1208 replies to this topic

[Borodog]

Moonkiller.

 

Click for Astrobin. It's worth it.

 

[Dave Trott]

Moonkiller.

 

Click for Astrobin. It's worth it.

 

 

Yes, it *is* worth it to look at the astrobin image! WOW!!

[oldmanastro]

An image of Jupiter taken last night using an old Celestar 8 in original wedgepod and fork mount. The camera is a ZWOASI224 with a 2x Ultima (1993) Barlow. The observation window was short with clear skies and very good seeing lasting only 60 minutes. The moon showing some albedo features is Ganymede and the other one is Europa.

Attached Thumbnails

• 

[mdowns]

I continue to marvel at your imaging skills Guido,superb!

[LukaszLu]

Prefect resolution! You could consider correcting levels in RGB channels to avoid green discoloration.

[LukaszLu]

Moonkiller.

 

Click for Astrobin. It's worth it.

 

 

Rupes Recta - pure beauty! :-)

[ETXer]

An image of Jupiter taken last night using an old Celestar 8 in original wedgepod and fork mount. The camera is a ZWOASI224 with a 2x Ultima (1993) Barlow. The observation window was short with clear skies and very good seeing lasting only 60 minutes. The moon showing some albedo features is Ganymede and the other one is Europa.

Guido - most excellent!

 

I have the exact same scope and Barlow, the only exception being my Celestar (a Deluxe) is on the heavy-duty tripod. After seeing your effort, I'm wondering what needs to improve as I wasonly able to achieve this result. Granted my seeing at the time wasn't great and I used a ASI120MC (the original version). Could the only difference be those two factors? I had a 90-second run of 1084 frames after the bad frames were dropped and used SharpCap/AS2!/Registax 6. How much of an improvement is there between the 120MC vs. the 224MC?

 

In any case, I would be very happy to be able to come close to your result.

 

Cheers, Allan

Edited by ETXer, 23 October 2022 - 07:22 PM.

[oldmanastro]

Prefect resolution! You could consider correcting levels in RGB channels to avoid green discoloration.

Thank you! I will do another processing and use the RGB channels. My processing skills are still primordial.

[oldmanastro]

Guido - most excellent!

 

I have the exact same scope and Barlow, the only exception being my Celestar (a Deluxe) is on the heavy-duty tripod. After seeing your effort, I'm wondering what needs to improve as I wasonly able to achieve this result. Granted my seeing at the time wasn't great and I used a ASI120MC (the original version). Could the only difference be those two factors? I had a 90-second run of 1084 frames after the bad frames were dropped and used SharpCap/AS2!/Registax 6. How much of an improvement is there between the 120MC vs. the 224MC?

 

In any case, I would be very happy to be able to come close to your result.

 

Cheers, Allan

Thank you Allan! I get a lot of help from the fact that the planet is very high in my sky. At the time I took that image it was just a few degrees from the zenith. In addition the seeing was excellent as well as the transparency. I could barely see any "boiling" in the image. Even on the SharpCap screen a lot of the details were visible, more than I could see visually. My guess is that probably there was a laminar flow of air at that time. I couldn't get results like this with my old Starshoot MP5 camera and the same telescope. This image was the result of 6000 frames taken at 80 fps and then processed with Registax 6. The ZWOASI120 uses a sensor that's about the same size of the one in the 224 but a different manufacturer. The capture rate is faster in the 224. Other than that, a lot of other details in both cameras are similar. I never had the 120. Maybe the seeing is the major factor here.

[oldmanastro]

Prefect resolution! You could consider correcting levels in RGB channels to avoid green discoloration.

This is another image taken with the Celestar 8 just two minutes after the one I posted earlier. Europa didn't come out on this one. This image was reprocessed. I used the RGB auto balance function. The greenish tinge went away and the color is more natural. Thanks for the recommendation. I had become so used to the green that honestly, I didn't even noticed it!

Attached Thumbnails

• 

[Uranotopia]

Now I wanna write a little about yesternight, but I only used a little (and IMO not so good) Celestron C90...

I put the C90 on my older EQ3, the tracking was manually, the Cam was a not so modern (but nevertheless not so old) ALCCD 5-IIc. Here in Kostanay we had -5 degree (felt like -11 ! because of), uncomfortable icecold wind... AND: Saturn was only about 20 degree above horizon...

Original AVI of Saturn contained about 2520 frames, the Jupiter AVI 4120 frames. Stacking (with AutoStakkert3!) of the ringplanet used 20% of original frames, for Jupiter 25%.

 

Today some hours have passed by for image processing eand editing...

But I only want to show the results, hoping that you nevertheless enjoy these images

Attached Thumbnails

• 
• 

[ETXer]

Thank you Allan! I get a lot of help from the fact that the planet is very high in my sky. At the time I took that image it was just a few degrees from the zenith. In addition the seeing was excellent as well as the transparency. I could barely see any "boiling" in the image. Even on the SharpCap screen a lot of the details were visible, more than I could see visually. My guess is that probably there was a laminar flow of air at that time. I couldn't get results like this with my old Starshoot MP5 camera and the same telescope. This image was the result of 6000 frames taken at 80 fps and then processed with Registax 6. The ZWOASI120 uses a sensor that's about the same size of the one in the 224 but a different manufacturer. The capture rate is faster in the 224. Other than that, a lot of other details in both cameras are similar. I never had the 120. Maybe the seeing is the major factor here.

Thank you for the info Guido. I'd say seeing is the primary cause Jupiter was nowhere near that high on my attempts. The 224 should deliver improved results with the higher frame rate and reduced noise; I'm on the lookout for one. Your second image is superb as well!

 

Cheers, Allan

[LukaszLu]

This is another image taken with the Celestar 8 just two minutes after the one I posted earlier. Europa didn't come out on this one. This image was reprocessed. I used the RGB auto balance function. The greenish tinge went away and the color is more natural. Thanks for the recommendation. I had become so used to the green that honestly, I didn't even noticed it!

Habit, it is said, is a second nature ;-) Great pictures for 8''!

[Borodog]

This is another image taken with the Celestar 8 just two minutes after the one I posted earlier. Europa didn't come out on this one. This image was reprocessed. I used the RGB auto balance function. The greenish tinge went away and the color is more natural. Thanks for the recommendation. I had become so used to the green that honestly, I didn't even noticed it!

That is superb for an 8" scope. Well done.

[ETXer]

So last night I had another chance to make a Jupiter imaging attempt to improve on my last effort with my Celestar 8 Deluxe (plus the Ultima SV-Series 2x Barlow). I have a ASI224MC on order but unfortunately it isn't due to arrive until Tuesday. Since next week's weather forecast isn't promising, I had to use my modest ASI120MC. This time it was the best 20% of 3500 frames (just under 2 minutes) later in the evening when Jupiter was about 49 degrees in the sky with better seeing.

 

 

Here's the full observing report.

 

Cheers, Allan

Edited by ETXer, 28 October 2022 - 12:17 PM.

[Bomber Bob]

Mercy!!  Somehow, I wound up with 4 Planet Imagers...''

 

From Newest to Oldest:

 

- SVBONY SV205

- ZWO ASI120MC

- Celestron NexImage

- Kenko Digi-Eye

 

The Kenko was a known long-shot, but I thought it would be cool to have an All Kenko imaging system:  SC125L + NES EQ + Bushnell (K) Drive + Digi-Eye.  My new Win10 laptop won't talk to it -- same USB-3 issues as with the ASI120, but worse.

 

Out of the 4, only the SVBONY is recognized by Windows.  But... both the ASI120 & NexImage are selectable in ASICAP.  Got these 3 cleaned at lunch today.  The SV205 & ASI120 use a standard USB printer cable.  The new SVBONY came with a short (< 1 meter) heavy-insulated / shielded cable, so I'll use it -- some CNers suggested that I use a 1 meter or shorter cable with the ASI120 back when I was trouble-shooting it.  The NexImage has a built-in USB cable that's about 2m long.

 

The ASI has better specs (& reviews!), but I'll test the SVBONY first, as it's much easier to deal with...

 

SVBONY SV205 Test

 

A BUST.  AutoStakkert errors-out trying to open the AVIs.  RegiStax opens the AVI, lets me assign Align Points, starts Stacking... then, locks-up.  Requires a good old CTRL-ALT-DEL to kill the program.  Not just on my new laptop, but on my trusty old ThinkCentre, too.  Never seen this before.

 

So... to get any kind of image, I have to use VLC to play the AVI, then use it's Snap-Shot feature to save a single image that I can post-process...  Two very RAW samples:

 

 

I'm glad I didn't waste a VG seeing night with this experiment.  I did learn that my Brandon 8 focuses very close to the perfect point for this imager, so that's something, I guess.

 

What Stinks:  Seeing belts & other details pop in & out on the screen during a capture, then finding out the video files are pretty much useless!  Oh well, I'll try the ASI120MC next time.

Edited by Bomber Bob, 05 November 2022 - 08:45 AM.

[ETXer]

I'm continuing to plug away at Jupiter imaging as long as it's close and I have the chance with decent weather, although I haven't had the best of luck with the seeing, being average at best.

 

So here's my latest attempt, this with a newly-acquired ZWO ASI224MC, the best 20% of 5000 frames with SharpCap4, AS!3, and Registax 6 with minor adjustments in Corel PaintShop Pro from my Celestar 8 Deluxe, and a classic Celestron SV-Series Ultima Barlow.

 

 

Astrospheric predicts clear and above-average seeing for Monday night in my area, so I'll have yet another crack at it then. Not quite where I want to be yet, but it's getting there!

 

Here's the full observing report.

 

Cheers, Allan

Edited by ETXer, 05 November 2022 - 07:58 PM.

[Chris Cook]

Here's the Moon last week taken through a Celestron 8 from 1978.

Canon 6D camera, f/10 prime focus.

 

 

[jragsdale]

Oh well, I'll try the ASI120MC next time.

I would recommend you get a good ol' ASI224MC, it's light years beyond all those cams (despite being 5 years old). USB 3, probably half the noise and double the sensitivity of the 120MC. Easy to use, works with all the apps.

[ETXer]

I would recommend you get a good ol' ASI224MC, it's light years beyond all those cams (despite being 5 years old). USB 3, probably half the noise and double the sensitivity of the 120MC. Easy to use, works with all the apps.

I can vouch for this, see the difference in my images above (although the seeing was lacking both times) between the ASI120MC and the 224. If anything, the sensitivity alone allows for short exposure settings without having to crank up the gain too high, resulting in high frame rates that the USB3 allows and shorter duration captures for the same amount of frames.

 

That said, with above-average conditions and proper focus, the basic 120MC can still provide pleasing results.

Edited by ETXer, 06 November 2022 - 09:00 PM.

[ETXer]

It's been a steady learning effort, incrementally improving, but always a battle with seeing. So here's Jupiter from last night accompanied by Ganymede and Europa in average seeing with shadow transits with my Celestar 8 Deluxe, Ultima SV Series 2x Barlow and a ZWO ASI224MC camera, each capture 7000+ frames, SharpCap 4, AS! 3, and Registax 6.

 

 

From a little earlier, a Europa transit:

 

 

and from the night before (in poorer seeing), Io's shadow transit.

 

 

The full report can be found here.

 

Cheers, Allan

Edited by ETXer, 10 November 2022 - 09:10 PM.

[ETXer]

At risk of "overstaying my welcome," with this subject, I redid the processing, this time pre-processing in PIPP, then AS!3 and Registax 6 as before but not feeling the need to be as aggressive with the wavelet sharpening. To me it seems to be a smoother, more natural result.

 

 

Cheers, Allan

Edited by ETXer, 14 November 2022 - 10:43 AM.

[oldmanastro]

Wonderful image of Jupiter Allan. I can clearly see albedo features on the larger moon.

[ETXer]

Wonderful image of Jupiter Allan. I can clearly see albedo features on the larger moon.

Many thanks Guido! With your help it's finally starting to "get there."

Edited by ETXer, 14 November 2022 - 10:46 AM.

[oldmanastro]

The weather improved last night. The sky was clear and the seeing was 8 with good transparency. I had old Scruffy (Celestar 8) on the Wedgepod in no time with the best polar alignment that I could get. Jupiter had just crossed the meridian and was high up there. The view with the 6mm UO ortho was outstanding showing lots of detail around the GRS at the end of it's transit. Callisto was orbiting near the north polar region. Using the ZWOASI224mc and my classic Celestron Ultima 2x Barlow, I took several images of the planet. Mars was next. It was just past 45 degrees in altitude. As it nears opposition in December 8, its angular size has been increasing. The view with the 6mm orthoscopic showed a well defined north polar cap and surface areas such as the Sinus Sabaeus and Meridianis, Mare Acidalium and Eden Arabia. As usual, Mars requires a period of visual adjustment before details become evident. I used no filters this time. Images of Mars were also captured showing a lot of what was observed visually and more. The images of Jupiter and Mars are the result of 6000 frames processed with PIPP, AS3 and Registax 6. 

Attached Thumbnails

• 
• 

Edited by oldmanastro, 19 November 2022 - 01:23 PM.