Sunday, October 31, 2010

Home, 1983–85


J324 Prather Hall (Middle window, 1 down from the top).

I didn't feel really old until I realized whoever is living there now wasn't born when I was there.

Darrel K. Royal, Texas Memorial Stadium


Stitched with AutoStitch on the iPhone.

Jupiter, 29 October 1010


Again in the C6, but this time from Mansfield Dam, where I'm not shooting over the roof of the house. This is a 1.5X enlargement.
Best 98% of 500 frames LRGB, DMK21AF04, Televue 2.5x Powermate

Friday, October 15, 2010

Jupiter, 15 October 2010


Thought we needed to see this side of Jupiter for a change. Moon is Io.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Jupiter, 9 October 2010 (C6)


Actual Size



1.5X Resample



2X Drizzle


I've been unhappy with the last few Jupiters--they just weren't as good as the conditions said they should have been--so I decided to try a different telescope. I set the little 6" Celestron C6 up in the back yard and gave it a go.

Wow.

I don't know what's going on exactly with the bigger 10" LX200, but I'm clearly missing something somewhere when the upscaled image from the 6-inch scope is showing better detail than I'm getting from the bigger scope.

Thursday, October 07, 2010

Jupiter, 7 October 2010 (SPC900NC)


Just for grins, I shot this with the old SPC900NC webcam. It's OK, but you can tell the difference between the cheap camera and the other one.

Jupiter, 7 October 2010


The angled lines are an artifact on the sensor. I don't know if it's the cover filter or the sensor itself. I tried imaging this with flats, but it didn't take care of it as well as I'd hoped.

I still want to try a different scope as well. I think I'm hitting the limits of my LX200.

Tuesday, October 05, 2010

No Sleep For the Wicked


Dark blue is good. Three rows of dark blue is unheard of.

Monday, October 04, 2010

Friday, October 01, 2010

Jupiter, 1 October 2010



These might have been better if I had waited, but I wanted to catch the Great Reddish Spot. First shot was at 9:30, 33° up. Second one was an hour later, 44° elevation. I'm pleased these are as nice as they are for being so low in the sky.

Also tried out a new application (WinJupos) that compensates for the planet's rotation between shots. It take me nearly 2 minutes to complete a series, and in that time Jupiter has rotated enough that the luminance channel I shot first doesn't align perfectly with the the blue channel I shot last. The improvement is subtle, but I'll take whatever I can get.