northcoast42 Loc: Puget Sound, Washington

We had our first clear night since February (that I was here to see) so I had to take advantage. I have a relatively small 127mm refractor but I captured what I think is my best image yet of the giant gas planet. No moons this time but the GRS is just rotating into view.

I've also included a couple of cell phone images I took of my set-up and what I'm seeing as I capture this image. The optical train consists of a monochrome webcam with a manual color filter wheel attached to a Powermate 4X image amplifier attached to the telescope. You might note the diagonal is still attached. I did that because I wasn't using an extension tube and without it, the focuser doesn't have the distance required to focus on the subject. I was substituting the diagonal for the extension tube. Not optimal but it worked ok.
The other image is what I was actually seeing with the webcam. Pretty good sized target, which helps with focusing but every little vibration is intensely magnified, which makes manual focus a challenge at best.

Jupiter in the sky, 15 April, 2015

(Download)

The optical train


The webcam image on my laptop

ggttc Loc: TN

well done

CraigFair Loc: Santa Maria, CA.

Beautiful job John.
Craig

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

Superb! I am assuming you stacked to get this result. The image on the laptop doesn't look anywhere near as good.

Oknoder Loc: Western North Dakota

Very nice John, is your 127mm a Scientific Explorer by chance? If so it appears you have the exact imaging equipment I have been looking at when I finally delve into planetary imaging, which probably won't be till later this year. I was looking at the zwo asi120mm, which it appears is the camera you are using also.

Do you have any regrets with these items, by looking at your Jupiter image they seem to be suiting you well.

Clear skies
Matthew

northcoast42 Loc: Puget Sound, Washington

Thanks Craig. We had a pretty good night for seeing ... finally!

northcoast42 Loc: Puget Sound, Washington

Thanks ggttc. I appreciate your comment.

northcoast42 Loc: Puget Sound, Washington

Thanks Jim. You are correct. I did indeed stack. The image on the laptop is a still image of an active .avi sequence as I was "filming" it. I don't think my little i-phone camera can really do it justice but you're right, the image isn't nearly as good as the final product. I wish I could upload one of the .avi sequences so you could see what it actually looks like. It's like being in the front row of an amazing live show. The image is constantly vacillating around the focus point. That's why single images (non stacked) are typically blurry looking with very little detail. This photo is a result of 4 different sequences, one each through a luminance filter, a red filter, a blue and a green filter. I do 50 second sequences at approximately 60 frames/second so I'm getting roughly 3000 frames per sequence to align. Out of those frames, I usually throw out the bottom 40 to 50%. So I end up with 4 images, each compiled from a stack of maybe 1500 to 1600 frames. I take those 4images into Photoshop to recombine into a single color image. The processing is almost as much fun as the seeing/taking of the image. You never really know what you're going to get until it's done :-D

northcoast42 Loc: Puget Sound, Washington

Thanks Matthew. I've been pretty happy with my little refractor so far. I did choose it on purpose with the intent to use it for astrophotography. You can get larger reflecting type scopes with bigger focal lengths for less money and they are probably better for planetary imaging but I didn't want to have to mess with mirror shift and collimation issues if I could avoid it. Refractors are good along those lines. From what I could research, it appeared that ES offered the best bang for the buck in an APO refractor this size. My images took a very dramatic turn for the better once I started using the webcam and I would definitely recommend the zwo but don't get their filter wheel. It's junk. I sent the one I ordered back and picked up an Orion manual filter wheel and it does the job. I think my next purchase, when budget permits, will be an electronic focuser. That's the biggest hit and miss part of this for me right now. Manual focus at these magnifications is a challenge at best. I'm getting ready to start deep sky imaging in a couple of months but the planets keep luring me back :-D

If you're looking at the ES127 you might be interested in this:
http://explorescientific.com/telescopes/ES127Review_v1.pdf

Albuqshutterbug Loc: Albuquerque NM

Your screen shot image isn't all that bad either.
Very nice stack.
:thumbup: :thumbup:

Tom--K4TTA Loc: Near Memphis. TN

Really good detail on Jupiter. The cellphone shots of your setup is a nice touch.

Clear skies,
Tom Richardson, K4TTA
Board of Directors
Memphis Astronomical Society
www.memphisastro.org

CraigFair Loc: Santa Maria, CA.

By the way Tom welcome to the Astronomical Photography Forum.
Look forward to some post here at the forum and be sure to tell your society about us.
This is a true learning experience for all. You won't find the typical
know it all and flaming going on here.
Craig

Tom--K4TTA Loc: Near Memphis. TN

In fact, I brought you guys up at the Board meeting last night. OK if we put up a link to your webpage? If you can get whomever can grant that to email me, I'll try to take care of it on my end.

Clear skies,
Tom, K4TTA

northcoast42 Loc: Puget Sound, Washington

Thanks Tom. I appreciate your comments....and welcome to the forum!