Details

Nigel Evans, 15 June 2020.

A composite of Mercury, spanning the period 28 May - 15 June. Although seeing was mostly poor, the images show the diameter of the disk grow and the phase decline as the planet approached inferior conjunction on 01 July 2020. Celestron EdgeHD 200 mm Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope.

Nigel Evans, 25 May 2020.

The image of Mercury is not impressive but does show a hint of a phase. Celestron EdgeHD 200 mm Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope.

David Murton, 04 June 2017.

200 mm Meade SCT with Altair GPCAMv2 IMX224 camera. Image taken at 10:02 UT.

David Murton, 28 November 2015.

Tomline refractor with Altair GPCAMv2 IMX224 camera. Image taken at approx 19:30 UT, with the planet at an altitude of only 13°.

Details

Nigel Evans, 15 August 2023.

Venus was at inferior conjunction on 13 August 2023. The weather on the day itself was uncooperative. However, I was able to capture images of a very narrow crescent Venus on three days either side of inferior conjunction. The three crescents look similar, but with an orientation varying as the planet passed some 8° south of the Sun. In fact, the relative orientation of the images is imperfect as it is exceedingly difficult to find Venus so close to the Sun and, in order to do so, I had to remove the camera and use an eyepiece at the start of each observatiom. 90 mm Megrez refractor with 2.5x Barlow lens and DMK 21AU04.AS camera with 7421 IR filter. I used a long shield to the front of and above the objective lens to shield it from sunlight.

Andy Gibbs, 10 June 2023.

Meade 200 mm LX200 with 2.5x Barlow lens and QHY5L-II camera. Venus, at elongation 45°, was shining at magnitude -4.5 and displayed a phase of 46% and an apparent diameter of 25.3 arcsec. Image captured and processed in: Sharpcap 4, Autostakkert 3, Registax 6 and Affinity Photo 2.

Nigel Evans, 01 June 2020.

As Venus approached inferior conjunction on 03 June 2020, passing only 29 arc-minutes north of the centre of the Sun, I was able to record images of the narrow crescent phase for eight out of the nine days from 23 May to 01 June. I was able to see approximately 240° of arc at most. On 02 June there was another imaging opportunity but it was too short to obtain an image. When Venus is close to the Sun, I use the roof of the house as an occulting bar, hiding the Sun while Venus remains visible. Celestron EdgeHD 200 mm Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope.

Nigel Evans, 01 June 2020.

Venus some 48 hours before inferior conjunction, only 3.3° from the Sun, showing a crescent arc of approximately 240°. The next opportunity to see phases so narrow will be around the inferior conjunction of 01 June 2028. Celestron EdgeHD 200 mm Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope.

Nigel Evans, 25 May 2020.

Venus continues to grow in apparent size as it approaches inferior conjunction. In an effort to obtain better seeing than in recent days, I captured the image with the planet at an altitude of 31° and the Sun at 19°, with sunlight entering the telescope tube. Unfortunately, the approach did not improve the situation. Celestron EdgeHD 200 mm Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope.

Carl Baldwin, 24 May 2020.

Venus close to inferior conjunction. Imaging details not provided.

Nigel Evans, 23 May 2020.

Venus approaching inferior conjunction shows a very slender crescent. Celestron EdgeHD 200 mm Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope.

Andy Gibbs, 20 May 2020.

A sequence of images taken 04 April - 20 May 2020, as Venus approached inferior conjunction on 03 June, shows a markedly increasing apparent diameter and decreasing phase. The images were taken during daylight, when the planet was around 60° altitude. Meade 200 mm LX200 with 2.5x Barlow lens and QHY5L-II camera. Processed in Sharpcap 3, Registax 6, Affinity Photo and Photoshop CC 2020.

Andy Gibbs, 16 April 2020.

Meade 200 mm LX200 with 2.5x Barlow lens and QHY5L-II camera. Image taken at 16:23 UT. Venus, at altitude 63°, was shining at magnitude -4.7 and displayed a phase of 37% and an apparent diameter 31 arcsec.

Andy Gibbs, 04 April 2020.

Meade 200 mm LX200 with 2.5x Barlow lens and QHY5L-II camera. Image taken at 16:42 UT. Venus, at altitude 60°, was shining at magnitude -4.6 and displayed a phase of 45% and an apparent diameter 28 arcsec;.

David Murton, 18 June 2017.

200 mm Meade SCT with Altair GPCAMv2 IMX224 camera and 2x Barlow lens. Image taken at 08:22 UT.

David Murton, 04 June 2017.

200 mm Meade SCT with Altair GPCAMv2 IMX224 camera. Image taken at 09:46 UT.

David Murton, 20 May 2017.

Venus close to dichotomy. Taken just before 07:00 UT. 200 mm Meade SCT with Altair GPCAMv2 IMX224 camera and 2x Barlow lens.

David Murton, 03 April 2017.

A thin crescent Venus only a few days after inferior conjunction (25 March). Taken at 14:00 UT. Skywatcher 190 mm Maksutov-Newtonian on NEQ6 mount. Altair GPCAMv2 IMX224 camera with 4x Powermate.

Nigel Evans, 25 March 2017.

Venus at inferior conjunction. Angular separation from the Sun: 8° 17'. DMK 21AU04.AS camera on 200 mm Celestron Edge HD.

Andy Gibbs, 09 March 2017.

Meade 200 mm LX200 with 2.5x Barlow lens and QHY5L-II camera. Image taken at 17:17 UT. Venus is now moving rapidly towards inferior conjunction on 25 March 2017. It was shining at mag -4.5 as a 9% illuminated waning crescent with a diameter of 53.2".

Andy Gibbs, 02 March 2017.

Meade 200 mm LX200 with 2.5x Barlow lens and QHY5L-II camera. Image taken at 17:21 UT. Venus, at 52 million km from Earth, 31° eastern elongation, was shining at magnitude -4.6 at altitude of 13° with an apparent diameter 48". It reaches inferior conjunction on 25 March 2017.

Andy Gibbs, 17 January 2017.

Meade 200 mm LX200 with 2.5x Barlow lens and QHY5L-II camera. The left image is taken in natural light, the middle with a green (Wratten 58) filter and the right with a blue (Wratten 80) filter. Images captured from 16:48 UT onwards. Venus, at 47° eastern elongation, is shining at magnitude -4.5 at altitude 27° with an apparent diameter 25.8".

Mike O'Mahony, 17 January 2017.

Celestron 235 mm SCT with Canon 60Da camera.

David Murton, 14 January 2017.

Skywatcher 200PDS 200 mm f/5 Newtonian on NEQ6 mount with 4x Powermate. Altair GPCAMv2 IMX224 camera.

David Murton, 14 January 2017.

Venus and λ Aquarii. Skywatcher 200PDS 200 mm f/5 Newtonian on NEQ6 mount. Altair GPCAMv2 IMX224 camera.

David Murton, 28 December 2016.

Skywatcher 200PDS 200 mm f/5 Newtonian on NEQ6 mount with 4x Powermate. Altair GPCAMv2 IMX224 camera. Best 200 frames stacked from 2000.

David Murton, 28 November 2015.

Skywatcher 200PDS 200 mm f/5 Newtonian on NEQ6 mount with QHY5L-II camera.

David Murton, 29 June 2015.

William Optics ZS71 ED 71 mm, f/5.9 refractor on NEQ6 mount. Canon 1100D camera. The image was taken on the evening of a close appulse of Jupiter and Venus when the planets appeared shortly before sunset only approximately 0.3° apart.

Andy Gibbs, 15 April 2012.

Meade 200 mm LX200 and Atik Titan camera. The planet appeared as an evening object showing a waning crescent phase 29.9" in polar diameter shining at magnitude -4.36. It was en route to inferior conjunction and transiting the Sun on 06 June 2012.

Details

Andy Gibbs, 23 December 2022.

Meade 200 mm LX200 with 2.5x Barlow lens and QHY5L-II camera. Captured an avi file with Sharpcap 4 then stacked the best 20% of frames in Autostakkert 3, with final processing in Registax 6 and Affinity Photo. Mars was at opposition on 08 December, at a healthy altitude of 60° as seen from Ipswich, and presenting a 17 arcsecond diameter disc. When the image was taken, Mars was shining at magnitude -1.5 and the disc had reduced in angular diameter to 15.7 arcseconds. Mars was 89.2 million km distant from Earth.

Andy Gibbs, 23 November 2022.

Taken through the Tomline Refractor with a ZWO ASI178mc camera. Image captured with Sharpcap 4, then processed with PIPP, Autostakkert 3, Registax 6 and Affinity Photo.

Andy Gibbs, 19 November 2020.

Meade 200 mm LX200 with 2.5x Barlow lens and QHY5L-II camera. Captured with Sharpcap and processed with PIPP, Registax and Affinity Photo. Mars was 84.5 million km from Earth when this image was taken. Since opposition on 13 October 2020, it has decreased in brightness to magnitude -1.5 and its apparent diameter shrunk to 16.5 arcseconds.

Neil Morley, 06 November 2020.

Observed between clouds 19:45-20:15 UT. Celestron C4-R 102 mm refractor on an EQ5 mount (non-motorised). A 9 mm Star Plossl eyepiece, used with a 90° mirror diagonal, provided 111x magnification. The sketch was drawn afterwards and the image scanned and post-processed in GIMP. Surface features were determined using the Sky & Telescope Mars Profiler.

Andy Gibbs, 26 October 2020.

Meade 200 mm LX200 with 2.5x Barlow lens and QHY5L-II camera. Captured with Sharpcap and processed with PIPP, Registax and Affinity Photo. Two images of Mars as it transited the meridian at 22:40 UT. The LHS image was taken at 22.30 UT and the RHS 11 minutes later. Mars, at 67 million km from Earth, shone at magnitude -2.3 at altitude 42°, and presented a diameter of 20.9 arcseconds.

Andy Gibbs, 14 October 2020.

Meade 200 mm LX200 with 2.5x Barlow lens and QHY5L-II camera. Captured with Sharpcap and processed with PIPP, Registax and Photoshop CC 2020. Following an OASI Zoom meeting, the clouds briefly parted allowing me to image Mars, one day after opposition. The image was taken at 22:26 UT. Mars, 63 million km from Earth, shone at magnitude -2.6, at altitude 39°, and presented a diameter of 22.2 arcsec.

Mike O'Mahony, 10 October 2020.

Celestron 235 mm SCT at f/25 using 2.5x Powermate, with Canon 60Da camera. The disk shows detail, with a hint of the southern polar cap at the bottom of the image. Taken at 22:00 UT with the planet at an altitude of 37°.

Carl Baldwin, 14 September 2020.

Celestron 150 mm Newtonian with Celestron Skyris 236C camera attached to a 5 mm eyepiece. The mount is retro-fitted with motors. This is my first ever image of Mars, taken at 21:15 UT from Felixstowe. The image is based on 2105 individual frames run through PIPP to ensure alignment, then Autostakkert to produce an image, and finally RegiStax to adjust wavelets.

Andy Gibbs, 25 August 2018.

Meade 200 mm LX200 with 2.5x Barlow lens, ZWO atmospheric dispersion corrector and QHY5L-II camera. The planet was shining at magnitude -2.3 and presented a disc of diameter 21.9". Its altitude was only 11°, which meant that it kept disappearing behind trees and buildings, and there was also some troublesome cloud. The global dust storm seems to be clearing.

Mike O'Mahony, 01 August 2018.

Celestron 235 mm SCT at f/25 using 2.5x Powermate. Canon 60Da using movie mode, 1/200 s at ISO 200. 1000 frames stacked. The disk shows little detail due to a planetary dust storm but there is a hint of the south polar cap at the bottom of the image. Taken at 23:44 UT with the planet at an altitude of only 12°.

David Murton, 09 June 2016.

Skywatcher 200PDS 200 mm f/5 Newtonian on NEQ6 mount with 4x Powermate. Altair GPCAM v2 IMX224 camera. Image taken with the planet at low altitude.

Andy Gibbs, 05 June 2016.

Meade 200 mm LX200 with 2.5x Barlow lens and QHY5L-II camera. Firecapture v2.3, Registax 6 and Photoshop Elements 11. The planet was shining at magnitude -1.9 and presented a disc of diameter 18.5".

David Murton, 04 June 2016.

William Optics ZS71 ED 71 mm, f/5.9 refractor on NEQ6 mount with 4x Powermate. Altair GPCAM v2 IMX224 camera.

David Murton, 27 May 2016.

Skywatcher 200PDS 200 mm f/5 Newtonian on NEQ6 mount with 4x Powermate. Altair GPCAM v2 IMX224 camera. Image taken at 23:55:59 UT, with the planet in the atmospheric murk near the horizon.

Mike O'Mahony, 06 May 2016.

Celestron 235 mm SCT at f/25 using 2.5x Powermate. Canon 60Da using movie mode, 50 FPS, 1/100 s at ISO 800. 600 frames stacked in Lynkeos (Mac). There is a hint of the north polar cap at the top of the frame. Image taken at midnight on the night of 05-06 May with poor seeing. The image is worse than one obtained approximately two years earlier, with Mars at similar distance and altitude (see below, 13 April 2014).

David Murton, 01 May 2016.

Skywatcher 200PDS 200 mm f/5 Newtonian on NEQ6 mount with 4x Powermate. Altair GPCAM v2 IMX224 camera. Image taken in the early hours of the morning.

David Murton, 23 March 2016.

Skywatcher 200PDS 200 mm f/5 Newtonian on NEQ6 mount with 4x Powermate. Altair GPCAM. SharpCap 2.7 and Deep Sky Stacker. Best 68 frames stacked from 400.

David Murton, 28 November 2015.

Skywatcher 200PDS 200 mm f/5 Newtonian on NEQ6 mount with QHY5L-II camera.

Mike O'Mahony, 13 April 2014.

300 mm f/5 Dobsonian with 5x Powermate. One hundred 0.01 s exposures at ISO 800 recorded with a Canon EOS 600D then stacked using Lynkeos (on a Mac). There was an almost full Moon close to Mars and the planet was at an altitude of only 21°, so conditions were not ideal!

Andy Gibbs, 13 April 2014.

Meade 200 mm LX200 with 2.5x Barlow lens and QHY5L-II camera at approximately 36 FPS. Processed with Autostakkert, Registax 6 and Photoshop Elements 11. Best 350 frames stacked from 1000.

Andy Gibbs, 13 March 2014.

Meade 200 mm LX200 with 2.5x Barlow lens and QHY5L-II camera at approximately 36 FPS. Processed with Autostakkert, Registax 6 and Photoshop Elements 11.

Andy Gibbs, 03 March 2012.

Mars at opposition. A polar cap and other details are visible.

Paul Whiting, 19 October 2005.

CCD camera at the eyepiece of the Tomline Refractor. The five variants of the image demonstrate the results of different filters and processing as follows: (1) digital filter, (2) green filter, (3-5) natural colour, each image processed slightly differently to make visible different surface features.

Details

Andy Gibbs, 19 December 2023.

Jupiter shining at magnitude -2.7, presenting a disk of diameter 46 arcsec, with Ganymede close by to the left (visible in the full image but not the thumbnail). Meade 200 mm LX200 ACF with 2x Barlow lens and ZWO ASI178mc camera. Processed with Sharpcap 4, Autostakkert 3, Registax 6 and Affinity Photo 2.

Carl Baldwin, 17 December 2023.

Skywatcher SkyMAX 180 Pro 180 mm Maksutov-Cassegrain mounted on a Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro with 2.5x Barlow lens and ZWO ASI294mc camera. Processed with Sharpcap, PIPP, Autostakkert Registax and Sharpen AI. Single shot view showing the Galileans, L-R: Ganymede, Europa, Io, Callisto. The area around each Galilean has been significantly brightened to make the moon visible.

Andy Gibbs, 06 November 2022.

Jupiter and Io (visible in whole image, not in thumbnail), three days after the planet was at opposition. Jupiter was shining at magnitude -2.9 and presented a disc of diameter 49.5 arcsec, at 31° altitude. Meade 200 mm LX200 ACF with 2x Barlow lens and ZWO ASI178mc camera. Software used: Sharpcap 4, Autostakkert 3, Registax 6 and Affinity Photo 2. I experimented with different wavelet settings in Registax to bring out detail.

Andy Gibbs, 06 November 2022.

Jupiter, with Io and Callisto to the left and Ganymede to the right (the Galileans are visible in the full image, not the thumbnail). Taken on the same evening as the preceding image with the same equipment.

Andy Gibbs, 22 October 2022.

Jupiter with Io (on left) transiting the planet. Jupiter was shining at magnitude -2.5 at 32° elevation and presented a disk of diameter 49 arcsec. Meade 200 mm LX200 ACF with 2.5x Barlow lens and OASI'S ZWO ASI178mc camera. Processed with Sharpcap 4, Autostakkert 3, Registax 6 and Affinity Photo.

Andy Gibbs, 11 October 2022.

Jupiter with Io (on left) and a shadow transit of the moon. Jupiter was shining at magnitude -2.9, at altitude 32° at a distance of 596 million km. Meade 200 mm LX200 ACF with 2.5x Barlow lens and OASI'S ZWO ASI178mc camera. Processed with Sharpcap 4, Autostakkert 3, Registax 6 and Affinity Photo.

Carl Baldwin, 03 September 2022.

Jupiter taken at 23:00 UT. Skywatcher SkyMAX 180 Pro 180 mm Maksutov-Cassegrain mounted on a Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro. Celestron Skyris 236C CMOS camera attached via screw threads to a Celestron Ultima Duo eyepiece. SharpCap used to record around 3000 frames over 3 minutes. The resulting video was run through PIPP (Planetary Imaging PreProcessor) to centre the image in each frame, then images were stacked with AutoStakkert, using around the best 15%, and finally wavelets adjusted in RegiStax.

Carl Baldwin, 03 September 2022.

Jupiter, showing the Great Red Spot, taken at 21:35 UT. Equipment and processing as above image.

Andy Gibbs, 06 October 2021.

Tomline Refractor and ASI178MC camera. Image captured and processed with Sharpcap 4, PIPP, AutoStakkert 3, Registax 6 and Affinity Photo.

Andy Gibbs, 29 September 2021.

Jupiter with a shadow transit of Io. Tomline Refractor and ASI178MC camera at resolution 1920x1200, 30 fps. Image captured and processed with Sharpcap 4, PIPP, AutoStakkert 3, Registax 6 and Affinity Photo.

Andy Gibbs, 23 September 2021.

Jupiter with Ganymede and Europa, L-R (visible in the full image but not the thumbnail). Jupiter was shining at magnitude -2.4 at altitude 21.5°. Meade 200 mm LX200 ACF with 2.5x Barlow lens and QHY5L-II camera. Image processed with Sharpcap 4, PIPP, Autostakkert 3, Registax 6 and Affinity Photo.

Carl Baldwin, 05 September 2021.

Jupiter and Io. Image taken at 23:12 UT. Skywatcher Skymax 180 Pro Maksutov-Cassegrain with Celestron Skyris 236C CMOS camera attached via a Celestron Ultima Duo 13 mm eyepiece. Software used in the following order: SharpCap 4.0, PIPP 2.5.9, Autostakkert 3.0, Registax 6.1, Sharpen AI 3.2.2.

Mike O'Mahony, 28 August 2021.

Jupiter with the Galileans strung out in line: L-R Callisto, Ganymede, Europa and Io (all are visible in the full image; only the latter two in the thumbnail). Image taken at 21:30 UT. Skywatcher 120 mm f/9 refractor and Canon EOS60D camera.

Andy Gibbs, 28 August 2021.

Jupiter with Io close by, shortly to transit the planet. Jupiter was shining at magnitude -2.6 at altitude 20°. Image taken at 21:51 UT. Meade 200 mm LX200 ACF with 2.5x Barlow lens and QHY5L-II camera. Image processed with Sharpcap 4, Registax 6 and Affinity Photo.

Andy Gibbs, 06 May 2018.

A test of OASI's newly-acquired ZWO Atmospheric Dispersion Corrector (ADC). The LH image was taken at 22:29 UT without the ADC; the RH image at 22:33 UT with the ADC. The advantage is clear! When imaged, Jupiter was at a distance of 658 million km and presented an equatorial diameter of 44.8 arcesc. It shone at magnitude -2.5 at an altitude of only 17°. The Great Red Spot is visible in the Southern Equatorial Belt and, close to the north pole, Ganymede and its shadow. Meade 200 mm LX200 ACF with 2.5x Barlow and QHY5L-II camera. Processed using Sharpcap 3, Registax 6 and Photoshop CC 2018 (identical wavelet settings for both images).

David Murton, 17 June 2017.

Image taken at 20:30 UT. 200 mm Meade SCT with 2x Barlow lens and Altair GPCAMv2 IMX224 camera.

David Murton, 12 June 2017.

Jupiter, 20:06 - 22:06 UT, with Io, Europa, the shadow of Io and a transit of the Great Red Spot. 200 mm Meade SCT with 2x Barlow lens and Altair GPCAMv2 IMX224 camera.

David Murton, 10 June 2017.

Top (L-R): Io, Ganymede and Jupiter at 20:14:26 UT. Bottom: the three bodies almost four minutes later. 200 mm Meade SCT with 2x Barlow lens and Altair GPCAMv2 IMX224 camera.

David Murton, 25 May 2017.

Jupiter at 21:20 UT. 200 mm Meade SCT with 2x Barlow lens and Altair GPCAM2 IMX224 camera.

David Murton, 25 May 2017.

Jupiter at 20:15 UT. 200 mm Meade SCT with 2x Barlow lens and Altair GPCAM2 IMX224 camera.

David Murton, 20 May 2017.

Jupiter with Io in shadow transit (ingress 22:22 UT, egress 00:32 UT). Europa is to the east (visible in the full image, not the thumbnail). 200 mm Meade SCT with 2x Barlow lens and Altair GPCAM2 IMX224 camera.

Andy Gibbs, 13 May 2017.

Three images of a shadow transit of Io, taken at 20.46, 22:01 and 21:19 UT. Jupiter was shining at mag -2.4, at altitude 33°, diameter 43", 693 million km from Earth. Meade 200 mm LX200 with 2.5x Barlow lens and QHY5L-II camera. Processed using Sharpcap 2.9, Registax 6 and Photoshop Elements 11.

Andy Gibbs, 15 April 2017.

Image taken at 20.52 UT. The Great Red Spot (GRS) was not visible, but there was plenty of activity on the disk and Oval BA may have been visible? Jupiter was just past opposition (07 April 2017), shining at mag -2.5, at altitude 23°, diameter 44", 667 million km from Earth. Meade 200 mm LX200 with 2.5x Barlow lens and QHY5L-II camera. Processed using Sharpcap 2.9, Registax 6 and Photoshop Elements 11.

David Murton, 15 April 2017.

Jupiter plus the four Galilean satellites (visible in the full image, but not the thumbnail), L→R Europa, Callisto, Io and Ganymede. Skywatcher 190 mm Maksutov-Newtonian on NEQ6 mount with 4x Powermate and Altair GPCAM2 IMX224 camera.

David Murton, 13 April 2017.

Motion of the Great Red Spot (GRS) demomnstrates the rotation of planet Jupiter. Skywatcher 190 mm Maksutov-Newtonian on NEQ6 mount with 4x Powermate and Altair GPCAM2 IMX224 camera. Each image is formed from a stack of the best 5% of 1200 frames. Created using SharpCap, Registax and GIMP.

David Murton, 31 March 2017.

Jupiter plus, in order L→R, Europa, Ganymede and Io. Skywatcher 190 mm Maksutov-Newtonian on NEQ6 mount with 4x Powermate and Altair GPCAM2 IMX224 camera.

Andy Gibbs, 25 March 2017.

Jupiter was 44" in diameter, magnitude -2.4, 21° altitude, distance from Earth 670 million kms. Meade 200 mm LX200 with 2.5x Barlow lens and QHY5L-II camera. Images captured and processed in Sharpcap 2.9 and Registax 6. Observing conditions were near perfect: there was no interference from moonlight and no dew.

David Murton, 16 March 2017.

Skywatcher 190 mm Maksutov-Newtonian on NEQ6 mount with 4x Powermate and Altair GPCAM2 IMX224 camera.

David Murton, 29 December 2016.

Skywatcher 200PDS 200 mm f/5 Newtonian on NEQ6 mount with 4x Powermate and Altair GPCAM2 IMX224 camera.

David Murton, 19 April 2016.

Skywatcher 200PDS 200 mm f/5 Newtonian on NEQ6 mount with 4x Powermate and Altair GPCAM2 IMX224. Taken at 21:07:58 UT.

David Murton, 19 April 2016.

Image captured immediately before above one, with same equipment.

David Murton, 04 April 2016.

Skywatcher 200PDS 200 mm f/5 Newtonian on NEQ6 mount with 4x Powermate and Altair GPCAM2 IMX224 camera.

Andy Gibbs, 25 March 2016.

Jupiter with Europa, Io and Callisto grouped closely together to the west (to the left in the full image, not the thumbnail). Jupiter was 44" in diameter, magnitude -2.45, 39° altitude, distance from Earth 670 million kms. Meade 200 mm LX200 with QHY5L-II camera. Images captured and processed in EZ Planetary, Autostakkert 2, Registax 6 and Photoshop Elements 11. High level cloud caused some difficulties.

David Murton, 21 March 2016.

Excellent seeing conditions enabled detailed images of Jupiter to be captured with the GRS showing prominently. Tonight's images (only one shown here) are the best achieved so far. Taken at approximately 21:00 UT. Skywatcher 200PDS 200 mm f/5 Newtonian on NEQ6 mount with 4x Powermate and Altair GPCAM2 IMX224 camera. SharpCap and Deep Sky Stacker.

David Murton, 16 March 2016.

Double shadow transit of Jupiter by Ganymede and Io. Ganymede is on the limb; Io is already in transit. Note also the GRS. Skywatcher 200PDS 200 mm f/5 Newtonian on NEQ6 mount with 4x Powermate and Altair GPCAM2 IMX224 camera.

David Murton, 16 March 2016.

Image taken earlier in the same evening as the above image, using the same equipment. Ganymede is to the right of the limb. (The image colouration is different due to different processing.)

David Murton, 08 March 2016.

Jupiter during simultaneous transit of Europa and Io. In frames 1-3, Io appears to the east of Jupiter with Europa already in transit; in images 4-6, both satellites are in transit. (Transit and shadow transit are virtually simultaneous, as the planet is close to opposition). Skywatcher 200PDS 200 mm f/5 Newtonian on NEQ6 mount with 4x Powermate and Altair GPCAM2 IMX224 camera.

Andy Gibbs, 07 March 2016.

Jupiter, at magnitude -2.49, 33.4° altitude, 44.5" in diameter, with Europa to the east and Io further east. Image taken at 22:00 UT. Meade 200 mm LX200 with 2.5x Barlow lens and Atik Titan camera. Image aligned and stacked in Autostakkert 2 then processed in Registax 6 and Photoshop Elements 11.

David Murton, 04 March 2016.

Skywatcher 200PDS 200 mm f/5 Newtonian on NEQ6 mount with 4x Powermate and Altair GPCAM2 IMX224 camera.

David Murton, 04 March 2016.

Jupiter, Io and Europa. Skywatcher 200PDS 200 mm f/5 Newtonian on NEQ6 mount with 4x Powermate and Altair GPCAM2 IMX224 camera.

Andy Gibbs, 25 February 2016.

Jupiter imaged at 20:50 UT, with the planet at altitude 21°, shining at magnitude -2.5, close to opposition on 08 March 2016. Meade 200 mm LX200 with 2.5x Barlow lens and QHY5L-II camera. Image processed in Photoshop Elements 11.

David Murton, 19 February 2016.

Jupiter at 05:08:36 UT. Europa is to the left with its shadow transiting the disk. Skywatcher 200PDS 200 mm f/5 Newtonian on NEQ6 mount with 4x Powermate and Altair GPCAM2 IMX224 camera.

David Murton, 19 February 2016.

Jupiter at 05:15:24 UT. Europa is to the left with its shadow transiting the disk and Io is further to the left (visible in the full image but not the thumbnail). Equipment as above image.

Mike O'Mahony, 16 February 2016.

Jupiter at 22:00 UT. Taken with 235 mm f/10 SCT and Canon 60Da camera in movie crop mode. 150 frames stacked in Lynkeos with little subsequent processing. The GRS appears very red.

David Murton, 03 February 2016.

Io is to the left (in the full image but not the thumbnail), Ganymede to the upper right and Europa to the lower right. Skywatcher 200PDS 200 mm f/5 Newtonian on NEQ6 mount with 4x Powermate and QHY5L-II camera. Image taken at 04:52 UT.

David Murton, 17 December 2015.

From left to right: Io, Europa, Jupiter, Callisto, Ganymede. Skywatcher 200PDS 200 mm f/5 Newtonian on NEQ6 mount with 4x Powermate and QHY5L-II camera. Image taken at 04:30 UT.

David Murton, 09 December 2015.

From left to right: Europa, Jupiter, Callisto, Io, Ganymede. Skywatcher 200PDS 200 mm f/5 Newtonian on NEQ6 mount with 4x Powermate and QHY5L-II camera. Image taken at 05:38 UT.

David Murton, 28 November 2015.

Montage of images showing rotation of the GRS rotation and a shadow transit of Io. Skywatcher 200PDS 200 mm f/5 Newtonian on NEQ6 mount with 4x Powermate and QHY5L-II camera. Images taken at 04:50, 05:31 and 06:26 UT.

Kevin Fulcher, 13 November 2015.

200 mm Skywatcher 200P on HEQ5 mount with RA drive. 2x Barlow lens and guide camera. Image captured using Sharpcap then stacked using Registax.

Andy Gibbs, 21 February 2015.

Meade 200 mm LX200 with Atik Titan camera at 15 FPS. Image stacking with Autostakkert, wavelet processing in Registax 6 and final editing in Photoshop Elements 11.

David Murton, 18 February 2015.

Skywatcher 200PDS 200 mm f/5 Newtonian on HEQ5 mount with 4x PowerMate and QHY5L-II camera.

David Murton, 17 February 2015.

Skywatcher 200PDS 200 mm f/5 Newtonian on HEQ5 mount with 4x PowerMate and QHY5L-II camera.

David Murton, 16 March 2014.

Seeing was very good with the best eyepiece views that I can remember. 200 mm Dobsonian with 5x Barlow. Single shot 0.125 s exposure at ISO 200 with Canon 1100D.

Chris Stevens, 11 March 2014.

NexStar 130 SLT goto Newtonian (130 mm, f/5) with 5x Barlow lens (making focusing very difficult!) First use of a newly-acquired, pre-owned Phillips SPC900 wecam. 1000 frame AVI at 10 FPS, captured using SharpCap2, then stacked using AS!2 (produced better results than Registax). The final stack used the best 700 or so frames. Image then post processed in Photoshop CS6 for curves, levels, colour balance, noise, sharpening etc.

Andy Gibbs, 16 February 2014.

Meade 200 mm LX200 with 2.5x Barlow, giving f/25. First use of a newly-acquired QHY5L-II camera. Imaged Jupiter at approximately 100 FPS at 800x600 resolution. (The EZ Planetary software was temperamental as the camera drivers seemed fussy with USB3.) Seeing conditions were not good and the optics became dewed. Image processed in iPhoto to de-noise and sharpen.

Andy Gibbs, 19 January 2014.

Meade 200 mm LX200 with Atik Titan camera at 15 FPS. Stacking with Autostakkert, wavelet processing in Registax 6 and final editing in Photoshop Elements 11. Io is visible in the full frame below (not the thumbnail) to the left of Jupiter. (This is the first of many Jupiter images taken on the same date!)

Matthew Leeks, 11 January 2014.

DSLR with Tomline Refractor at Orwell Park Observatory.

Mike O'Mahony, 19 November 2012.

120 mm refractor with 4.5x Powermate giving an effective focal length of 4 m. Fifty 1/30 s exposures at ISO 3200 taken with a digital camera then stacked with Registax. On the left in the full image (not visible in the thumbnail) are Callisto (very faint and difficult to see) and Io; on the right Europa and Ganymede. Taken at midnight shortly after the Great Red Spot came into view. (This is the best image of the planet from several taken during the month.)

James Appleton, 05 November 2000.

250 mm Meade SCT used in eyepiece projection mode (26 mm eyepiece) with a Starlight Express MX916 camera. Exposure 0.01 s. The Great Red Spot is prominent.

Nick Sullivan, 01 November 2000.

Digital camera at eyepiece of 250 mm Dobsonian using a Meade 6.7 mm ultra-wide angle Plossl eyepiece and blue filter. The shadow of Io is visible just below Jupiter's equator.

Details

Andy Gibbs, 17 October 2023.

Saturn, shining at magnitude 0.6 at altitude 22°. Meade 200 mm LX200 ACF with 2x Barlow lens and ZWO ASI178mc camera. Image captured with Sharpcap 4.0 and processed with Autostakkert 3, Registax 6 and Affinity Photo 2, then sharpened and de-noised in Topaz Labs by Carl Baldwin.

Andy Gibbs, 03 September 2023.

Saturn, shining at magnitude 0.5 at altitude 22° presenting a ring diameter of 44.1 arcsec. The planet is just past opposition on 27 August. Meade 200 mm LX200 ACF with 2x Barlow lens and ZWO ASI178mc camera. Image captured with Sharpcap 4.0 and processed with Autostakkert 3, Registax 6 and Affinity Photo 2.

Carl Baldwin, 03 September 2023.

Image taken at 22:18 UT. Skywatcher Skymax 180 Pro Maksutov-Cassegrain with Celestron Skyris 236C CMOS camera attached via a Celestron Ultima Duo 10 mm eyepiece. Image captured with Sharpcap 4.0 and processed with PIPP 2.5.9, AutoStakkert 3.1, RegiStax 6.1 and DeNoise AI 3.7.2.

Andy Gibbs, 18 October 2022.

Saturn, shining at magnitude 1.2 at altitude 20° presenting a ring diameter of 41 arcsec. Meade 200 mm LX200 ACF with 2.5x Barlow lens and OASI'S ZWO ASI178mc camera. Image captured with Sharpcap 4.0 and processed withAutostakkert 3, Registax 6 and Affinity Photo.

Andy Gibbs, 10 September 2022.

Saturn, shining at magnitude +0.4 at altitude 21°. The planetary disk presented an angular diameter of 18.5 arcsec and the rings 43.2 arcsec. Meade 200 mm LX200 ACF with QHY5L-II camera and 2.5x Barlow lens. Image captured with Sharpcap 4 and processed with PIPP, Autostakkert 3, Registax 6 and Affinity Photo.

Andy Gibbs, 23 September 2021.

Saturn, shining at magnitude 1.2 at altitude 18°. Meade 200 mm LX200 ACF with QHY5L-II camera and 2.5x Barlow lens. Image captured with Sharpcap 4 and processed with PIPP, Autostakkert 3, Registax 6 and Affinity Photo.

Carl Baldwin, 05 September 2021.

Image taken at 22:18 UT. Skywatcher Skymax 180 Pro Maksutov-Cassegrain with Celestron Skyris 236C CMOS camera attached via a Celestron Ultima Duo 13 mm eyepiece. Image captured with Sharpcap 4.0 and processed with PIPP 2.5.9, Autostakkert 3.0, Registax 6.1, Sharpen AI 3.2.2.

Andy Gibbs, 28 August 2021.

Saturn, shining at magnitude 0.3 at altitude 18°. Meade 200 mm LX200 ACF with QHY5L-II camera and 2.5x Barlow lens. Image taken at 21.25 UT. Captured with Sharpcap 4 and processed with Registax 6 and Affinity Photo.

Andy Gibbs, 16 August 2021.

Saturn, shining at magnitude 0.2, at altitude 17° and at a distance of 1.3 billion km. Meade 200 mm LX200 with QHY5L-II camera and 2.5x Barlow lens. Image taken at 21:33 UT. Captured with Sharpcap 3.2 and processed with Registax 6.0 and Affinity Photo.

Andy Gibbs, 23 July 2019.

Saturn, shining at magnitude +0.1 at altitude only 14°. Meade 200 mm LX200 with QHY5L-II camera and ZWO atmospheric dispersion corrector.

David Murton, 30 July 2017.

Saturn at 21:24 UT. 200 mm Meade SCT with Altair GPCAMv2 IMX224 camera and 2x Barlow lens. Best 120 frames selected from 1200, stacked with Registax 6 and processed with Gimp.

Andy Gibbs, 03 July 2017.

Saturn, shining at magnitude +0.1 at 21:43 UT. Meade 200 mm LX200 with QHY5L-II camera and 2.5x Barlow. Image captured with Sharpcap 2.9 and processed with Registax 6 and Photoshop Elements 11.

David Murton, 02 July 2017.

Saturn at 21:24 UT. 200 mm Meade SCT with Altair GPCAMv2 IMX224 camera and 2x Barlow lens. Best 300 frames selected from 1200, stacked with Registax 6 and processed with Gimp.

David Murton, 17 June 2017.

Saturn at 22:28 UT. 200 mm Meade SCT with Altair GPCAMv2 IMX224 camera and 2x Barlow lens.

David Murton, 10 June 2017.

Saturn at 23:06 UT. 200 mm Meade SCT with Altair GPCAMv2 IMX224 camera and 2x Barlow lens.

David Murton, 05 July 2016.

Image taken with Saturn at low altitude. Skywatcher 200PDS 200 mm f/5 Newtonian on NEQ6 mount with 4x Powermate. Altair GPCAM v2 IMX224 camera.

David Murton, 05 July 2016.

Saturn and its moons Rhea, Titan and Iapetus (L-R). Skywatcher 200PDS 200 mm f/5 Newtonian on NEQ6 mount with 4x Powermate. Altair GPCAM v2 IMX224 camera.

David Murton, 09 June 2016.

Image taken with Saturn at low altitude. Skywatcher 200PDS 200 mm f/5 Newtonian on NEQ6 mount with 4x Powermate. Altair GPCAM v2 IMX224 camera.

Andy Gibbs, 05 June 2016.

Meade 200 mm LX200 with 2.5x Barlow lens and QHY5L-II camera. Firecapture v2.3, Registax 6 and Photoshop Elements 11. The planet was shining at magnitude 0.0 and presented a disc of diameter 18.4".

David Murton, 28 May 2016.

Image taken at 01:23:48 UT, with the planet in the atmospheric murk near the horizon. Skywatcher 200PDS 200 mm f/5 Newtonian on NEQ6 mount with 4x Powermate. Altair GPCAM v2 IMX224 camera.

David Murton, 28 May 2016.

Image taken at 01:11:07 UT, a few minutes before the above image, with the same equipment.

David Murton, 20 April 2016.

Saturn at 03:00 UT. Skywatcher 200PDS 200 mm f/5 Newtonian on NEQ6 mount with 4x Powermate. Altair GPCAM v2 IMX224 camera.

David Murton, 20 April 2016.

Equipment as above image.

David Murton, 23 March 2016.

Saturn is still at relatively low altitude. Skywatcher 200PDS 200 mm f/5 Newtonian on NEQ6 mount with 4x Powermate. Altair GPCAM camera. SharpCap 2.7 and Deep Sky Stacker used to stack best 68 frames from 400.

David Murton, 19 February 2016.

Saturn at 06:17:50 UT. The planet was at low altitude in the atmospheric murk so little detail is visible. Skywatcher 200PDS 200 mm f/5 Newtonian on NEQ6 mount with 4x Powermate. Altair GPCAM camera.

David Murton, 19 February 2016.

Saturn at 06:15:30 UT. Same equipment as above image.

David Murton, 19 February 2016.

Saturn at 06:07:31 UT. Same equipment as above image.

David Murton, 15 June 2015.

Skywatcher 200PDS 200 mm f/5 Newtonian on HEQ5 mount with 4x PowerMate and QHY5L-II colour camera. Little detail is evident on the surface of the planet as it was at low altitude.

Mike O'Mahony, 04 June 2015.

Celestron 235 mm SCT and Canon EOS 600D camera. Movie taken at 50 frames/sec; ISO 2000, 500 frames stacked in Lynkeos (Mac). The planet was at altitude 18°, shining at magnitude +0.1.

Mike O'Mahony, 26 April 2014.

300 mm Dobsonian with 5x PowerMate and Canon EOS 600D camera. Stack of twenty 1/50 s exposures at ISO 3200. Image compromised by low altitude (only 15°) and high level cloud.

Mike O'Mahony, 07 May 2013.

120 mm f/7.5 refractor with 5x PowerMate and Canon EOS 600D camera. Ten 1 s exposures at ISO 200 stacked with Registax.

James Appleton, 05 November 2000.

250 mm Meade SCT used in eyepiece projection mode (26 mm eyepiece) with a Starlight Express MX916 camera. Exposure 0.01 s.

Nick Sullivan, 19 October 2000.

Digital camera at eyepiece of Celestron Ultima 8 PEC using a 6.7 mm ultra-wide angle Plossl eyepiece. Telescope unguided.

Details

David Murton, 07 September 2016.

Skywatcher 200PDS 200 mm f/5 Newtonian on NEQ6 mount with 4x Powermate. Altair GPCAMv2 IMX224 camera.

David Murton, 25 November 2015.

Skywatcher 200PDS 200 mm f/5 Newtonian on NEQ6 mount with 4x Powermate. QHY5L-II camera. Equipment accurately aligned on more than 20 stars. Best 20 frames stacked and processed in Registax from 200.

Mike O'Mahony, 13 November 2014.

Meade 235 mm f/10 SCT and webcam, 200 frames stacked. Uranus is currently at magnitude +5.7 and at high altitude in late evening (42° at 22:00 UT) and exhibits a distinctly blue colour. Although the image size is very small, I estimated the apparent diameter of the planet as 4" which, given its physical diameter of 51,118 km, puts it at a distance of 2700 million km from Earth.

Details

Mike O'Mahony, 29 November 2017.

Meade 235 mm SCT with 2.5x Powermate (effective focal ratio f25) and Canon 60 Da camera. Exposure 6 s at ISO 1500. At a distance of 4.5 million km, Neptune orbits at the edge of the solar system. Tonight it looked very beautiful.

Mike O'Mahony, 22 September 2017.

Neptune and Triton, the two objects at a separation of approx 17 arcsec. Triton is at magnitude 13.6. To the top left of the full image (not visible in the thumbnail) is the star GSC 5813-0161 at magnitude 14.1. Taken at 20:38 UT. Celestron 235 mm f/10 SCT and Canon 60Da, ISO 1000, single exposure of 5 s.

David Murton, 07 September 2016.

Skywatcher 200PDS 200 mm f/5 Newtonian on NEQ6 mount with 4x Powermate. Altair GPCAMv2 IMX224 camera.

Mike O'Mahony, 05 September 2014.

Celestron 235 mm f/10 SCT. Neptune was at opposition at the end of August, at magnitude +7.8, at a distance of approximately 4.3 billion km. Its surface temperature is approximately -200°C. The image is stacked from frames of a movie. The planet appears approximately 8 pixels wide, equivalent to an angular diameter of 3.1", compared with the "official" value of 2.4". Neptune was low in the sky (about 22° altitude) and it was windy (as always in Felixstowe!) so the image quality is poor, explaining the inaccurate measurement. Visually the colour was probably a brighter blue than the image suggests although I had to slightly adjust the colours to compensate for atmospheric refraction.