Jupiter & Uranus through my 11" Celestron Telescope

[@mamanasonova]

Fantastic Jupiter))) THK YOU))))

[@robertsnapspot2731]

Great video Pat! Jupiter in opposition has been on my mind.

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

Hi Robert. Yep, now is a good time to capture Jupiter and Uranus.

[@ronm6585]

Very nice. Thank you.

[@viksohal]

Nice video Pat. You explain the process well.

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

Thank you for watching my video, "viksohal".

[@mamanasonova]

You Cool Man))))

[@napke8571]

The fact you managed to image Uranus as a clear green ball is already great job! The sky turbulence as you said was 'part of the deal' , but anyway good results. Not many astrophotographers image Uranus/Neptunes and show it online but I find those targets super interesting. I myself am a visual observer with some more simple refractors ( Skywatcher/Teleskop Service ) and a 200mm Newtonian. For me Jupiter and Saturn are the best targets here in the Netherlands. Watching the moon is also spectacular, some nebulas ( very faint ) and Andromeda on good nights, but we are not so lucky with excellent night skyes here.......light pollution, I do hate light pollution. Many many many people on this globe will not even discover how beautiful and powerful the universe around us is, so pity. More streetwalk astronomy as the great John Dobson showed the world!

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

Thank you for watching my video and for the compliment.
I still want to do better with Uranus (and Neptune). I should keep a better eye on the location of the jet stream. I certainly can't deal with the upper layer of turbulance refracting the little bit of light from the planets. But, that's part of the fun of this hobby.

[@GeorgeLandreman]

Hi Pat, thanks for the video. I'm just getting back into astronomy now that I'm in my 60's and moved to a house on a hill with a terrific south-facing patio. I recently purchased a Nexstar 6 SCT with a wedge and StarSence, remote focuser, cameras, etc. I find your video very timely since I want to get into the software side of things to eventually perform photography. Your video was a nice/concise example of the basics without diving into the details which will come with experience. Sincerely, George. Ohio BTW, I own an older Nexstar 11 GPS that I eventually want to utilize. I figure the Nexstar 6 is a good learning platform AND is a LOT easier to drag outside 🙂

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

Hi George,
My first "real" telescope was the Celestron Nexstar 6SE. I went from there to the 11" Edge on the CGEM equatorial mount. (I had to work out in the gym to build my upper body strength to hoist that beast on the mount... Ha) EQ mounts are so much different than he Alt/AZ mounts. The StarSense was so helpful for me with the Nexstar 6SE. Before then, I had a very difficult time in star aligning the mount. Now with the new StarSense AutioGuider, it is totally automatic along with precise guiding. (You saw how well it found Jupiter in my video, and that is with the narrower field of view with the 2.9 micron pixel camera).
Thank you for your compliments and for watching my video(s). For planetary viewing, a clear southern sky is a must at your latitude.
Clear skies George

[@dbwdbw7532]

Great video. Love the back yard with the breeze in the background. Fascinating photos of Jupiter. Thanks for sharing.

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

Thank you for watching my video. I am glad you enjoyed it. I do spen a lot of time in the garden, both day and night.

[@Aero19612]

Excellent image of Jupiter and a "worthy effort" for Uranus (it's a tough bird). When I first started AP, I located Neptune with my DSLR. Got a blue dot - never been back, haha. You did a nice demo of the proper tools to use to process Jupiter - the PI FFTRegistration script wouldn't work nearly as well.

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

Thanks James,
As i mention in my comment on your most recent image, it looks like several nights of super clear skies and no significant jet stream aloft. I will go after the planets again tonight and see what happens.

[@l2k55]

Nice video. Just subscribed. Great setup. Watched one of your previous videos about the remote setup. Nice to sit in a warm well lit "control room" and do your observations. Your passion for astronomy is obvious.

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

Thank you for watching my video(s) and for the compliment. I've been interested in astronomy since I was 7 years old ... a long long time ago ... ha.

[@enriquebechet1]

+nice images, I remember a couple years ago I used my edge 800 with my Ioptrom CEM 70 . Because the small sensor of camera, I couldn't use plate solving. I had to find Uranus and Neptune manually using the finderscope. it took me days each one. LOL

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

Thank you, Enri,
I have the Celestron StarSense Autoguider (SSAG) installed on the rig and not only does it do a great job in guiding, it also star aligns the scope and will find the desired target. It doesn't use the telesope camera, instead, it (SSAG) has a camera built in with a mini computer and plates solves to zero in on the target. It works very well.

[@enriquebechet1]

I will research more about it. Sounds easier. I also tried to image the ISS and failed. Have you done it , think you will try ?

[@5729ariel]

I used to catch your weather reports while stationed at Fort Stewart back in the 90s. I am definitely going to account for the jet stream in planetary imaging from now on. Keep up the amazing work, sir!

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

Great to hear from my former TV audiance. Yes, that Jet Stream does have a say in the overall "Seeing".

[@Jonathan-hx2yd]

Thanks!

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

Thank you very much.

[@Jonathan-hx2yd]

@@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy Welcome. I’m getting the Celestron 8” hd soon. How is it for observing the moon, planet’s, etc?

[@SimonsAstro]

Excellent video Pat😀 Fantastic images as usual, nice to see your work through on the planets! Great to see Uranus, considering your atmosphere you were shooting through, excellent work Pat👍 Clear skies!

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

Thanks Simon.
Say, is the big storm in western Europe affecting you? I sure hope not, after you got beat up by the last one. My sky should be super clear tonight with NO JET STREAM so I going to go planet shopping tonight.

[@SimonsAstro]

@@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy Good luck tonight Pat😀 Yeah we’ve had flood after flood! Cancelled appointments etc because roads have been closed due to impassable flood waters! Luckily, I live in a village on a hill!! Hopefully, the storms are moving away soon, it’s raining now🤦‍♂️ Clear skies to us all mate👍

[@LogansAstro]

Great result with Jupiter and to be honest, a pretty damn good result with Uranus too as it's very far away and you managed to show it at a definite spherical planet.

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

Hi Logan,
Thanks. I need to watch the jet stream better before I try to tackle Uranus or Neptune again. I thought that mass of super dry air at the surface would be good enough but those 100-130 knots winds aloft told a different story ... "Jiggle Planet",

[@A0111.]

I think you can get better results by increasing gain, and reducing exposure- this way you can have more lucky images with less blur - 25ms is just 40 fps, that is not enough for such a bright target as Jupiter if the atmosphere is so wobbly.

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

Thanks for the tip. I will give it a try on the next clear night with a not so powerful jet stream flowing overhead.

[@ashtondoublet8334]

Just saw Uranus for the first time through my Celestron Travel Scope 60. It was a pain in the ass to find because I have to manually control it, there's no tech that looks for it find itself

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

Uranus and Neptune are indeed difficult to find. That StarSense Autoguider greatly helped in centering the target for me. It's nearly impossible to try to find it without artificial intelligence at such high magnification of the long focal length scopes.

[@adrianbonser2152]

Would like to see you overview your set up / equipment.

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

Thank you for watching my video(s), Adrian. I do need to do an update on that topic. I will work on that.

[@njcck]

Hi Pat. Great video as usual. Do you use a barlow in your setup? I didn't see one in the closeup of you image train. I tried my 2x barlow but it was so tough to focus I was not happy with the result. I also want to try increasing gain and decreasing exposure as someone suggest below. I'm not great at planetary but I'm going to try again tonight using the ZWO 585. I went to Tropical Tidbits and it appears that the wind will not be as strong tonight. Thanks again for a very helpful video.

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

Thank you for watching my video "NJ",
I did not use a barlow. I have tried to use them in the past, but it decreases the light and as you mentioned, makes it even harder to focus. I going to try that procedure of decreasing exposure time and increasing the gain tonight. My sky should be super clear along with NO JET STREAM aloft, as you mentioned.
Clear Skies.

[@cliveroberts415]

Great results Pat. Same method as I use but have you tried Astrosurface? It stacks and does the wavelets in the one program. I have tried it a few times and it seems to produce good images.

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

Hi Clive,
Good to hear from you again. I have not heard of "Astrosurface". I must give it a try. I'm all in for saving steps and time.

[@conradsanders8475]

I see you answered a previous question about using the SSAG. I am assuming that is the Star Sense Auto Guider? How does that help with plate solving? You mentioned with that no need for a five star alignment? I have the original Star Sense camera which does plate solving using the camera so I am not sure how the SSAG would help me?

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

Hi Conrad,
Yes, the SSAG is the StarSense AutoGuider. It does the same as your StarSense ass far as star-aligning your scope, but the SSAG will also do a precise GOTO on the selected target via plate solving and THEN will go into guide mode and track the target.

[@guyyanez6949]

Great video. I no longer have my SCT scope and I kind of miss it for planetary imaging. I had a trusty Meade 10'' LX200 until maybe 12 years ago. Now that I only have small refractors, I am wondering if it is worth trying my Televue 4x powermate on my 101 mm refractor. I am not sure if I can get any decent result on Jupiter. I might give it a try.

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

Thank you for watching my video.
It sure is worth a try. 4X seems a bit high. I would try a 2x first, if you have one. What is the focal length and f/Ratto of your refractor? I am guessing f/7. If so, you should be able to get some good views of Jupiter and Saturn. Uranus on the other hand might look like just a bluish green dot or so.

[@guyyanez6949]

Hello again @@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy Yes, I know I may be pushing the FL to the limit, but I do not have a proper 2x barlow at hand right now. My telescope FL is 540, so it would probably be within an acceptable range at 2160mm . I will give it a try

[@craiglowery4427]

Hi Pat. I enjoyed your video. Did you use your SSAG to star align your SCT?

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

Hi Craig.
Yes I did, and it did quite well.
Thank you for watching.

[@craiglowery4427]

@@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy I bought an SSAG. I’m tired of laying on my back to do a five star alignment. I’m 68. This plate solving technology could be a lifesaver

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

@@craiglowery4427 ... You better believe it. I'm 74 ... an old dog ... but I am still learning new tricks. You are going to LOVE SSAG

[@conradsanders8475]

Which web site did you use to check the upper level winds?

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

My main weather analysis page is TROPICAL TIDBITS.

[@carlosramos7587]

Do you recommend a mono or color camera

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

Hi Carl.
Well, since I am a bit lazy when it comes to planetary photography, I prefer color ... particularly for Jupiter since it rotates so fast. You can get way with mono on Mars & Saturn, but you need to generate 3 separate movie files then align them after stacking to get the color RGB combination