Page 1 of 2

HOWTO Capture and Process an Image of Jupiter

Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2018 9:56 pm
by turfpit
The attached tutorial guide for Jupiter covers:
  • Image capture with SharpCap
  • Stacking the capture video with Autostakkert
  • Registax and wavelet processing
I hope people find this document useful - all comments welcome.

[Note: the attached PDF document has been compressed. If text in an image is unclear, then use the zoom or magnify facility in your PDF reader to see the text clearly.]

Dave

Re: HOWTO Capture and Process an Image of Jupiter

Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2019 4:38 pm
by descott12
Hello,
Since Registax can stack and do the wavelet processing, can we not skip using Autostakkert? Just trying to simplify the workflow and reduce the number of apps to learn. I have used Registax and it seems to work pretty well but I am wondering if Autostakkert maybe stacks better...
Thank

Re: HOWTO Capture and Process an Image of Jupiter

Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2019 7:13 pm
by turfpit
Dave
Since Registax can stack and do the wavelet processing, can we not skip using Autostakkert?
Yes you can - it is a personal choice.

Why do I use Autostakkert for stacking and Registax for wavelets?

Quite simply because having attended Lunar and Planetary workshops by world class planetary imager Damian Peach,
http://www.damianpeach.com/ , he used Autostakkert for stacking and Registax for wavelets processing.

Autostakkert can do more:
  • Image Calibration - create and apply master dark and master flat. I find the integral flat is handy when processing lunar images.
  • Sharpen a stacked image, which sometimes is good enough and no further software needed.
  • 64-bit version available - faster processing and less likely to run out of memory with big files. Registax is 32-bit (last time I looked).
  • Multiple SER files can be stacked by selecting the files and dragging and dropping onto the Open button.
  • Has some interesting experimental features.
These 2 images were produced using only Autostakkert to carry out the stacking and sharpen the stack.
https://www.astrobin.com/358993/B/?nc=user , used a red filter (Wratten #25).
https://www.astrobin.com/358994/B/?nc=user , used an IR685 filter.
[Note: the revisions were created after attending the Damian Peach lunar imaging workshop for the second time.]

The document uses aggressive wavelet settings mainly to demonstrate the features of Registax. Hope you found the document useful - I learned a lot writing it. Jupiter is rising now around 05:00 UK time (January 2019).

Dave

Re: HOWTO Capture and Process an Image of Jupiter

Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2019 8:09 pm
by descott12
Hi Dave,
Yes the doc was very useful. The wavelet sliders were (and still are) a bit of mystery but at least I have a starting point now.
Just need those planets to get closer again...
Thanks
Dave

Re: HOWTO Capture and Process an Image of Jupiter

Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2019 8:46 pm
by turfpit
Cheers Dave.

Have a look at viewtopic.php?f=7&t=211. For that Jupiter image, in Registax, Layer 2 slider was set to ~20. That was the only Layer used. There should be some useful capture/process info in there for you as the capture was done with a Celestron C8. For lunar/planetary, I always set the offset/brightness/black level to the minimum allowable setting in order to achieve the 'whale shaped histogram ' for log selected, see https://docs.sharpcap.co.uk/3.2/#Using% ... %20Quality.

The layers are to do with pixel radius:

Layer 1 => small pixel sharpening
.
.
layer 6 => larger pixel sharpening

and are related to Unsharp Mask radius setting in PhotoShop or GIMP. I have seen (older) imaging books where sharpening was done in Photoshop.

Planets were low here at 53N in 2018 so no real chance to improve on 2017's efforts. Maybe this year .....

Some Saturn info here viewtopic.php?f=16&t=256, same approach as Jupiter. Expect to have to use a high gain to get something. For general entertainment, here is my first ever image of Saturn (first ever image actually). It took me 3 nights to get it on the camera sensor :(
saturn.PNG
saturn.PNG (20.81 KiB) Viewed 15485 times
First time using a telescope, using a 2x barlow (reduced brightness and FOV), red dot finder/scope not aligned :lol:

One year later
Saturn2small.png
Saturn2small.png (34.53 KiB) Viewed 15481 times

Persistence is the key …


Dave

Re: HOWTO Capture and Process an Image of Jupiter

Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2019 9:48 pm
by Mvoltae
As a beginner in solar, lunar and planetary AP, I have very much benefited from the tutorials that you have posted on the SharpCap forum. Thank you so much for your efforts. For my lunar and planetary imaging, I am using a Sky Watcher ED100 refractor (F 9) and a ZWO ASI224MC camera. I capture the video with SharpCap 3.2 as a AVI file and stack and process with Autostakkert and Registax 6. My question relates to the initial analogue gain settings that you suggest in your tutorials. For Jupiter, you suggest a setting of "700 (700/1000 is 70%" Yet my ZWO ASI224MC has a max gain of 600. So what should my gain setting be set at? 600? 70% of 600 (i.e 420)? Am I missing something basic here? Any help would be greatly appreciated,

Jordan

Re: HOWTO Capture and Process an Image of Jupiter

Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2019 7:55 pm
by turfpit
Jordan

Thanks for the kind words.
should my gain setting be set at? 600? 70% of 600 (i.e 420)?
420 would be correct for your situation. The figure of 70% is a guideline but is a reasonable starting point. Stating 70% can be translated to all the varying scales across camera models/manufacturers.

I use 60-70% with both a ZWO ASI120MC and a QHY5LII. Definitely 70% with a Barlow. For a dimmer object like Saturn, I was recently imaging with 80% gain.

Lunar no more than 60%. viewtopic.php?f=16&t=1781

The preferred capture format is SER - especially if creating large videos. Also use 8-bit as fps is king for lunar/planetary/solar imaging.

The settings are really dictated by the conditions.

Hope this helps and good luck with the imaging.

Dave

Re: HOWTO Capture and Process an Image of Jupiter

Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2019 11:49 pm
by Mvoltae
Thank you, Dave. Extremely helpful. I have been capturing videos as AVI format, but see that you recommend ser format for both planetary and lunar AP. Why is ser the preferred choice?

Jordan

Re: HOWTO Capture and Process an Image of Jupiter

Posted: Mon Jul 29, 2019 7:06 am
by turfpit
Jordan
Why is ser the preferred choice?
Have a read of viewtopic.php?t=1064

I have attended 4 one day lunar/planetary imagining workshops by Damian Peach, a world class lunar/planetary imager, who recommended use of the SER format for capture http://www.damianpeach.com/ .

My 30,000 frame video here https://www.astrobin.com/417157/?nc=user produced a 23Gb file. AVI would not like that I think.

If you have a look around my Astrobin site https://www.astrobin.com/users/turfpit/ there are several lunar images captured under both Windows & Linux. Many of the images (single frame and multi-panel mosaics) have detailed capture settings which might give you some starting points. Different operating systems and capture packages but the basics are same.

What I have learnt over a couple of years trying to improve my lunar images is that:
  • fps matter, the higher the better chance of decent images
  • the more frames the better, in order to 'beat the seeing'. I regularly use 5,000/10,000/20,000/30,000 frames
My exception to 'the more frames the better' would be for a mosaic, as these need to be completed quickly because of the constantly changing illumination on the globe.

All the above can be applied to planets as well. Care needs to be taken with Jupiter with its high rotation speed, when WinJUPOS might be needed to help processing.

Dave

Re: HOWTO Capture and Process an Image of Jupiter

Posted: Mon Jul 29, 2019 5:14 pm
by Mvoltae
Dave,

Again so helpful. I greatly appreciate the thoroughness of your responses.

Jordan