JeffPo's Planetary Page
Last update: 04/04/05
My planetary images leave a lot to be desired, but they do document my progress. I hope to have better images in the future as I hone my technique and enhance my equipment.
Mars
I snapped
this image of Mars through my 8" f/10 SCT using the afocal method with my
Nikon 995 digital camera using an 8mm eyepiece. Image taken on 08/24/03
at around 11:30pm. I'm sure some proper processing could really bring
out some of the details.
Venus
Nope,
that isn't the moon. It's the planet Venus. Image was taken via
afocal method (i.e. sticking the camera up to the eyepiece) on my 80mm refractor,
in March 2001.
Jupiter
This
washed out and blurry image of Jupiter was taken during July of 1994. You
can just make out the two equatorial belts across the planet. The dark
patch on the bottom left is an impact site from a fragment of Comet
Shoemaker-Levy 9. The photographic method was eyepiece projection through
my 8" Schmidt-Cassegrain. The view through the scope was spectacular!!!
Here's another
blurry image of Jupiter taken via eyepiece projection through the 8"
Schmidt-Cassegrain.
Here's
proof I'm getting better (or using better equipment). This image of
Jupiter was taken on the night of 02/04/03 (south is at top). The method
was afocal with my Nikon 995 digital camera attached to the 8" f/10 SCT scope,
using an 11mm eyepiece. Exposure time was 1/8 sec. Processing
done by Michael King.
Saturn
This
blurry image of Saturn was taken during the Fall of 1996. The method
was eyepiece projection through my 8" Schmidt-Cassegrain. Saturn's
rings were quite thin.
Here's another
blurry, yet a little bit better picture of Saturn. Taken with via eyepiece
projection with the 8" SCT.
Here's
proof I'm getting better (or using better equipment). This image of
Saturn was taken on the night of 02/04/03 (south is at top). The method
was afocal with my Nikon 995 digital camera attached to the 8" f/10 SCT scope,
using an 11mm eyepiece. Exposure time was 1/4 sec. Processing
done by Michael King.
Took
this image of Saturn via afocal with my Nikon 995 digital camera attached
to the 8" f/6.3 (focal reducer) SCT scope, using an 8mm eyepiece. I
took 62 images and stacked and processed them using Registax. I don't
have a clue how to do processing, so I just clicked on buttons until I got
this image. Pretty amazing and it gives me hope.