JUPITER 2005:
Jupiter February 25, 2005, 0845 UT, 6" f/8 refractor, 120X, MV-1 filter. Seeing 3/5, transparency 4/5, much scintillation, very short monments of clarity.
Jupiter February 25, 2005, 0845 UT, Space Hut imaging team, same time as above sketch was made. Meade LX200 12" with toucam, processed with k3ccd tools and Astrostax.
Jupiter March 30, 2005, 0430 - 0440 UT, 6" f/8 refractor, 120X - 150X, MV-1, #11, #15 filters. Seeing 4/5, transparency 4/5, sharp image but blurred by upper thin haze.
Jupiter March 30, 2005, 0450 - 0500 UT, 6" f/8 refractor,100X afocal projection, Olympus C-740 digital camera, 1/8 sec, at 400 iso, 10X optical zoom, seeing as above. Stack of 12 exposures processed in Photoshop and Registax. Shot in single frame tiff format. Colors approximate visual appearance in 6" refractor with no filters.
Jupiter April 11, 2005, 0420 - 0430 UT, 6" f/8 refractor, 120X - 150X, MV-1, #11, #15 filters. Seeing 4/5, transparency 4/5, a wealth of details seen in fleeting moments.
Jupiter April 11, 2005, 0420 - 0430 UT, 6" f/8 refractor, 100X afocal projection, Olympus C-740 digital camera, 1/8 sec, at 400 iso, 10X optical zoom, seeing 3/5, transparency 4/5. Stack of 50 exposures processed in Photoshop and Registax, shot in multple frame HQ format.
Jupiter April 21, 2005, 0430 - 0440 UT, 6" f/8 refractor, 150X, seeing 4/5, transparency 4/5. Seeing excellent despite variable transparency. Faint belt noted north of STB, 2 white ovals detected as well as large equatorial festoon and barge in NEB.
Jupiter April 21, 2005, 0445 UT, 6" f/8 refractor, 75X afocal projection, Olympus C-740 digital camera, 1/15 - 1/25 sec, at 400 iso, 10X optical zoom, seeing 4/5, transparency 4/5. Stack of 10 exposures processed in Photoshop and Registax, shot in TIFF format.
Jupiter April 22, 2005, 0430 - 0440 UT, 6" f/8 refractor, 150X, seeing 4/5, transparency 3-4/5. Seeing average. 2 white ovals detected in STB, Red Spot Hollow very dark GRS remains pale.
Jupiter April 22, 2005, 0445 UT, 6" f/8 refractor, 75X afocal projection, Olympus C-740 digital camera, 1/10 - 1/15 sec, at 400 iso, 10X optical zoom, seeing 4/5, transparency 4/5. Processed in Photoshop and stack of 15 in Registax, shot in TIFF format.
Jupiter April 24, 2005, 0430 - 0445 UT, 6" f/8 refractor, 200X, seeing 4/5, transparency 3/5. Seeing better than average. 3 white ovals detected in STB, Red Spot Hollow very crisp tonight. GRS appears orange, belt detail very sharp at times. CM1=91.9 CM2=28.5
Jupiter April 24, 2005, 0500 UT, 6" f/8 refractor, 75X afocal projection, Olympus C-740 digital camera, 1/10 - 1/15 sec, at 400 iso, 10X optical zoom, seeing 4/5, transparency 3/5. Processed in Photoshop and stack of 12 in Registax, shot in TIFF format.
Left...Jupiter April 25, 2005, 0415 - 0425 UT, 6" f/8 refractor, 120X, seeing 4/5, transparency 4/5. Seeing sharper than average. 2 white ovals detected in STB, Red Spot Hollow on limb. Io about to start transit on NEB. Much detail from both SEB and NEB in Equatorial Zone. CM1=237.7 CM2=166.7
Middle...Jupiter April 25, 2005, 0500 UT, 6" f/8 refractor, 75X afocal projection, Olympus C-740 digital camera, 1/20 sec, at 400 iso, 10X optical zoom, seeing 4/5, transparency 4/5. Processed in Photoshop and stack of 10 in Registax, shot in TIFF format, GRS exiting on limb to left, Io shadow entering on NEB.
Right...Jupiter April 25, 2005, 0520 UT, 6" f/8 refractor, 112X afocal projection, Olympus C-740 digital camera, 1/8 sec, at 400 iso, 10X optical zoom, seeing 4/5, transparency 4/5. Processed in Photoshop and stack of 8 in Registax, shot in TIFF format, large festoons on NEB, Io transit well underway.
Left...Jupiter May 05, 2005, 0415 - 0430 UT, 6" f/8 refractor, 120X, seeing 3/5, transparency 4/5. 80A blue filter, huge festoon complex from NEB sys 1 15 degrees. CM1=20.3 CM2=233.1 South is up
Right...Jupiter May 05, 2005, 0445 - 0500 UT, 6" f/8 refractor, 75X afocal projection, Olympus C-740 digital camera, 1/20 sec, at 400 iso, 10X optical zoom, seeing 3/5, transparency 4/5. Processed in Photoshop and stack of 24 in Registax, shot in TIFF format. North is up
Left...Jupiter May 11, 2005, 0345 - 0355 UT, 6" f/8 refractor, 120X, seeing 5/5, transparency 4/5. 80A blue filter. CM1=220.5 CM2=27.7 South is up
Center and Right...Jupiter May 11, 2005, 0415 - 0430 UT, 6" f/8 refractor, 75X afocal projection, Olympus C-740 digital camera, 1/8 sec, at 200 iso, 10X optical zoom, seeing 4/5 (1 arc sec.), transparency 4/5. Processed in Photoshop, shot in TIFF format. South is up, Io transit is about 3/4 done, shadow prominent, GRS rotating into view. CM1=238.8 CM2=45.8
Reprocessed with Astrostack2
Left...Jupiter May 14, 2005, 0355 - 0405 UT, 6" f/8 refractor, 120X, seeing 4/5, transparency 4/5. 80A blue filter. CM1=346.5 CM2=130.6 North is up
Center... Jupiter May 14, 2005, 0415 - 0430 UT, 6" f/8 refractor, 75X afocal projection, Olympus C-740Z digital camera, 1/8 sec, at 200 iso, 10X optical zoom, seeing 4/5 (1 arc sec.), transparency 4/5. Processed in Photoshop, shot in TIFF format. North is up, GRS rotating out of view. CM1=1.7 CM2=145.7
Right....stacked 30 images in Astrostack2 for maximum contrast.
Stacked 25 images in Astrostack3, Gamymede also enhanced.
Left...Jupiter May 16, 2005, 0415 - 0425 UT, 6" f/8 refractor, 120X, 170X, seeing 4/5, transparency variable with aurora and haze, 3-4/5. Very large festoon complex on NEB spreading into EZ and thickening the Equatorial belt. 80A blue filter. CM1=314.5 CM2=83.31 South is up
Center and right... Jupiter May 16, 2005, 0435 - 0450 UT, 6" f/8 refractor, 75X afocal projection, Olympus C-740Z digital camera, 1/8 sec, at 200 iso, 10X optical zoom, seeing 4/5 (2 arc sec.), transparency 3/5. Processed in Photoshop and Astrostack3, shot in TIFF format. South is up, GRS center of disk. CM1=326.7 CM2=95.4
Jupiter May 28, 2005, 0435 - 0450 UT, 6" f/8 refractor, 120X, 170X, seeing 2-3/5 (2-3 arc sec.), transparency 4/5. 80A filter used visually, shot in tiff format at iso 200, 1/8 sec. Olympus C740Z digital camera. CM1=65, CM2=102. North is up. Processed with Photoshop and Astrostack ver. 3
Jupiter June 1st, 2005, 0425 - 0545 UT, 6" f/8 refractor, 120X, 170X, seeing 3-4/5 (1-2 arc sec.), transparency 4/5. 80A filter used visually, shot in tiff format at iso 200, 1/8 sec. Olympus C740Z digital camera. CM1=326, CM2=333. Large festoons noted from NEB (a), single white oval noted over STB (b). Periods of very good seeing visually at 170X. Ganymede emerging from transit. Processed with Photoshop and Astrostack ver. 3. Seeing deteriorated sharply after 0500.
Jupiter June 6, 2005, 0430 - 0445 UT, 6" f/8 refractor, 120X, 180X, 200X seeing 4/5 (1-2 arc sec.), transparency 3/5. 80A filter used visually, shot in tiff format at iso 200, 1/8 sec. Olympus C740Z digital camera. CM1=32.6, CM2=1.2. Two large NEB festoons and dark barge (a), one STB white oval (b). Middle... stack of 6 in Astrostack 3, Right... stack of 12 in Astrostack 3.
This was a productive apparition of Jupiter as it was used as a test and learning experience for digital camera imaging of planets. What was learned besides that seeing conditions must be good and that the planet's elevation must be above at least 30 degrees was the settings of speed and shutter control as well as optimum image processing techniques that have been subsequently applied to lunar and solar imaging. The onset of daylight savings time and our high latitude as well as a few weeks of poor weather prematurely ended Jupiter observations for this year but I look forward to next year. Telescope maximum resolution and eyepiece/filter/camera setups were optimized and will be the basis of my Mars imaging for this year.
Positions calculated with Claude Duplessis' Meridian Software (freeware)