SOLAR SYSTEM IMAGING by Damian Peach

Revealing
Contributing to the study of
our neighboring worlds is
easier than you might think. the Planets
P
hotographing the Moon and planets has long been a p AMAZING DETAILS Resolving details on the planets within our solar
mainstay of both amateur and professional astronomy. system has never been easier. Author Damian Peach shares some tips on
how to capture and process your images to reveal tiny features that are
Using high-speed digital video cameras and innovative
only fleetingly glimpsed at the eyepiece. He recorded the montage above
processing techniques, amateurs today regularly produce pic- using a Celestron C14 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope and FLIR Systems
tures of our neighboring worlds that resolve tiny details only (formerly Point Grey Research) Grasshopper 3 high-speed video camera.
fleetingly glimpsed in the eyepiece.
Taking high-resolution photos of delicate clouds in the adequate aperture and a manageable size. The SCT design
atmosphere of Mars, interacting storms in the belts of Jupi- combines reflective optics with a corrector plate to produce

A LL PHOTOS PROVIDED BY AU THOR UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED

ter, or the polar hexagon on Saturn is well within the grasp sharp, color-free images while simultaneously housing large-
of anyone with patience and a relatively modest telescope. aperture optics in a short optical tube. The drawback is that
Here’s what you need to get started. such compound instruments usually need to be recollimated,
especially if you transport the scope to your observing loca-
Choosing Your Tools tion each night.
The resolution of your planetary images will be dependent Regardless of which kind of telescope you choose, there
on the telescope you use. Most any instrument can produce are a few accessories you’ll need to take detailed planetary
excellent planetary images. But to record the smallest swirls images. The first is an electric focuser. You don’t want to
in Jupiter’s cloudtops or changes in the receding polar cap on touch the telescope when focusing, as vibrations from your
Mars, you’ll need an instrument of at least 8 inches aperture. hand are greatly magnified, and you’ll simply be fighting with
Each of the most popular optical designs have their a jiggling image. Not only that, but you’ll frequently need to
strengths and weaknesses, but the Schmidt-Cassegrain refocus as the temperature changes and seeing conditions
telescope (SCT) is perhaps the best compromise between fluctuate throughout the night.

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 Planetary photography requires a focal ratio of about f/20
to f/30, depending upon the target (with only Mars tolerat-
ing the upper end of this scale). Commercial telescopes tend
to come in focal ratios of f/5 to f/10, so you’ll need some way
to boost your instrument’s effective focal length to achieve
the image scale necessary to resolve small features on your
target planet. So, your next accessory purchase should be
either a Barlow lens, eyepiece projection adapter, or another
amplification optic like a Tele Vue Powermate.
Another useful tool in a planetary imager’s arsenal is an
Atmospheric Dispersion Corrector (ADC). This small device
consists of two weak prisms in a compact, adjustable housing
placed in front of your camera. Changing the tilt between the
prisms allow you to correct for atmospheric dispersion — the
smearing of light into its component colors by the refractive
p HIGH-SPEED VIDEO Several manufacturers offer planetary imaging
properties of Earth’s atmosphere. The closer a planet is to the cameras, including Celestron (celestron.com), FLIR Systems (flir.com),
horizon, the worse the effect becomes. This prismatic separa- The Imaging Source (theimagingsource.com), Meade (meade.com)
tion appears as blue and red fringing on the top and bottom QHYCCD (qhyccd.com), and ZWO (astronomy-imaging-camera.com).
of the target, though the entire view is affected and robbed You can even use a DSLR camera with HD video capabilities, though
of small-scale details. These devices can completely tune out they weigh much more than the video cameras shown above and require
a very sturdy focuser.
this dispersion and present a sharper image than would oth-
erwise be possible. ADC’s are widely available, some costing
as little as $150. They are well worth investment, especially Such high-speed cameras produce a massive stream of data,
for observers at more northerly locations, particularly as churning out dozens of megabytes of data per second, requir-
planets often appear positioned south of the ecliptic. ing a computer that incorporates a large hard drive with a fast
write speed. Many of the solid-state drives (SSD) found in
Cameras, Computers, and Control laptop computers these days can record 300-500 MB per sec-
Your next consideration is your camera. Planetary photography
is based on a technique known as “lucky imaging,” in which
you record a series of exposures or a video of your target at a
rapid frame rate, then import those frames into a computer
program that sorts and stacks only the sharpest ones. Today’s
planetary cameras feature low-noise CMOS sensors with
lightning-fast readouts of more than 100 frames per second
transferred to your computer via a USB 3.0 or GigE connec-
tion. All typically include software that allows you to control
important settings such as exposure, frame rate, and gain.
Nearly all planetary imagers are built around Sony CMOS
sensors and are offered as either monochrome or in one-
shot-color format. Color cameras are excellent for begin-
ners or casual imagers, while monochrome models require
the addition of a color filter wheel and filters if you want to
produce color images. Monochrome cameras are particularly
useful for recording images in wavelengths beyond the visible
spectrum (such as ultraviolet and infrared) as well as several
specific wavelengths that can penetrate deeper within Jupi-
ter’s atmosphere.
Planetary cameras record video files in either AVI or SER
format, though some have the option of recording individual
CA MER AS: SE A N WA LK ER / S&T

FITS images. You can import these files into the stacking
programs discussed later.

u EASY SETUP The author’s typical planetary imaging rig on a typical

night imaging from his backyard. Although not a requirement, he prefers
a high-resolution monitor attached to his laptop to provide a more de-
tailed image, which greatly helps when focusing.

sk yandtelescope.org • AUGUST 2 02 0 59
 p ISOLATING WAVELENGTHS A monochrome camera equipped with color filters provides better isolation of individual wavelengths and is par-
ticularly desirable for imaging beyond the visible spectrum. The examples of Jupiter above show differences among the red, green, and blue data,
as well as the near-infrared wavelength (right) centered at 889 nanometers where methane strongly absorbs light, revealing features deeper within
Jupiter’s atmosphere.

ond, easily accommodating such fast cameras. Older hard disk At the Telescope
drives (HDD), with the exception of 7200 RPM models, have Now that you’ve assembled your equipment, you need to
slower write speeds and may struggle with and drop frames consider several crucial before recording your first video
during a recording. Be sure to investigate the specifications of sequence.
your computer to see if it supports USB 3.0 or GigE and fast First and foremost is making sure your telescope is in
write speeds. And as you’ll quickly accumulate several dozen perfect collimation. Even a slight misalignment can notice-
gigabytes of videos each night, be sure your computer has at ably degrade the image being recorded. You should check this
least a terabyte of storage space available. Also consider a large before starting your first image series of the night, preferably
external drive to back up your video files. after aiming the scope in the general direction of the planet
Although your camera may come with its own control you are photographing. An excellent tutorial on collimating
software, most planetary imagers prefer to operate their cam- Newtonian reflectors appear in our April 2019 issue (page 68)
eras, filter wheels, and focusers using the third-party program and one for collimating SCTs can be found in our February,
FireCapture (firecapture.de). This free PC software includes 2018 issue, page 28.
many useful features specific to planetary imaging, including Another consideration is ensuring your telescope has
the ability to pre-program exposure changes for each color reached thermal equilibrium. If your scope is warmer than the
filter, region-of-interest cropping, and program presets you outside air, it will radiate heat, producing a blurry image that
can create for each planet. is virtually impossible to focus. Give your scope about an
hour or more to cool down, especially if you store it indoors.
q VARIABLE SEEING Even if you’ve carefully collimated your telescope Larger apertures will typically need even more time to cool.
and made sure it’s acclimated to the ambient temperature, turbulence You can speed up the process, though, with fans or other
in the atmosphere will still limit the detail in your images. The images of
active cooling devices.
Jupiter below show the results produced on consecutive nights in which
conditions were average to poor (left) versus a night with very good to
All these preparations will help you get the most out of
excellent seeing conditions (right). your equipment, but your biggest limitation will be the atmo-
spheric seeing conditions. “Seeing” is the amount of blurring
imparted on your target by the turbulent mixing of air masses
of different temperature in the atmosphere. While we can’t
control seeing, there are many forecasting tools online today
that can help you determine if conditions are good enough to
bother setting up or not. One site is meteoblue.com, which
offers seeing forecasts for your location under its Outdoor &
Sports section.

Focus, Focus, Focus

Once you’re at the scope, the most important consideration
is focusing. I use a monochrome camera with RGB filters
and focus visually with the computer screen by concentrat-
ing on the planet's disk. I slowly adjust focus back-and-forth
until I’m confident that I’ve found the sharpest image. I then
record a video, switch filters, and refocus for the next filter.
Focusing in good seeing is usually easy, but under poor

60 AUGUST 2 02 0 • SK Y & TELESCOPE

seeing it can be extremely difficult, so don’t be discouraged.
To gauge focus, use areas of high contrast on your target,
such as the Cassini Division in Saturn’s rings, albedo features
on the Martian surface, and small storms in Jupiter’s belts.
Venus, Mercury, and even Mars can be difficult to focus when
they’re far from Earth and feature small disks, but the sun-
ward limb is often a good spot to use to judge whether you’re
in focus or not. Simply take your time and practice. The more
you do it, the better you’ll get at it.
When you start recording video, you’ll typically be oper-
ating your camera at about 30 to 80 frames per second or
more, depending on the brightness of your target, capturing
a minimum of 1,000 frames for a single image stack. Your
camera’s frame rate is a balance between the exposure length pu SPECIALIZED CONTROL While
and gain settings, which are partially dictated by the bright- most planetary cameras come with control
software, a better option is the freeware
ness of the planet. Regardless, try to keep the camera’s gain
FireCapture (firecapture.de), which controls
setting well below its maximum. Setting the gain to about cameras, focusers, and filter wheels while
70% is a good starting point, then adjust your exposure until offering many additional features helpful for
the planet is bright but not over-exposed on the screen. If you planetary photography.
use FireCapture, be sure the histogram of the image does not
go above about 80%. Also, ensure that the gamma setting is sorts and aligns all the frames in
at its default value. an image sequence using a choice of
alignment modes — single-point and
Video Reduction multipoint alignment. Single-point
This stage is perhaps the most fun part of the whole process, alignment works well on small plan-
as you finally get to see what surprises your video sequences etary targets such as Mercury, Venus,
have in store. Currently there are two popular choices for and Mars (when they’re just a few
stacking your planetary videos: RegiStax 6 (astronomie.be/ arcseconds across) as well as Uranus
registax) and Autostakkert! 3 (autostakkert.com). While and Neptune. Multipoint alignment
both do an admiral job, RegiStax 6 includes powerful Wavelet permits you to select multiple points
sharpening, which works extremely well, and I often stack to monitor, and the program will stack the best areas around
my videos in Autostakkert! 3 and then sharpen the resulting each point, producing a superior result on larger planets like
image in RegiStax 6. Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, and Venus, and also on lunar close-ups.
Both programs will stack your videos in basically the same Once the software has aligned your video frames, you’ll
way. (A tutorial on using Autostakkert! appeared in the Sep- need to determine how many individual frames to stack —
tember 2016 issue of Sky & Telescope, page 68.) Each program the greater the number, the better the signal-to-noise ratio

STACKING FRAMES
Autostakkert! 3
is a free program that
can stack your videos
and requires very little
user input.

sk yandtelescope.org • AUGUST 2 02 0 61
Solar System Imaging

of the resulting image, making it less grainy and improving

its ability to withstand sharpening. The number of usable
frames you stack varies depending on the seeing conditions.
Under good seeing you can stack a great many frames (maybe
75% or more), but in poor conditions this goes down to
maybe about 30%. Stacking more frames taken under poor
seeing simply produces a blurrier result, because more sub-
par frames are included in the final stack. That said, don’t
be fooled into thinking just selecting the 100 best frames
will work. It may well deliver a sharper result, but it will be
extremely noisy when sharpened.
After you’ve completed reducing your video into stacked
images, it’s time to sharpen the result. At this step, the best
tool to use is the Wavelets in Registax 6. This multi-layer
sharpening tool quickly reveals subtle details in your images.
Its six sliders offer varying ranges of enhancement. Slider
1 affects very fine detail while slider 6 brings out coarser p WAVELET SHARPENING The best tool for sharpening your stacked
details. I often use sliders 2 and 3 exclusively on my lunar videos is the multi-layer Wavelets in the free program RegiStax 6
and planetary images, but you should experiment to find a (astronomie.be/registax). This powerful tool permits both sharpening and
noise control, producing crisp images with minimal processing artifacts.
combination that works best for your photos.
Although you might consider your image done at this
point, another free program, WINJUPOS, offers a powerful siasts have made many discoveries. Image quality today is so
tool that can compensate for the effects of planetary rotation. good that researchers have published detailed papers on the
The program’s de-rotation feature permits you to combine atmospheric dynamics of Jupiter based purely on the analysis
several images captured over a long timespan. For example, of data provided by amateurs.
Jupiter rotates so fast that you must limit your video length to You can contribute by joining one of the established orga-
about a minute or less before the nizations dedicated to monitor-
planet’s fast rotation blurs details ing solar system bodies. Both the
in a single stacked video. Combin- British Astronomical Association at
ing several stacked and de-rotated britastro.org and the Association of
images produces even better pic- Lunar and Planetary Observers
tures, allowing you to eke out even (ALPO) at alpo-astronomy.org
more detail in the final planetary welcome new members who want
portrait. A guide to the technique to contribute images and observa-
can be found in our May 2013 tions. Asian organizations include
issue, page 70. the International Society of Mars
Observers (ISMO) at https://is.gd/
Contributing Real des4ml and ALPO Japan (alpo-j.
Science sakura.ne.jp/indexE.htm). These
Monitoring the planets is of con- groups provide nearly uninter-
siderable interest to professional rupted monitoring of solar system
researchers, and dedicated enthu- bodies — an invaluable resource for
planetary scientists.
u MONITORING CAMPAIGN Photo- It’s amazing to consider how far
graphing the planets each clear night and planetary imaging has improved
sharing them with several organizations in the last 25 years. Amateurs now
dedicated to their study helps contribute routinely resolve planetary features
to our understanding of our neighbor-
ing worlds. This series of images shows
that approach the theoretical
the development of a storm in Saturn’s resolving limit of their instruments.
North Temperate region that appeared at Give it a try yourself.
the end of 2010 and eventually spread
to encircle the entire planet. These shots ¢ DAMIAN PEACH is a dedicated
captured on March 21, and 28, and April
17, 2011 document its changing appear-
planetary observer based in Hamp-
ance, and were used by professional shire County, UK. Visit his website
astronomers studying the phenomena. at damianpeach.com.

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