Planet and other Solar System Images 2014 to 2018
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A brief clear spell on 10th February 2014 gave me an opportunity to image Jupiter with the Great Red Spot visible. Several hundred Philips Toucam webcam frames with the Meade 12" and 2x Barlow. Stacked using Registax, finished in Photoshop. Mediocre seeing as always, but Jupiter was so big and bright that I had to go for it! |
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11 March 2014 gave me another opportunity to image Jupiter with the Great Red Spot visible. Several hundred Philips Toucam webcam frames with the Meade 12" and 3x Barlow. Stacked using Registax, finished in Photoshop. High pressure improved the seeing somewhat, although not what I'd hoped for, and although the Moon was close and bright it didn't affect the image. |
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Every two years or so Mars makes it's closest approach to the Earth in its elliptical orbit. The 2014 closest was on 15th April, and as luck would have it the evening of 14th was clear with a reasonably steady sky, so I was able to capture an image just after midnight at its then maximum size of 15.16 arc- seconds - relatively small compared to previous apparitions. It was also fairly low in the sky at 30 degrees altitude with some atmospheric disturbance, so despite careful collimation of my telescope the details are not as fine as might be hoped for. Several hundred frames captured with my Toucam webcam on my 12" Meade, stacked in Registax, final processing in Photoshop. |
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This image shows the relative sizes as seen from Earth of the recent Jupiter and Mars images. Of course the true size of Mars is such that several would fit inside the Great Red spot! |
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Comet C/2014 E2 Jacques moved through Cassiopeia towards the end of August 2014. I was at Dalby Starfest over the weekend of 23rd August, and had a go then, but had guiding problems. BUT as the forecast wasn't too good, came home early on Sunday instead of Monday. And was very lucky with the clouds - just North of the Northern edge of a weather front, so had a lovely clear night until the mist formed around 2 am. So got lots of images of the comet, 50 subs in total. I was using my Meade 127 refractor and Canon 700D camera,
and at the focal length of 950 mm the comet was very fast
moving. So I set the ISO of my Canon 700D camera at 3200 and
used 90 second frames. Which seems to have worked quite
well. the only down side is that the tail disappears out of
the bottom of the image - I should have had the comet nearer
the top of the frame, but at the time didn't know which way
the tail was pointing or how long it was. The brightest star
in the image is 7th magnitude Tycho catalog number TYC
4028-489-1 (Hipparcos number HIP 3267) The main image is a stack of 20 subs, using the clever comet stacking feature in Deep Sky Stacker. Also heavily processed better to show the tail. Two animations using all 50 subs, here just very small GIFs, one with the comet moving against the background, the other with the comet stationary and the background moving. There are larger mp4 versions on my web site, best viewed using Windows Media Player unless you have the latest QuickTime Plug in installed: |
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Comet C/2014 E2 Jacques passed by Mu Cephei, the Garnet Star at the northern tip of IC1396, on the night of 30th August 2014. This image is 20 subs of 3 minutes at ISO3200, Canon 700D on TS65 Quad refractor (420 mm focal length). Stacked using the clever comet stacking procedure in Deep Sky Stacker. Unmodified camera, so the Hydrogen-alpha contrast is muted. But the 'Elephant's Trunk' is quite clear. |
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In the main image the tail is pretty well lost against the background stars and nebulosity, but there is a hint of it pointing downwards at 7-o-clock. This image, stacked on the comet head and median combined to blur the background, clearly shows the tail. Cropped from the main image. |
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Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy made a fine show in the Southern sky before moving into the Northern skies in January 2015. There had been a tail detachment episode, but the tail re-established, although fainter . The dreadful weather at home continued through early January, but a short clear window gave me the opportunity to image the comet on 12th. This image is constructed from 17 sub frames, each of 3 minutes, bracketing 2100 hours UT, taken with my Canon 700D camera, 400L lens fully open at f5.6, and ISO1600. It proved very difficult to extract the faint tail from the slightly hazy background without the image becoming overprocessed and unnatural, so this is about the best I could manage! The angular distance from the head to the left edge of the field of view is approximately 3 degrees, which at the comet's distance of 73 million Km equates to a tail length in the region of 4 million Km! |
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Asteroid 357439 2004 BL86 made a relatively close pass to the Earth on the night of 26-27 January 2015, approximately 0.008 AU (1.22 million Km, 760,000 miles) at its closest. The asteroid was estimated at greater than 1 Km diameter, large enough to have serious consequenses if it impacted with the Earth! I hoped to image it, but although the early evening was clear, I was away from home, and by the time I was ready to image, the clouds were very much in evidence. Eventually around 0100 UT I had a brief window of around 20 minutes through a hazy sky, and managed 16 x 1 minute shots before the clouds returned for good as can be seen in the animation. I was using my Canon 700D camera at ISO 1600 with a 100 mm lens. A large field of view, in the hope of capturing around four hours worth of images, eventually passing Messier 44, alas the skies were not friendly! So these images are cropped from half size versions of the original photographs. Even at the short focal length, the asteroid was moving so fast that the 1 minute exposures produced a streak. (Image scale here is approximately 18 arc-secs per pixel). North is up, the bright star next to the streak is SAO 116818 (TYC 796-1621-1), Epoch 2000 RA 08h 29m 36s, DEC +8° 25' 02" As usual click on the images for larger versions. The larger animation GIF is 1.5 MB. |
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Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy continued to delight observers in early 2015, and in March it passed by one of my favourite clusters, NGC457 the 'Owl or 'ET' cluster in Cassiopeia. So although by this time the tail was starting to fade, on 10th March I visited it with my Canon 350D deep sky modified camera with this result. 10 x 2 minute subs on TS65 Quad. The smaller cluster centre right is NGC 436, and the modded camera also picked up Sharpless 188 (PN G128.0-04.1), to the left of the comet. I've enhanced it slightly, better to show it up, but nothing added! That's one for H-alpha imaging with my QSI! |
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As the 2015 Summer progressed, Jupiter and Venus moved closer in the sky until on 30th June they were at their closest. For once the weather was kind with a clear sky down to the Western horizon. Initially I wanted a close up using my RC10 telescope. I had to squeeze that in quickly because the Western horizon from my Observatory is obscured by my neighbour's tall shrubs. But reasonably successful, although the sky wasn't dark enough to show the Galilean moons in other than a very overexposed image. This one is 1/10th second. Larger image.
I then moved into a neighbouring field with my camera and 70-200 mm Canon L lens on my EQ3-2 mount. That location gave me a clearer Western view, and I was able again to take several images as the pair moved ever lower in the darkening sky. This is probably the most effective with them just above trees. 1 second exposure, 70 mm focal length, f6.1 (approx.) using a mask to minimise starburst. All images with my Canon 700D camera at ISO200. Larger image. |
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The 2015 Perseid meteor shower came at a time when the Moon was out of the way, and the night of 11-12 August promised to be dark and clear. So I set up my Canon 700D camera with 17 mm focal length lens on my tracking EQ3-2 mount in the hope of capturing some meteors. As is always the case of course they rarely obliged by passing across the field of view, but I captured two bright occurrences. The one at the top of the photo is almost certainly a sporadic, but that near the bottom is certainly a Perseid. Click on the thumbnail as usual for a medium size image, larger image here. This is of course a composite of separate photographs. |
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Transit of Mercury On 9th May 2016 there was a (relatively) rare transit of Mercury across the face of the Sun. Visible in its entirety from the UK. I set up two imaging systems on my Observatory mount, for white light my Canon 700D on Meade 127 refractor with Baader Solar film, for Hydrogen-alpha light my Artemis 285 on Solarscope50. Both set up with computer control to take an image every 5 minutes for the whole transit which lasted for just over 7 1/2 hours . Some problems unfortunately - exposure times for the Canon which were set too long at first - some unnoticed hazy cloud cleared after the initial set up, so early frames were over exposed. Then towards the end as the Sun lowered into horizon haze, the exposure times had to be increased again. More fortunate with the H-a, although the camera slipped at one point, rotating through 90 degrees, unnoticed for a while. Also unnoticed was a failure of the power supply to the Canon so 40 minutes were lost! Seeing was poor, so many frames were a bit fuzzy. But here is first contact with both cameras. Full size white light here. |
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As Mercury progressed, seeing continued to vary, but I have selected frames which are as good as they get. Full size white light here. |
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Unfortunately at the time of last contact, tree leaves and branches got in the way, and of course the low altitude did not help the seeing. But here is the result anyway! A couple of H-a images - the narrow wave band at the red end of the spectrum survives the thick atmosphere better. No full size for the white light, reddened and blurred by the low altitude (9.5 degrees).
I hope to produce a video of the full passage. probably in H-alpha, more interesting with the surface features. But correcting the rotation when the camera slipped will take a bit of doing, never mind processing and aligning each image. Watch this space! The next transit will be on 11th November 2019 in the afternoon,starting at 12:35 Only the first half of the transit will be visible from the UK before the Sun sets, but Mercury passes almost directly across the centre of the Sun. The following transit will be on 13th November 2032, already in progress at sunrise in the UK, ending at 12:07 If I live, I'll by 89 by then. Better hope for a clear afternoon in 2019! |
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In early 2016 Jupiter was riding quite high. Unfortunately the terrible weather limited imaging time, and I sadly neglected the king of planets in favour of deep sky work when possible, not realising that it would not be as high again for several years. But the upper of the two images was taken on April 18th with decent seeing, using my venerable Toucam Pro web camera, stacked from a selection of 1200 frames taken over 2 minutes Around the same time a new 'planetary' camera was announced by Altair Astro, and I decided to purchase it. Here, but through Ian King Imaging. I was able to give it a good try out on a couple of nights, but poor seeing didn't help. The lower image from May 9th was the best, so here it is. Taken using the same RC10 telescope and 3x Barlow as the Toucam image, but apparently larger because the GPCAM2 pixels are smaller. The camera has a fast download, this image was stacked from 4600 frames, also taken over 2 minutes. The South equatorial belt shows an interesting block of cloud features in the centre. I've checked the original avi and it appears to be genuine. Time is running out for Jupiter - I may have another chance this year, but next time round it will be 12 degrees lower in the sky at best, dropping from 41 degrees altitude to 29 degrees. Not as high again until November 2023, then even higher at 48 degrees. But by that time if I'm still around I'll be 80 years old! In 2012 and 2013 Jupiter was around 50 degrees at highest, and if you look up this page you will see that the images around those years benefited from the extra altitude. |
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Another Jupiter, this time from 13th May with the GPCAM 2 on RC10 with 3X Barlow. I keep missing the Great Red Spot with the new camera - clouds not playing fair! |
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I continued to enjoy the GPCAM 2 on Jupiter although it was by now fast sinking into the West. This image is from 23rd May. The moon shadow belongs to Callisto, but the visible moon is Io. Seeing was rather poor that night, and although I had a go at Mars and Saturn they were horribly affected at their low altitude (around 12 degrees) and not worth showing here. |
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This one is from 27th May when finally the sky was clear when the Great Red Spot was visible. |
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On 5th June the sky was steadier than it had been for some time and I finally managed just acceptable images of Mars and Saturn with the GPCAM2 with 3X Barlow on the RC10. As before, both very low in the sky. When you click on Mars for the full size image, I have also enclosed a copy of the image produced by the excellent 'Mars Previewer II' program showing the features, and confirming that what is visible in my image is real! |
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This time for me Mars was very disappointing, diameter 18.5", altitude 13.5 degrees. But looking ahead, here are a few figures for upcoming apparitions. The next time round, at the end of July 2018 Mars is almost as large as it ever gets - around 24" diameter. Alas for me the highest it will get is less than 9.5 degrees - even worse than this time. But for observers in the Southern hemisphere it will be a real treat - for example Brisbane will see it almost directly overhead at 88 degrees altitude!! Hmmm - I think I know of someone in Brisbane with a decent size 'scope and we have relations there.... This picture, courtesy of Starry Night Backyard (as always click for a larger version), shows why Mars is so big in 2018. You can see from the position of the orbits that it is almost as close as it ever gets to us. In 2020 things are much improved here. At the beginning of October, Mars will be 22.3" diameter at a much healthier altitude for me of 40 degrees. A date for my diary! Saturn was at its best of this apparition at the beginning of June, reaching 14.5 degrees altitude for me. Date for my diary is 27th December 2032 when Saturn will be riding high at 57.5 degrees! But as I'll be 89 years old by then if I live that long, I'm not setting too much store by it - I'll probably be wearing a halo or sporting a forked tail! Early December 2024 will be the best Jupiter time. Maybe I'll make that one! (All figures gleaned from Skymap Pro ephemeris tables) |
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Jupiter was rather low in the sky even near opposition in early April 2017, but I managed to capture this on 8th. 300 frames from 1500 stacked in Autostakkert and final processing in Photoshop. GPCAM2 colour on 10" RC with 2.5x Powermate |
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During week commencing 24th June 2018 I was fortunate in being on holiday during all the lovely clear Summer weather. Staying at the Tewkesbury (Gloucestershire) Caravan and Motorhome Club site, from where there was a good view of Tewkesbury Abbey tower, and each night Venus was seen passing above the tower. So I decided to try and photograph it. The night of 26th June was suitable, so I attempted to capture a photograph when Venus was above the weathervane, and indeed succeeded. No tripod, so I positioned the camera on a wooden railing - I had to chock the front up with a stack of coins to get the required framing, and use the 10 second timer to avoid camera shake! Time 2137 UT. |
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But then I realised that if I changed position and waited a couple of minutes, Venus would appear lower and closer to the Tower. And more by luck than judgement I got Venus peeking through the tail of the cockerel on the weathervane. Time 2140 UT. Larger size. For both images, Camera Panasonic TZ70. Exposures 0.625 seconds at ISO 400 and f5.6, zoomed to equivalent 35 mm focal length of 172 mm |
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The Perseid meteor shower of 2018 was forecast to peak on the evening of 12th. August. But the forecast for that night was so dire I decided to try and capture some on the night of the 10th which was beautifully clear. So set up my Canon 700D on my Star Adventurer and let it run 30 second images for a couple of hours, using a switch in the bulb control socket and set for multiple exposures. ISO 1600, 17 mm Tamron lens at f3.2. Patched in the individual trails to a composite of 8 subs. The final result is a bit disappointing but better than nothing - I didn't eyeball any meteors at all. |
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After a run of very poor nights both at home and at Kelling Heath, the night of 14th September 2018 gave me a few hours of good clear sky in the early hours. So as I knew Comet Giacobini-Zinner was approaching Messier 35, I decided to have a go. It was actually going to pass right across M35, but in mid morning - I wonder if anyone elsewhere in the world captured the passage. I started imaging around 1:30 am local time, but the target was very low at only 18 degrees altitude. Also in the East which is my worst light pollution area, looking towards Newcastle upon Tyne. So I waited, and eventually was satisfied with 10 frames around 4 am when the comet was at 40 degrees altitude, at which point the clouds arrived. So here is the result. Canon 700D on TS65 quad. 10 frames at 3 minutes and ISO1600. Processed using a combination of Deep Sky Stacker, MaximDL and Photoshop. The small very old cluster to the lower right of M35 is of course NGC 2158, with IC 2157 further to the right. Larger size. This image appeared in the December 2019 Astronomy Now Deep Sky section. |
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Comet 46P Wirtanen passed close to the Earth during December 2018, at its closest on 16th at which time it was also near Messier 45, The Pleiades. On that day and either side of the day it would have made a splendid wide field photograph - the comet was very bright - almost naked eye. Alas the weather did not cooperate, cloudy all three nights.The next really interesting encounter was the night of 16th January 2019, when it was due to pass almost directly over the interesting polar ring galaxy Arp 336 (NGC2685\) in Ursa Major. I kept my fingers crossed for a clear sky in the small hours (Moonset was not until 4 am on 17th) and for once the sky gods smiled on me and after a snowy cold front passed through it was beautifully clear for a couple of hours. By that time the comet core was approximately 10 arc-minutes from the centre of the galaxy. I used my Canon 700D on my 10" RC scope (2000mm fl) to try for some galaxy detail with a succession of 5 minute subs - any longer would show too much movement of the comet at that focal length. And this was the result. The galaxy really needed much longer exposures, but the polar ring is just visible. |
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I already had an image of the galaxy from 2008 and there was enough detail and nearby stars to position it exactly in the main image. 16 x 5 minute subs, darks, flats and bias frames also used. Guided with my Lodestar on a Celestron off-axis guider. The two distant edge on galaxies in the lower part of the image are (reading down) PGC 25034 (mag 17.1) and PGC 25046 (mag 16.7) |
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This is an animation of 16 frames. There is a slight jump, a couple of the originals were unusable. Larger version here (2.68MB). As you can see by tracing the path back, the coma would have passed over the galaxy. A pity there was a bright Moon - if it had been New, with full darkness at 6.30 pm on 16th instead of 4 am on 17th, the comet would have been at its closest to the galaxy at the start of the imaging run and I would have many more exposures and a much longer animation. |
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