Thanks Jean-François, I am trying to make the jump from observer to
astrophotographers - there is a lot to learn, and it can be an expensive
transition! I think your video/animation looks great, the focus looks sharp at
that image size and speed. Thanks for the explanation and the resources. Even
though we live in the city with all of the light pollution, the great thing
about Phoenix is that it is easy to get out in the desert and find some pretty
dark skies within a few hours. I have been scoping out new locations SE of the
metropolitan area and am going back after dark to two of them this week. If I
can build up my astrophotography competency the combination with a dark site
should be good. Thanks again!
Rob
-----Original Message-----
From: az-observing-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <az-observing-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On
Behalf Of Jean-François Gout
Sent: Monday, May 28, 2018 10:18 PM
To: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [AZ-Observing] Re: Don't forget Jupiter tonight!
Hi Rob,
The Moon is not really a problem when observing Jupiter. It is true that
yesterday the Moon was close enough to Jupiter that it could have reflected on
the front lens of SCT/refractors or inside the tubes of Newtonian telescopes,
causing some loss in contrast. But other than that, the views of Jupiter and
its moons will be as good as under some dark skies.
Here is a lint to my version of Saturday night's event:
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-W6hwZpD/0/9a9acdd1/O/i-W6hwZpD.gif
Not as big/sharp as Tom's (I need to collimate my scope and buy a crayford for
precise focusing) but I had the advantage of using an equatorial mount, so the
process of taking 164 videos of ~3,000 frames each was mostly hands off (with a
re-centering every 20 minutes or so). Gear: C8 edgeHD + ASI224mc + CGEM.
Processing with Autostakkert, sharpening (wavelets) with Registax and GIF
preparation with pipp.
There will be many more transits/shadow events visible in the next weeks for
people who missed it this past week-end. Also of interest are the "end of
eclipse" type of events, when a moon of Jupiter appears next to Jupiter
(emerges from the shadow of Jupiter). It's like a new star that appears in
front of your eyes, truly a beautiful thing to observe (and no need for a big
telescope). You can find all the information about upcoming events on the
calsky.com website (or with your favorite planetarium software). Now is really
a good time for Jupiter (although it is fairly low on the horizon) and this is
great for those of us who live in the city and can't enjoy deep sky wonders on
a regular basis.
Clear skies!
jf
On Mon, May 28, 2018 at 9:24 PM, <darkmatterinsights@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Jean-François, thanks for the notice. I was out last night and it was
so bright from the full moon that I could barely find Polaris and had
to use the big dipper for some of my test shots. Given the proximity
of Jupiter to that big bright moon, I am surprised you could see much of
anything.
Rob
-----Original Message-----
From: az-observing-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<az-observing-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
On Behalf Of Tom Polakis
Sent: Sunday, May 27, 2018 9:43 AM
To: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [AZ-Observing] Re: Don't forget Jupiter tonight!
Jean-François Gout wrote:
Hello Arizona observers,
This is just a short message to tell you about a nice opportunity to
look at Jupiter tonight (Saturday May 26, 2018). The great red spot
will be transiting at
23:20 (local time in Arizona) while Europa will be projecting it's
shadow across the disk of Jupiter between 22h50 and 1h05...
Thanks for JF for the alert. I wheeled my 15-inch scope out into the
driveway to create this sequence of images. Technical stuff follows
the link.
http://www.pbase.com/polakis/image/167550333/original
Capture:
15-inch Dob on platform, 2x Barlow, ZWO ASI174MM camera Recorded 1000
monochrome video frames in R, G, and B colors Every 15 minutes - 36
video files total
Processing:
Kept best 500 frames from each of the 36 videos in Autostakkert!
Wavelet sharpened 36 files in Registax Combined 3 color channels for
12 RGB images in Photoshop Also in Photoshop, registration, levels,
curves, color balance, animation
Tom
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