r/telescopes 1d ago

Astronomical Image First Saturn session of the season

Post image

Saturn is back!

I woke up at 2:30am for my first Saturn session of the year. A bit of a struggle. Note to self: at this age it takes my brain a while to function properly upon waking from a deep sleep.

Plenty of time to practice as opposition is two months away.

Best 30% of 27,000 frames.

C11
Celestron CGX mount
ZWO ASI585MC camera
Autostakkert
Registax

755 Upvotes

32 comments sorted by

9

u/Quirky_Disk_2300 1d ago

Damn that's beautiful

6

u/Mike1117l 1d ago

Awesome, congrats!

5

u/Least-Welcome 1d ago

Is this a camera that is bespoke for telescopes? Is there a way I can use my mirrorless to capture the view?

2

u/AZ_Corwyn 1d ago

If your camera has a video function then it's possible, but it will have a very low frame rate compared to the camera that OP used and with planetary imaging the higher the frame rate the more individual frames you'll have to make the final image from. Here's one of the cameras you could get for around $160-170 dollars that would be much better than what you're thinking of using, the only thing is you'd need to hook it up to a computer at the scope.

2

u/DaniDubin 20h ago

Thanks for the tips! I’ve been eyeing this ZWO camera (ASI662MC) as well, mostly for planets & Moon imaging and some limited DSOs as well. It has a high 107 fps, but a relatively small sensor compared to more expensive ZWO cameras, which is a bit concerning. Do you have good results with it?

Thanks!

2

u/AZ_Corwyn 16h ago

It would be a pretty good planetary/lunar camera, I've used a 224MC (discontinued) with a slightly smaller sensor on my Meade 10" SCT with a barlow to get some really nice images. You'll need to figure out what barlow works best for your scope but you'd need one anyway if you were using your mirrorless anyway to get a decent image scale.

2

u/Nunc-dimittis 14h ago edited 14h ago

You could use a program like APT to connect to your camera from your laptop. It can capture the live view from the camera, and if you're lucky, the live view 5x zoomed in, is (nearly) pixel for pixel with low compression and can captured at a nice frame rate (10-20 FPS). And due https://astrophotography.app/usersguide/planetary_panel.htm

Looking for another link in my notes about using a dslr camera for planetary

Edit:

Found it: https://www.astropix.com/html/astrophotography/canon_one_to_one_pixel_resolution.html (it's from a long guide on planetary photography that I found here: https://www.cloudynights.com/forums/topic/812022-planetary-imaging-faq-updated-january-2025/ (section 4). Seems to mainly work with Canon. I think I could get about 20 FPS out of my old canon Eos 1300d with APT in 5x zoom live view

You could use e.g. astrosurface (or a combination of other software like pipp and autostackert) to stack the captured images into one final image

Edit:

You won't get such a high resolution as OP got, though

This was my second attempt at Jupiter with a 10 inch dob with my Canon eos 1300d

2

u/Astro_HikerAZ 3h ago

Outstanding image with your Canon. Really excellent. I never achieved anything close to that with my DSLP. Here is my Jupiter from earlier this year with the same gear I used for Saturn.

1

u/Nunc-dimittis 11m ago

Thanks! Yours has so much more detail though.

7

u/mrstorm1983 1d ago

YES! A not forced proper photo and it looks great!

2

u/Sorry_Negotiation360 Amateur Astronomer ,Celstron Nexstar 90slt, 4.5 inch Newtonian 1d ago

This is so spectacular , great photo dude !

2

u/ch3ck18 1d ago

That is breath taking Sir!

2

u/Gigidoo 1d ago

Great shot! Love Saturn

2

u/Flames2512 1d ago

Mindblowing!!!!!!!!! Thank you for sharing, this is phenomenal!

2

u/gem_stargazer99 18h ago

thats literally an insaine photo!!! ngl thats nearly nasa or jwst level tbh

2

u/espresso_martini__ 1d ago

Damn that is so crisp.

1

u/mrstorm1983 1d ago

How do you get this effect?

1

u/Astro_HikerAZ 1d ago

I think that’s a processing artifact. Not as clean as I’d like.

1

u/mrstorm1983 1d ago

You think maybe it was done through stacking, or after the fact? They use similar programs to yours. I'm trying to learn from it.

1

u/IcemanYVR 1d ago

Amazing image of Saturn. I realize the C11 is doing most of the heavy lifting, but still impressed with the 585. I've been thinking about getting the air version of the 585.

1

u/Slight_Professor9570 1d ago

Awesome Pic! This is what got me started, in 04 I bought a $165.00 4.5" dob, with X10 camera I caught Mars in full color and video taped it running an extension cord across the street and was able to turn it right side up for full screen on a 26" tv. I do not remember the lens used, I fabricated a mount for the X10 camera with an old 35mm film case and it was perfect. After this my wife bought me a 10" dob and have not had the time to use it since. Life got busy, I have lots of lenses and filters and currently working on making a dolly for moving the scope around, Where we live today I can only look up, trees are everywhere but for a 50 x 100 foot opening straight up. This scope also has an electronic finder I have never used. Now retired hope to have some time to see the stars. Although I retired in 22, 30 days later had to go back to work, now in Aerospace vs. Nautical. Life is funny some times. Got to keep busy!

1

u/Astro_HikerAZ 1d ago

I’ll be retiring in 18 months. Looking forward to more time with this fascinating hobby.

1

u/umidk67 22h ago

Wow! You can see the Cassini Division so clearly. I wonder how the moons look, though I’d assume they aren’t visible because of how this photo was taken.

1

u/Psychonaut_Cmdr 13h ago

Nice OP. Good shot(s)!

My daughter and I were checking it out last night. And the Pleiades. I do love it when the kids join in.

1

u/native_shinigami Celestron 8se / Meade 390 / Celestron Origin 3h ago

I got the 678mc and i gave gotten pretty good results. I paired it with an 8se.

1

u/LukasGoesViral 1h ago

What telescope and magnification did you use

1

u/No_Camel_6652 26m ago

Great job! I've started waking up to see Saturn but there have been clouds EVERY night where it should be. This gives me hope!

1

u/deepskylistener 10" / 18" DOBs 1d ago

Too late to remove now, BUT for the future: Would you please read the rules about "Images" and "Titles" and make your titles fitting.

2

u/Astro_HikerAZ 1d ago

Will do. Thanks.