Transit of the Sun by Mercury - 11/11/2019 (NASA Image)
Transit of the Sun by Mercury was not visible from Australia, so I signed up to try the Slooh Telescope online service to look at the event, the next being in 2032.
Imaged at Perth Observatory using the Public Viewing Celestron 14" I posted this to show what the 'input' video looks like compared to the final processed image. Atmospheric conditions, wind and water vapour predominatly, cause an irregular lensing effect that makes single image still photography looking for detail at theoretical optic limits almost impossible. Thin high and variable cloud. Captured with BackyardEOS in 5X Planetary Mode 1200 frames ISO 1600 1/30 Sec Video cropped with Video Castrator Registax 6 Stacked best ~500 Images with wavelet processing Post-processed with Adobe Photoshop CC Telescope - Celestron 'Orange Tube' 14" f/11 FL=3910mm SCT c1978 (Perth Observatory's), 2X 2" PowerMate EFL-7820mm f/22, No filter, Baader BCF modified Canon 70D DSLR field ~10' x 7' , Ambient ~20C. BackYardEOS Pro 3.0.3 for Image acquisition. Unguided on Sidereal tracked Celestron Wedge.
Jupiter and the four Galilean Moons - 26/2/2013 (Processed video stack)
First use of BackyardEOS (BYE) in 5X Planetary mode after initial experiments on the Moon in 1X mode 3 nights earlier. A lack of definition is evident, probably because the focal length could do with a 4X Powermate instead of 2X and the high ambient temperature caused poor viewing conditions. Nevertheless, my best image of Jupiter to date. Captured in Backyard EOS Planetary 5X mode Bahtinov Mask focused on a nearby star (Aldeberan) Registax 6 Stacked 20% of 500 Video frames at 768x800. ISO 800 1/15 Sec, 0 DARK, 0 BIAS, 0 FLATS, Post-processed with Adobe Photoshop CS5 Video sequence in Microsoft Movie Maker Telescope - Bintel BT200 f/4.0 Newtonian (borrowed from Stephen Boyd) with Televue 2" 2X Powermate, no filter, Canon 40D DSLR field ~32' x 48' with 2X Powermate, Ambient 31C. EQMOD EQASCOM with Ascom 6 for mount countrol. Backyard EOS 2.09 for Image acquisition in Planetary mode. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. No guidescope.
Comet McNaught 19th January 2007 with Crescent Moon and Venus.
Taken from the roof of the house, low in the south west at dusk Canon S3IS 6-72mm (36-432 35mm Equivalent) Compact Digital Camera near its maximum wide angle 10mm (60mm equiv). 1/2 Sec @ f/3.2.
My first planetary image through the Apogee 80 on the Skywatcher NEQ6 mount using sidereal tracking only. Photo is a single in-camera JPEG @ 1/90 sec ISO 100 and is unprocessed. Phase is visible on the planet in the high resolution version, but the focus is not sharp and the image scale insufficent at f/6 prime focus as the field is 165' x 107' and Venus is less than 1' (41" arc). Telescope - Apogee OrthoStar LOMO 80/480 without Field Flattener or light polution filter, Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient xxC not noted. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Unguided. (Prime focus)
Jupiter & 3 Moons - 23/11/2009
Jupiter & 3 moons 23rd November 2009 Taken at the eyepiece (afocal) of 10" Dobsonian using Canon SX110 IS compact digital camera. First use of my 10" f/4.5 Dobsonian telescope for photography.
Saturn - 16/6/18 (Processed cropped stack)
Captured with Image Capture 2.4 - 1000 frames Video cropped with Video Castrator Post Processed with Registax 6 to stack best 10% (100) frames and with Wavelet processing. Further processed with Adobe Photoshop CC 2018 Telescope Obsession 30 f4 FL3048mm Dobsonian c2004 Perth Observatory's; No filter; The Imaging Source DBK41AU02.AS Colour Planetary Camera; Ambient 10C. The Imaging Source IC 2.4 for Image acquisition. Unguided on tracked AltAzimuth Dobsonian.
Mars Rotation sequence - 5/4/2013 (Processed stills into video)
Images captured at Perth Observatory with Perth Observatory gear. I captured 4 Mars images over about 15 minutes. I've put them in a video sequence that clearly shows the planets rotation. Captured with The Imaging Source Image Capture (IC) 1000 frames 1/30 Sec, gain 600 Video cropped with Video Castrator Registax 6 Stacked best 200 Images Post-processed with Adobe Photoshop CC Video sequence made from stills in Microsoft Movie Maker. Telescope - Celestron 'Orange Tube' 14" f/11 FL=3910mm SCT c1978 (Perth Observatory's), 2X Vixen VX Barlow (f/22, FL=7820mm), No filter, The Imaging Source DBK41AU02.AS Colour Planetary Camera, Ambient ~16C. The Imaging Source IC for Image acquisition. Unguided on Sidereal tracked Celestron Wedge.
1 Day old crescent Moon (between the power lines) and Venus.
Taken from the roof of the house 20th January 2007. Canon S3IS 6-72mm (36-432 35mm Equivalent) Compact Digital Camera, at maximum zoom 72mm (432mm equiv). 1/2 Sec @ f/3.5.
Jupiter 25/09/2010 (Processed)
One of my first planetary images, using positive projection, through the Apogee 80 on the Skywatcher NEQ6 mount using sideral tracking only. Photo is a single in-camera JPEG at 0.3sec ISO 100 and was processed by Adobe Photoshop CS5 to crop and colour adjust. Banding is visible on the planet, but the focus is not sharp. Just visible above (1) and below (2) are three of the Galilean moons. Telescope - Apogee OrthoStar LOMO 80/480 without Field Flattener or light polution filter, Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient xxC not noted. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Unguided. (Eyepiece projection 10.5mm Meade Research Orthoscopic)
The Great Jupiter-Saturn Conjunction of 2020 - 21/12/2020 (Processed cropped video stack)
Imaged at Perth Observatory. Captured with BackyardEOS 1X Planetary mode - 500 frames @ ISO1600 at 1/125 sec. Post Processed with Registax 6 to stack best 20% (100) frames and with Wavelet processing. Further processed with Adobe Photoshop CC 2020 Telescope - Meade LX200-ACF 14" f/10 F-3556mm, Long Perng 0.6x APO Focal Reducer,No filter, Baader BCF modified Canon 70D DSLR field 35' x 25' , Ambient ~22C. Meade Fork mount with EQ X-Wedge with siderial tracking, no guiding. BackYardEOS 3.2 for image capture.
Transit of the Sun by Mercury - 11/11/2019 (Video from stills)
Sequence from stills, combined using PIPP with no alignment and no cropping. This was the full sequence as capture with no alignment of 50 frames. Slooh Telescope T5-SHa-60 (Canary Islands, Spain) - Lunt Double-Stack Hydrogen-Alpha 60mm f/8.3, Celestron Skyris 236C camera 23' x 37' , Ambient ??C. Paramount ME (Mk4000) mount.
Jupiter and Mars near Regulus 20/11/1979
Exposure 15 Secs at 03:30 AM 20/11/1979, Kodak Ektachrome 400 Tranparencies, 35mm SLR, 50mm Lens at f/1.8. Scanned using Canon MP980 MFP 19/04/2009. Olympus OM10 35mm SLR with f/1.4 50mm lens piggbacked on Telescope - Self made f/6 8" Newtonian on German EQ mount from parts from Astro Optical Supplies (NSW). Ambient ??C not recorded. Guided by hand.
Canon S3IS 6-72mm (36-432 35mm Equivalent) Compact Digital Camera. 0.5 sec at f/3.5 at 72mm (432mm equiv) just shows earthshine on the dark part of the Moon.
One of my first planetary images, using positive projection, through the Apogee 80 on the Skywatcher NEQ6 mount using sideral tracking only. Photo is a single in-camera JPEG at 0.3sec ISO 100 and is unprocessed. Banding is visible on the planet, but the focus is not sharp. Telescope - Apogee OrthoStar LOMO 80/480 without Field Flattener or light polution filter, Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient xxC not noted. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Unguided. (Eyepiece projection 10.5mm Meade Research Orthoscopic)
Jupiter - 10/11/2013 (Processed cropped stack)
Image scale too small ... just done with the configuration at end of night. Captured with BackyardEOS 5X Planetary mode - 500 frames @ ISO1250 at 1/20 sec. Post Processed with Registax 6 to stack best 20% (100) frames. Further processed with Adobe Photoshop CS5 Telescope - Apogee OrthoStar LOMO 80/480 with Hotech SCA Field Flattener, Hutech IDAS LPS-P2 filter, Canon 40D DSLR field 106' x 159' , Ambient 15C. EQMOD EQASCOM with Ascom 6 for mount control. Backyard EOS 2.09 for Image acquisition. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Starlight Xpress SuperStar (Mono) CCD Auto Guider and Stark Labs PHD auto guiding software.
Transit of the Sun by Mercury - 11/11/2019 (Cropped Video from stills)
Sequence from stills, combined using PIPP with alignment of 25 frames (from 50) and cropping on a prominence on lower left limb Slooh Telescope T5-SHa-60 (Canary Islands, Spain) - Lunt Double-Stack Hydrogen-Alpha 60mm f/8.3, Celestron Skyris 236C camera 23' x 37' , Ambient ??C. Paramount ME (Mk4000) mount.
12.5" f/7.5 Calver Newtonian telescope with Olympus OM10 35mm film SLR at prime focus. 1/60 Sec exposure. This shows no surface detail and that a much longer focal length is required for planetary objects. Kodak Ektachrome 400 Tranparencies. Scanned using Canon MP980 MFP 16/10/2011
3-Day old Moon with Venus (above) and Jupiter 1st December 2008.
Longer exposure to see the Earthshine. Canon S3IS 6-72mm (36-432 35mm Equivalent) Compact Digital Camera. 1.6 sec at f/3.5 at 72mm (432mm equiv) clearly shows earthshine on the dark part of the Moon.
Uranus (top right), Juipter and 3 Galilean Moons (bottom left) 26/09/2010 (Processed)
One of the first guided planetary images, cropped and colour adjusted by Adobe Photoshop CS5. Taken through the Apogee 80 on the SkyWatcher NEQ6 mount. Guided for 6sec @ISO 400 in-camera JPEG with no in-camera dark and with no light pollution filter or field flattener. Jupiter is necessarily over-exposed but 3 of the Galilean Moons are clearly visible and comparable in brightness to Uranus. Focused using a Bahtinov Mask for the first time, which worked quite well. Telescope - Apogee OrthoStar LOMO 80/480 without Field Flattener or light polution filter, Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient xxC not noted. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Star Shoot Auto Guider. Stark Labs PHD software used for guiding.
Jupiter at Opposition - 11/5/2018 (Re-Processed cropped stack)
Captured with BackyardEOS 5X Planetary mode - 1000 frames @ ISO1600 at 15/100 sec. Video cropped with Video Castrator Post Processed with Registax 6 to stack best 10% (100) frames and with Wavelet processing - changed workflow mid-2019. Further processed with Adobe Photoshop CC 2019 Telescope - Skywatcher ED80 80/600 with TeleVue 4X 2" PowerMate, No filter, Baader BCF modified Canon 70D DSLR field 21' x 32' , Ambient ~18C. EQMOD EQASCOM with Ascom 6 for mount control. Backyard EOS Pro 3.1.16 for Image acquisition. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Guidescope - Orion ShortTube 80 with Starlight Xpress SuperStar (Mono) CCD Auto Guider and Stark Labs PHD auto guiding software.
Transit of the Sun by Mercury - 11/11/2019 (Video from stills)
Sequence from stills, combined using PIPP with alignment of 25 frames (from 50) on a prominence on lower left limb, no cropping Slooh Telescope T5-SHa-60 (Canary Islands, Spain) - Lunt Double-Stack Hydrogen-Alpha 60mm f/8.3, Celestron Skyris 236C camera 23' x 37' , Ambient ??C. Paramount ME (Mk4000) mount.
12.5" f/7.5 Calver Newtonian telescope with Olympus OM10 35mm film SLR at prime focus. 1/30 Sec exposure. This shows no surface detail and that a much longer focal length is required for planetary objects. Kodak Ektachrome 400 Tranparencies. Scanned using Canon MP980 MFP 16/10/2011.
My first planetary image through the Apogee 80 on the Skywatcher NEQ6 mount using sideral tracking only. Photo is a single in-camera JPEG @ 1/90 sec ISO 100. Phase is more clearly visible in this Photoshop CS5 cropped version, but the focus is not sharp as the image scale insufficent at f/6 prime focus. Also see the unprocessed image. Telescope - Apogee OrthoStar LOMO 80/480 without Field Flattener or light polution filter, Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient xxC not noted. Mount - Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro. Unguided. (Prime focus)
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