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Jupiter and 3 moons from DSLR
Jul 4, 2019 15:29:23   #
KenY Loc: Glenside, Pa
 
Read recently that Jupiter and the Galilean moons were visible with binoculars, so I wondered if I could capture a pic with my Canon T6 with 70-300mm telephoto lens. I learned that exposures longer than 1 second would start to "track."

After playing around for a couple nights with ISO, shutter and aperture, I got the enclosed shot at 1 sec. f/5.6, 300mm, 800 ISO.

When I took the pic, Europa was behind Jupiter. The other moons from closest out are: Io, Ganymede and Calisto.

I welcome feedback on how to improve on this.


(Download)

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Jul 4, 2019 16:10:05   #
Europa Loc: West Hills, CA
 
That’s quite good! Without moving to something that will track, I don’t think you could improve on it.

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Jul 5, 2019 08:23:55   #
KenY Loc: Glenside, Pa
 
Thanks, Europa.

I do have an AVX mount that I can put my camera on. I will try that next.

I have a few questions about using the AVX:

How much better a photograph can I expect with tracking? Any possibility of seeing any detail on Jupiter?

How critical is polar alignment when shooting with a 300mm lens?

Any recommendations for exposure if I am using a tracking mount?

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Jul 5, 2019 09:06:42   #
alberio Loc: Casa Grande AZ
 
KYShop713 wrote:
Thanks, Europa.

I do have an AVX mount that I can put my camera on. I will try that next.

I have a few questions about using the AVX:

How much better a photograph can I expect with tracking? Any possibility of seeing any detail on Jupiter?

How critical is polar alignment when shooting with a 300mm lens?

Any recommendations for exposure if I am using a tracking mount?


I think you'd be asking too much to get any detail with a 300mm lens, but trying different combinations of camera settings might work. You did very well with what you have. Jupiter is so bright longer exposures aren't necessary. I might try stopping down the lens a bit and taking several shots and stack them.

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Jul 5, 2019 13:08:16   #
Europa Loc: West Hills, CA
 
Alberio, answered most, but I’ll expand on it.

the Best way to shoot planets is to take a video. There is free software that will take the video and stack it into an image. I use AutoStakkert to stack and Registax to process.

This guy did a great job explaining, he has a whole series of videos that are quick and very helpful https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ci_aMmO4DBA

You do want to have it stopped down. Greater than f8. As you can see from the size, you won’t get a lot of detail, but you will be able to tell that it’s jupiter.

The planets are low in the horizon, so you are trying to take a pix thru a lot of the atmosphere. So you want to get as many images in your video as possible. Say 5,000. The software will indicate which are good frames, so you may end up keeping 2,000 of the 5,000 for your stack.

At 300mm, polar alignment just needs to be close (like anything better is better, but you don’t have to be as accurate as doing deep space objects).

Check out the videos, feel free to ask more questions if you have any.

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Jul 5, 2019 18:37:05   #
stepping beyond Loc: usa eastcoast
 
Nice shot !

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Jul 7, 2019 23:08:54   #
KenY Loc: Glenside, Pa
 
Thx stepping

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Jul 7, 2019 23:10:38   #
KenY Loc: Glenside, Pa
 
Thanks for the encouragement and info on the AutoStakkert software. Once I get the AVX going, I will give it a try. I'm actually excited about this.

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Jul 8, 2019 00:08:08   #
Europa Loc: West Hills, CA
 
👍👍👍

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Jul 10, 2019 10:57:17   #
stepping beyond Loc: usa eastcoast
 
Excitement is what it's all about ky , xmas and Bday I get some gear . One of these days , I'll have a decent imaging "Rockin rig ". I didn't think it was possible for me with my handicaps but , I have loads of fun trying.

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