First try - Planet

[blackstar]

This is my first attempt at imaging a Planet—Jupiter. It's not a great shot, but it is at least recognizable with three of its four moons.

300% magnified

 

[blackstar]

Another try under poor weather conditions and everything was difficult: I used z600mm lens with TC1.4 for an 840mm focus length (very small FOV), before even focusing it was extremely hard to find/place the object in the LV by adjusting the tripod head, then came the horrible manual focusing that you may lose the object any moment when zooming and Jupiter is moving fast when viewed from long focus length... But after all the hustle the result seems improving and four moons are displaying. I wonder how using a star tracker with the same camera and lens would improve the image. At least how will you be able to catch a nice clean large image of the planet, like 3x or 5x as some photographers show?

 

[Peter7100]

Another try under poor weather conditions and everything was difficult: I used z600mm lens with TC1.4 for an 840mm focus length (very small FOV), before even focusing it was extremely hard to find/place the object in the LV by adjusting the tripod head, then came the horrible manual focusing that you may lose the object any moment when zooming and Jupiter is moving fast when viewed from long focus length... But after all the hustle the result seems improving and four moons are displaying. I wonder how using a star tracker with the same camera and lens would improve the image. At least how will you be able to catch a nice clean large image of the planet, like 3x or 5x as some photographers show?

View attachment 412181

How many seconds exposure?

 

[blackstar]

Peter, It was a single-exposure image without tracking. Shutter speed: 1/160", iso: 800, f/9. The Exif is shown below. I guess the image could be improved by multi-longer exposures with tracking and stacking. But I am still pondering how to make large-size high-quality images (the image I posted is already 100% cropped).

 

[BF Hammer]

The biggest hurdle here is pixel density of the sensor. You have a big boost using a Z8 here. When I last photographed Jupiter I did it with a 16MP D7000 which actually has a denser pixels than my current 24MP full frame cameras.

You don't need perfect tracking, but a tracker that can keep the system in frame as you take 90 or so photos works. When you stack that many exposures, it is like having a super-pixel-shift mode that increases your resolution. Then you can crop in much closer.

Bonus tips: RegiStax 6 is still better than Siril with aligning planets. The app has not updated in over 10 years. Take some images with Jupiter over-exposed so the moons show good. Then do the big stack with Jupiter less exposed. The moons become not visible but Jupiter's details will come out after stacking and processing. Then you can layer-merge an image with the moons showing.
Since Jupiter is so bright in the sky, shutter speed can be fairly quick, and you can get away with f/8 aperture. If Earth and Jupiter are at opposition, even higher aperture might be needed.

 

[Peter7100]

Peter, It was a single-exposure image without tracking. Shutter speed: 1/160", iso: 800, f/9. The Exif is shown below. I guess the image could be improved by multi-longer exposures with tracking and stacking. But I am still pondering how to make large-size high-quality images (the image I posted is already 100% cropped).

View attachment 412187

Thanks. I will maybe give it a try sometime.

 

[blackstar]

Thanks. I will maybe give it a try sometime.

Awesome! Thinking about your place, you could easily deliver better images due to less light pollution. However, BF is correct that s.s. may need to be faster to avoid washout. I wrongly posted the Exif from the shot I set for the moons but washed out Jupiter. The one I better captured Jupiter shows s.s. 1/400". I did composite two shots each with moons and Jupiter to make the final. GL

 

[Peter7100]

Awesome! Thinking about your place, you could easily deliver better images due to less light pollution. However, BF is correct that s.s. may need to be faster to avoid washout. I wrongly posted the Exif from the shot I set for the moons but washed out Jupiter. The one I better captured Jupiter shows s.s. 1/400". I did composite two shots each with moons and Jupiter to make the final. GL

There is lots of light pollution where I live however a short drive away would take me away from it. Getting clear a clear sky in Scotland is the biggest hurdle.

 

[blackstar]

There is lots of light pollution where I live however a short drive away would take me away from it. Getting clear a clear sky in Scotland is the biggest hurdle.

Hope you make it.