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Jupiter in a moment of good seeing

Against all odds, at an altitude of only 21°, we got some good seeing last night on Jupiter. When I imegad the planet from the south of France last August, where it was a few degrees higher in the sky, and in a region known for it’s good seeing, I was really convinced that this was it for the season.

As the stars didn’t twinkle last night I gave it another try, and honoustly the result might be a bit better compared to France.

Image with the same 18cm Maksutov, this time with an ASI290MC and an ADC. (no barlow)

I couldn’t use the C11 as the EQ8 was occupied imaging deep sky with the tiny 76mm.

00u32m CET 4 sep 2021 Maksutov 18cm ASI290mc 180s @fps 40 ADC
00u42m 4 sep 2021 Maksutov 18cm ASI290mc 180s @fps 40 ADC
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Jupiter with the 180mm Maksutov

During our annual family holidays, in Castellet-en-Luberon, clear skies allow me to image almost every day. The region is not only dark (with sqm values around 21,30) but often benefits from excellent seeing. For Jupiter, who came in opposition August 20th, the added 7 degrees latitude also made a possible difference.

Especially for up the big planet I brought the ‘big’ ‘Mak’sutov. It was posted in a harvested field near the camping grounds.

These are two images taken a few minutes apart, using a sequence of Red, Green, Blue and Infrared filters, each for 1 minute, and on average capturing about 2000 images during that minute (equals fps 30-40). No barlow was used so the telescope imaged at F/15 or 2700mm focla lenght.

The individual black & white images were stacked using Autostakkert software, then the IR/RGB combination for color was made with Registax.

Finishing the final image was done using registax, Astra Image and sometimes Photoshop.

Red
Green
Blue
Infrared used as luminance