Hey guys.

Got some imaging in last night, the seeing wasn't too bad. It was a little windy but it didn't seem to affect things too much. Through a barlowed 15mm Saturn looked very nice, the CD was quite steady and 4 moons jumped right out.

Spent some of this morning processing the lot, and attached is the result.

Particulars:
- 10" dob (no tracking)
- ToUcam Pro II
- 10fps
- 1/25s shutter
- Experimented with higher gamma
- Used VD to save bmp's and ppmcentre to centre them.
- Used "create reference frame" in registax before optimising.
- Stacked between 80 and 300 frames out of 1000.

From left to right, top to bottom:

* The first 3 (top row) are taken at prime focus (1250mm FL)
* The next 2 (top row) are at 2500mm FL (2x barlow) with higher gain and gamma
* The middle row, are taken using 0 gain and around 35% gamma. The brighter one (3rd one along) was reprocessed in AstraImage to see if it turned out any better.
* The bottom row are the same as the middle row, but 1.2x enlarged using Mitchell method in Registax.

These are probably my best Saturn's to-date. The Cassini Division is visible most of the way around and is not wobbly, the banding is evident and focus looks good.

I should be getting a proper IR filter this week, that might make things a bit better too.

Anyway, here they are.

Appreciate comments, suggestions, and which one you like the look of best.

Attached Images

20050207_saturnall.jpg (60.3 KB, 3 views)

__________________
Mike
. 10" GSO Dob
. 11x70 Binos
. IceInSpace - Aussie/NZ astro website and community forums
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/logo.jpg

very good work