Another Jupiter (or two :) )

peterako

Got back late-ish last night to clear skies

Set the scope up, polar aligned etc.

Had a cuppa and out I went.....

Viewing conditions were good. Decided to take some captures.

List of mishaps....

- Bad, bad alignment....so objects dissapearing while tracking
- Battery ran out suddenly on Laptop!
- Stupidly walked in front of the scope a few times to have a look at other things through my binoculars while capturing.
- Kicked the tripod during capture.....

BUT managed to salvage this one from a very badly tracked capture.

I am very pleasantly surprised



Not sure If I posted this before from the 17th at 10.29 pm....not 9.29pm:



Peter

Scope: Celestron G8N (continuingly modded), RA tracking
Camera: Philips SPC900NC, 2x Barlow
Processing: Avidemux (to remove ruined frames), K3CCD (stacking), Registax (stacking and the rest)

happyoutscan

I heard on the radio that Jupiter can be seen tonight (weather depending). Can anyone give me any info regarding what direction to look, time etc. I'm in Galway if that helps.

Captain Chaos

happyoutscan wrote: »

I heard on the radio that Jupiter can be seen tonight (weather depending). Can anyone give me any info regarding what direction to look, time etc. I'm in Galway if that helps.

It's the brightest star in the East, low from 9-10 and slowly rising throughout the night. It does not matter where you are it's the same direction for everyone on the Northern hemisphere.

It's been visible for months and will be for a few months more until the sun will block it from our view.

dlofnep

I hate you.

And by hate, I mean love. Was this with your 8" dob? I need to seriously get the finger out, collimate mine and get the barlow on

*cries*

But they are tears of happiness. (And jealously)

peterako

If only I wasn't married....

I have an 8" Hybrid Newtonian - Celestron G8N.
It has a lens in between the two mirrors.

Most reviews don't like this set-up and I would guess that a regular Newtonian would give better images.

I would guess that I have been lucky with conditions and location.

The good image from 29th September was a total surprise.
Viewing was good, but I could not really see that much detail with the eye - just too small.

Just give it a try

For pics Collimation is definitely worth spending time on. I got all the gadgets when I started....including a laser collimator.
In the end I have found that the traditional methods the most rewarding for me.
(Photo film case with a small hole in it in the focusser to align mirrors and then star collimation)

I've started a list of links that I've found most useful (which i'll ammend and add to over time):
Astro Links

The Links section on this forum is great too!

The guys at IFAS are very helpful, some are on this forum too.

If you want to see what's possible with 'amateur' equipment check out the IFAS Astrophoto section!

Clear skies!

Peter

dlofnep

Wanted to take it out last night, but it was just too hazy. Next clear night, I'm going to drag her out to the coast and see what I can do.

peterako

Pity....
....Had a peek at Jupiter then it rained so I packed away.

it cleared up later and was...glorious!

The Milky Way just stood out amazingly!

Was too tired to take the scope out again though.