck with the C14, I took up the challenge tonight and got a nice widefield shot with 90mm Apex Mak-Cass. Hope you enjoy.

Paul

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[Kokatha man]

Nice Paul - not sure what exactly defines "small bore" but I was going to set up the 5" apo with the ASI120MC colour cam to see how that fared on Jupiter on a night when/if old Jove cooperates..!

[Kokatha man]

Nice Paul - not sure what exactly defines "small bore" but I was going to set up the 5" apo with the ASI120MC colour cam to see how that fared on Jupiter on a night when/if old Jove cooperates..!

.....Duuuhhh!!! I just thread the thread title..!!!

[ToxMan]

Your APO qualifies, Darryl. I'd like to see what the new cam does on some other scopes, too.

I've ordered DMK21AU618 before I saw your stunning pics with the new cam. I just couldn't make the old DMK31 work on the C14. I want to try a color CMOS later and see if I can get away from mono everything. Thanks.

Paul

[kbev]

A couple of pics from earlier this week, both taken with my IS DBK618 cam. Captured with IC Capture, cropped/centered in Castrator, stacked in AS!2 and wavelets in R6; no further processing done.

C6SGT at f/30 (4500mm):


AT72ED at f/36 (2580mm):


The scopes share a dual saddle on my CG5 mount so getting shots thru both was fairly quick and painless.

[Ruimteman]

This thread inspired me to use a Takahashi TS-40 afocally with a 7mm ep. I got about a hundred frames stacked in AviStack2 and no additional processing. Nearly broke my neck trying to point the thing almost straight up while lying on the grass. I think one can see a hint of something.

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[Greyhaven]

Captured with celestron 5i and canon 3T stacked in registax6

My best so far but still trying.
Be Well
Grey

[zAmbonii]

This thread and Mert's photo had me going back through the captures I did with my 6" newt and webcam. I knew I had some pretty decent images, but couldnt remember if they could compare with anything I get with my 8" now. Went back through my Flickr account and I did have some really good images with my 6", and although it isn't from this year, I have to say it is some of my best.

This is from August of 2010 with my C6-N + SPC900NC:


Jupiter 8/7/10 8:20UT by zAmb0ni, on Flickr

Also, here is a link to an animation from the same night.

I'm pretty sure that I did the stacking in registax, going to see if I still have the videos on my hard drive and try stacking them in AS2! to see if there is any improvement.

[Mert]

Hi zAmbonii,

Great image you uploaded here, that 6" of you sure
performs great!
Maybe I just got lucky with the result posted in my
other thread, I'll do some more avi's maybe tonight when
I get home and post an image in this thread as well!