Meade Maksutov 127/1900 on Sergey's Astrophotography

Venus: The Start of a New Apparition

Thu, 14 Nov 2024 16:44:00 +0000

This capture marks the start of a new apparition for Venus, following its 2024 superior conjunction on the far side of the Sun. The disk is small and gibbous, around three-quarters illuminated, with much growth ahead as Venus approaches Earth again over the following months.

Captured as a single video and stacked in AutoStakkert!3, then processed in PixInsight.

Saturn: A Thinning Ring System

Wed, 06 Nov 2024 20:18:00 +0000

By November 2024, Saturn’s rings have thinned considerably further, with a distinct dark shadow band visible where the rings cross in front of the globe. This is one of the last captures before the site’s planetary imaging setup changed to the current Meade 8" ACF rig.

Captured as a single video and stacked in AutoStakkert!3, then processed in PixInsight.

Jupiter: The Great Red Spot's Turbulent Wake

Sat, 17 Aug 2024 03:49:00 +0000

The Great Red Spot appears here trailed by a bright, turbulent wake of white ovals and swirling cloud structure in the South Equatorial Belt, a common sight where the anticyclone’s rotation disturbs the surrounding jet stream. Belt colors are rendered with strong contrast between the rusty brown bands and pale zones.

Captured as a single video and stacked in AutoStakkert!3, then processed in PixInsight.

Saturn: A Narrower Ring Tilt

Mon, 25 Dec 2023 17:27:00 +0000

By the end of 2023, Saturn’s rings have visibly narrowed compared to the wide-open views from 2022, part of the multi-year progression toward the edge-on appearance the rings will reach later in this collection. This capture is crisp and well-exposed, with good tonal balance between rings and globe.

Captured as a single video and stacked in AutoStakkert!3, then processed in PixInsight.

Venus: A Thin Morning Crescent

Mon, 11 Sep 2023 03:55:00 +0000

Shot shortly after Venus’s inferior conjunction in August 2023, this capture shows a thin crescent with a large apparent disk, as Venus re-emerged into the morning sky on the near side of its orbit to Earth.

Captured as a single video and stacked in AutoStakkert!3, then processed in PixInsight.

Saturn with Rhea, Iapetus, Tethys and Dione

Sun, 20 Aug 2023 00:28:00 +0000

This wide-field capture catches Saturn alongside four moons at once: Rhea, Iapetus, Tethys and Dione, each visible as a faint point at varying distances from the planet, illustrating the scale of Saturn’s extensive moon system.

Captured as a single video and stacked in AutoStakkert!3, then processed in PixInsight.

Venus: A Clear Crescent

Sun, 25 Jun 2023 19:52:00 +0000

Two months later, Venus has thinned into a clear crescent phase, illuminated across roughly a quarter of its disk. The apparent size has grown substantially as the planet closes in on Earth ahead of its 2023 inferior conjunction.

Captured as a single video and stacked in AutoStakkert!3, then processed in PixInsight.

Venus Just Past Dichotomy

Wed, 26 Apr 2023 18:34:00 +0000

Just two days after the previous capture, Venus has moved just past dichotomy, its illuminated portion now visibly less than half as it transitions from gibbous toward crescent phase, with the apparent disk noticeably larger than earlier in the year.

Captured as a single video and stacked in AutoStakkert!3, then processed in PixInsight.

Saturn: The Sharpest of 2022

Mon, 31 Oct 2022 18:02:00 +0000

Closing out this run of October 2022 sessions, this capture is the sharpest of the batch: a small but crisp disk with a clean, well-resolved Cassini Division and good color throughout the ring system.

Captured as a single video and stacked in AutoStakkert!3, then processed in PixInsight.

Neptune

Sat, 29 Oct 2022 19:27:00 +0000

At roughly 4.3 billion kilometers away, Neptune appears as little more than a faint, pale blue-green point in this capture — the most distant planet in the solar system and by far the smallest, dimmest target in this gallery. Its largest moon, Triton, was not resolved in this exposure.

Captured as a single video and stacked in AutoStakkert!3, then processed in PixInsight.

Saturn with Titan, Rhea, Dione and Tethys

Sat, 29 Oct 2022 18:07:00 +0000

Pulling back to a wider field of view, this capture places Saturn in context alongside four of its moons scattered across the frame: bright Titan, the solar system’s second-largest moon, along with Rhea, Dione and Tethys as fainter points.

Captured as a single video and stacked in AutoStakkert!3, then processed in PixInsight.

Jupiter with Ganymede, Europa and Io

Wed, 26 Oct 2022 19:56:00 +0000

Recorded on 26 October 2022, this video captures Jupiter alongside three of its Galilean moons — Ganymede, Europa and Io — through the original Meade Maksutov 127/1900 and ASI224MC setup with a 2x Barlow lens. Like the other October clip, it is shown centered and cropped for framing, ahead of any stacking or color processing.

Saturn: Rings and Globe in Fine Color

Mon, 17 Oct 2022 18:42:00 +0000

This capture shows crisp color contrast between the pale blue-grey rings and the warm cream tones of the globe, with the Cassini Division — the main gap in the ring system — faintly resolved near the ansae.

Captured as a single video and stacked in AutoStakkert!3, then processed in PixInsight.

Jupiter with the Great Red Spot, Callisto and Io

Sun, 16 Oct 2022 21:00:00 +0000

This rotation video from October 2022 captures Jupiter alongside two of its Galilean moons, Callisto and Io, with the Great Red Spot visible as a small orange oval near the disk’s southern edge. It was recorded through the original Meade Maksutov 127/1900 and ASI224MC setup with a 2x Barlow lens, the rig used for planetary imaging before it was replaced by the current Meade 8" ACF and mono camera combination.