Planetary imaging

After observed and shot Jupiter and Saturn several times with Equinox 80ED, I found that the 500mm focal length was not long enough for planetary imaging. The image on the sensors was so small! So I brought my C5 back home and tried to shoot Jupiter early this morning. The focal length of C5 was 1250mm. The image was much bigger. The result was not bad to me. One could see the color fringes of Jupiter. Since I am not familiar with RegiStax 5, I just use the default values and click the program until I get the final product! Better results can be achieved if I spend more time to play with RegiStax 5.

Saturn: 8-7-2009, 20:58, Tseung Kwan O, Equinox 80ED, Porta, ToUcam SPC900NC, 300 Frames, RegiStax 5, PS CS2
Jupiter: 9-7-2009, 5:36, Tseung Kwan O, Equinox 80ED, Porta, ToUcam SPC900NC, 300 Frames, RegiStax 5, PS CS2

About the image quality, although I used C5 instead of Equinox 80ED to do planetary imaging, it does not mean Equinox is no good. The prime reason was that a high power telescope is needed for such task. While waiting for my Meade 8 ACF, C5 is now the instant supplement. Well! Doing visual observation and astrophotography are different stories. The Equinox 80ED gives excellent visual images. I can see color fringes on the Jupiter and 4 satellites. The images are crispy, high contrast and saturated compared with those visual images on C5. However, when the image is projected on the webcam sensors, it was too small even TV 2.5X was used. So the simple solution to planetary imaging is high power telescope. I guess this conclusion is known to most stargazers. But I learned this by experiencing it!

During the observation, I tried to push the Equinox 80ED to limit. The target was Jupiter. The seeing was average. I used a 2mm eyepiece making the magnification to be 500/2 = 250X. The image was blurring, but acceptable. I could see the color fringes on Jupiter. By using the TV 2.5X, the magnification was boosted up to 625X. The image was garbage. It was just a blur disc! No details or color variation can be seen. Next I used the 8-24mm Zoom eyepiece and the TV 2.5X. The magnification at 8mm was 500/8*2.5 = 156X. Apart from dimmer image, the details and the contrast of the image were good. Pushing the magnification of Equinox 80ED to 200X is not a problem to me. (Note: The factory claimed the highest practical power is 160X.) Ah! This conclusion tempts me to buy the versatile TeleVue 3-6mm Zoom Eyepiece.

Jupiter: 14-7-2009, 5:19, Tseung Kwan O, C5, Porta, ToUcam SPC900NC, 400 Frames, RegiStax 5, PS CS2

Jupiter: 14-7-2009, 5:21, Tseung Kwan O, C5, TV 2.5X, Porta, ToUcam SPC900NC, 400 Frames, RegiStax 5, PS CS2