Optolong LRGB Filters on Sergey's Astrophotography

Jupiter: Late-Apparition Detail

Tue, 18 Mar 2025 21:05:00 +0000

Captured near the end of Jupiter’s 2024-2025 apparition as the planet climbs lower and shrinks in apparent size, this image still resolves fine turbulent structure in the equatorial belts, along with a couple of small dark polar spots. The Great Red Spot is not in view this rotation.

Captured as RGB video sequences, derotated in WinJUPOS, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

Mars: Late-Season Detail

Fri, 07 Mar 2025 23:36:00 +0000

Nearly seven weeks past opposition, Mars has shrunk to the smallest disk of the sequence, and a faint gibbous phase softens its eastern edge. Despite the reduced size, the bright polar cap and a subtle dark marking are still resolved, bookending the site’s coverage of the 2025 apparition.

Captured as a luminance video sequence, derotated in WinJUPOS, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

Venus: A Razor-Thin Crescent

Fri, 07 Mar 2025 18:00:00 +0000

Just three days later and even closer to inferior conjunction, Venus has thinned to a razor-sharp crescent, its largest apparent size of the entire apparition. The cusps extend further than half the disk’s circumference, a striking geometry unique to the inferior planets.

Captured as a luminance video sequence, derotated in WinJUPOS, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

The Moon's South Pole Region

Tue, 04 Mar 2025 18:35:00 +0000

Extreme grazing sunlight along the Moon’s southern limb throws this rugged polar terrain into dramatic relief, with countless overlapping crater rims catching the light in a landscape of near-constant shadow — a region of particular interest for its permanently shadowed craters thought to harbor water ice.

Captured as a single video through an IR-pass filter, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

The Moon and Mare Nectaris

Tue, 04 Mar 2025 18:34:00 +0000

Mare Nectaris, one of the Moon’s older lava-filled impact basins, sits along the terminator in this capture, its relatively smooth floor bordered by a dense ring of ancient, heavily degraded craters.

Captured as a two-pane mosaic through an IR-pass filter, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

The Moon and Vallis Rheita

Tue, 04 Mar 2025 18:33:00 +0000

Vallis Rheita, a roughly 500-kilometer chain of overlapping craters thought to be secondary impacts from the Mare Nectaris basin-forming event, cuts diagonally across this densely cratered stretch of the southeastern highlands.

Captured as a single video through an IR-pass filter, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

Venus: A Thin Crescent

Tue, 04 Mar 2025 17:52:00 +0000

As Venus swings between Earth and the Sun ahead of its March 2025 inferior conjunction, its illuminated crescent thins dramatically while its apparent disk grows larger. Only a sliver of the dayside remains lit in this capture.

Captured as RGB video sequences, derotated in WinJUPOS, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

Mars: A Shrinking Disk

Thu, 20 Feb 2025 22:53:00 +0000

More than a month past opposition, Mars’s apparent size has noticeably shrunk as Earth pulls ahead in its faster orbit. A distinct bluish haze wraps the limb, and dark markings remain visible across the disk’s center on a clean, low-noise background.

Captured as luminance and RGB video sequences, derotated in WinJUPOS, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

Mars: A Broad Dark Region

Fri, 07 Feb 2025 01:15:00 +0000

A wide, diffuse dark region covers much of the lower half of the disk in this capture, contrasting against the pale orange upper latitudes and a small bright cap at the northern limb.

Captured as luminance and RGB video sequences, derotated in WinJUPOS, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

Jupiter: Turbulent Festoons and a Bright Oval

Wed, 05 Feb 2025 20:56:00 +0000

This capture shows Jupiter’s cloud bands in a particularly turbulent mood: fine, wave-like festoons stretch across the North and South Equatorial Belts, and a small bright white oval sits within the southern belt. No major storm systems are in view this rotation, but the fine-scale turbulence gives the disk a busy, dynamic texture.

The video above shows the raw derotated capture from the same night, before final stacking and color balancing — a rare look at the process behind the finished image, which appears further down the page.

Mars: Softening Detail Post-Opposition

Tue, 04 Feb 2025 23:40:00 +0000

Three weeks past opposition, Mars is visibly smaller and softer than at its peak. A bluish-white haze still lingers over the polar hood, while faint dark markings trail along the disk’s southern limb.

The video above is the same session’s raw IR-pass footage, shown here as captured — infrared light cuts through atmospheric haze that visible-light imaging struggles with, giving a cleaner look at the surface markings even as the disk shrinks. The finished LRGB composite appears further down the page.

Jupiter: The Great Red Spot Near the Limb

Tue, 04 Feb 2025 21:29:00 +0000

Here the Great Red Spot has rotated close to Jupiter’s western limb, still showing clear turbulent structure in the surrounding South Equatorial Belt. The planet’s characteristic banding remains sharply resolved, with a low-noise background typical of a steady night of seeing.

Captured as RGB video sequences, derotated in WinJUPOS, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

Mars: Polar Cap in Sharp Relief

Wed, 29 Jan 2025 00:38:00 +0000

Less than two weeks past opposition, the disk has only just begun to shrink. The north polar cap stands out here in vivid blue-white contrast against the orange disk, with a compact dark marking still sharply resolved nearby.

Captured as luminance and RGB video sequences, derotated in WinJUPOS, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

Mars: A Different Rotational Face

Sat, 18 Jan 2025 01:47:00 +0000

Just two days after the previous capture, Mars’s roughly 24.6-hour rotation period — only slightly longer than Earth’s — has turned a different hemisphere into view, with a distinct dark feature near the center of the disk and a pale polar hood above.

Captured as luminance and RGB video sequences, derotated in WinJUPOS, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

Mars Near Opposition

Thu, 16 Jan 2025 00:51:00 +0000

Captured right around Mars’s January 2025 opposition, when Earth passed between Mars and the Sun and the planet reached its largest apparent size and peak brightness for this apparition. A broad dark marking spans the disk, bordered by a soft polar hood — the best size-to-detail trade-off of the whole sequence.

Captured as luminance and RGB video sequences, derotated in WinJUPOS, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

Jupiter: The Great Red Spot at Central Meridian

Wed, 15 Jan 2025 23:31:00 +0000

The Great Red Spot sits almost exactly on Jupiter’s central meridian in this capture, compact and sharply defined against the surrounding cream-and-rust equatorial belts. Fine structure is visible throughout the cloud bands despite the planet’s modest apparent size this late in the apparition.

Captured as RGB video sequences, derotated in WinJUPOS, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

Mars with a Bright Polar Hood

Sat, 28 Dec 2024 03:28:00 +0000

The north polar hood dominates this capture, a bright blue-white band curving over the pole while the rest of the warm orange disk carries only a faint, diffuse dark patch. Mars was now less than three weeks from opposition.

Captured as luminance and RGB video sequences, derotated in WinJUPOS, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

Jupiter: The Great Red Spot in Sharp Detail

Fri, 27 Dec 2024 23:28:00 +0000

This is one of the sharpest Jupiter captures in the collection: the Great Red Spot appears in vivid orange with a turbulent, churning structure trailing behind it, set against finely detailed, braided cloud bands. Three of the Galilean moons are visible in the same frame as small points near the disk.

Captured as RGB video sequences, derotated in WinJUPOS, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

The Moon and Mare Crisium

Tue, 17 Dec 2024 04:24:00 +0000

Mare Crisium, a roughly 550-kilometer lava plain isolated from the Moon’s other major maria, sits along the terminator in this capture, its smooth floor contrasting sharply with the dense, ancient cratering of the surrounding highlands.

Captured as a two-pane mosaic through an IR-pass filter, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

Mars: Surface Detail Sharpens

Tue, 17 Dec 2024 03:50:00 +0000

Five nights after the previous capture, Mars presents a noticeably larger disk with crisper detail: a sharp, dark marking spans much of the visible hemisphere, and a small blue-tinted polar hood sits at the northern limb.

Captured as luminance and RGB video sequences, derotated in WinJUPOS, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

Jupiter: Scalloped Cloud Bands

Mon, 16 Dec 2024 23:51:00 +0000

Jupiter’s cloud bands take on a strongly scalloped, wave-like form in this capture, especially along the boundary between the South Equatorial Belt and the Equatorial Zone. Rich rust and cream coloring contrasts against the pale polar regions, with no major storms in view this rotation.

Captured as luminance and RGB video sequences, derotated in WinJUPOS, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

Uranus

Mon, 16 Dec 2024 22:45:00 +0000

At over 2.8 billion kilometers away, Uranus resolves as little more than a small, softly glowing teal-green disk even at high magnification — its faint cloud bands and rings lie well beyond the reach of amateur equipment. The distinct color comes from methane in its atmosphere absorbing red sunlight while reflecting blue-green.

Captured as RGB video sequences, derotated in WinJUPOS, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

Mars: Early Approach to Opposition

Thu, 12 Dec 2024 04:01:00 +0000

Captured about five weeks before Mars reached opposition in January 2025, this image shows a still-modest disk with a broad dark surface marking and a bright blue-white hood over the north pole. The first of a series tracking Mars as it grew larger and brighter approaching its closest point to Earth.

Captured as luminance and RGB video sequences, derotated in WinJUPOS, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

Jupiter: Fine Detail in the Equatorial Belts

Sat, 16 Nov 2024 02:02:00 +0000

This capture resolves Jupiter’s belts in fine detail: a braided, wave-like boundary runs along the North Equatorial Belt, several small white ovals sit in the temperate latitudes, and a faint dark barge threads through the South Equatorial Belt. Multiple captures spanning about three minutes were derotated in WinJUPOS to counteract Jupiter’s fast rotation before stacking, preserving sharp detail despite the longer total integration.

Captured as luminance and RGB video sequences, derotated in WinJUPOS, stacked in AutoStakkert!3, and processed in PixInsight.

The Moon and Montes Apenninus

Fri, 11 Oct 2024 20:18:00 +0000

The Apennine Mountains (Montes Apenninus), a roughly 600-kilometer arc marking part of the rim of the Imbrium impact basin, cast dramatic shadows across this capture, with a prominent crater visible at the range’s edge.

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

The Moon's Polar Region

Fri, 11 Oct 2024 20:13:00 +0000

This capture looks toward one of the Moon’s polar regions, where ancient, heavily overlapping craters create a rugged terrain quite different from the smoother mare regions elsewhere on the near side.

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

The Moon and Copernicus

Fri, 11 Oct 2024 20:12:00 +0000

Copernicus, a roughly 93-kilometer crater with a complex terraced rim and central peaks, sits in deep shadow near the terminator in this capture, its full depth thrown into relief by the low sun angle.

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

The Moon: A Cratered Terminator

Fri, 11 Oct 2024 20:08:00 +0000

Low sun angle along the terminator throws long shadows across this dense cluster of craters, exaggerating their depth and revealing fine detail in their walls and floors.

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

The Moon and Clavius

Fri, 11 Oct 2024 20:06:00 +0000

This capture looks toward the Moon’s southern limb, where the enormous crater Clavius and its chain of smaller interior craterlets sit alongside dramatic shadow relief along the terminator.

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

The Moon and Rupes Recta

Fri, 11 Oct 2024 20:00:00 +0000

This close-up resolves the Straight Wall — Rupes Recta — a roughly 110-kilometer fault scarp that appears as a dark line near the terminator, along with a dense field of surrounding craters in fine detail.

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

A Mineral Moon at Waning Gibbous

Sun, 15 Sep 2024 21:48:00 +0000

Captured about four months after the previous mineral-color image, this waning gibbous view again reveals the Moon’s subtle surface chemistry: blue-toned mare basalts rich in titanium contrast against warmer, iron-poor highland material. The differing libration and lighting angle bring out a slightly different color balance than the earlier capture, particularly around Mare Tranquillitatis.

Assembled as a multi-pane mosaic, color-calibrated and processed in PixInsight.

A Mineral Moon

Thu, 23 May 2024 23:50:00 +0000

This “mineral Moon” image pushes the subtle natural color differences across the lunar surface far beyond what the eye can see, revealing mineral composition hidden in the regolith: the blue-grey maria are rich in titanium-bearing ilmenite, while the golden-tan highlands and crater rays — especially the bright system radiating from Tycho at the bottom — are more iron-poor and aluminum-rich. These color differences are real but extremely faint in ordinary images; strong saturation boosting during processing is what makes them visible.

The Moon, Montes Apenninus and Eratosthenes

Mon, 22 Jan 2024 00:17:00 +0000

Montes Apenninus, a roughly 600-kilometer arc marking part of the Imbrium basin’s rim, stretches across the upper part of this capture, its peaks catching the low sun while the lowlands below remain in shadow. At its western foot sits Eratosthenes, a 58-kilometer crater with terraced walls and no ray system of its own, its rays long since eroded away by billions of years of micrometeorite impacts.

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

The Moon, Plato and Montes Alpes

Mon, 22 Jan 2024 00:13:00 +0000

The 101-kilometer walled plain Plato sits at upper left in this capture, its floor a smooth expanse of dark basalt in contrast to its rugged, terraced rim. Below it, the Montes Alpes range rises sharply from the shore of Mare Imbrium, its jagged peaks and ridgelines carved by the same impact that formed the Imbrium basin.

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

The Moon and Gassendi

Mon, 22 Jan 2024 00:10:00 +0000

Gassendi, a 110-kilometer crater sitting on the northern rim of Mare Humorum, shows off its complex, fractured floor in this capture: a network of fine rilles cuts across the crater interior around a cluster of central peaks, the result of lava welling up and cracking the floor after the impact.

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

The Moon: Copernicus and Its Ejecta

Mon, 22 Jan 2024 00:09:00 +0000

Copernicus, the 93-kilometer crater with terraced walls and a cluster of central peaks, sits at upper left in this capture, its full depth thrown into relief by the low sun. To the southeast, the rugged, hummocky terrain and chains of secondary craters mark the crater’s ejecta blanket, debris thrown out and sculpted by the impact that formed it.

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

The Moon and Sinus Iridum

Mon, 22 Jan 2024 00:08:00 +0000

A closer view of Sinus Iridum, the roughly 236-kilometer bay left by an ancient impact basin later flooded by Mare Imbrium’s lava. Its arcing rim, anchored by the promontories of Heraclides and Laplace at either end, is thrown into sharp relief by the low sun, while the smooth mare floor within contrasts against the rugged terrain to the south.

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

The Moon, Sinus Iridum and Plato

Sun, 21 Jan 2024 23:46:00 +0000

Sinus Iridum, the roughly 236-kilometer “Bay of Rainbows,” opens onto Mare Imbrium in the lower left of this capture, its arcing rim the remnant of an ancient impact basin later flooded by mare lava. To the upper right, the 101-kilometer walled plain Plato sits with its smooth, dark floor, both features rendered in fine detail by steady seeing.

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

The Moon: A Long Terminator Mosaic

Sun, 21 Jan 2024 23:41:00 +0000

Assembled from several stacked panes, this tall mosaic follows the terminator across a long stretch of the Moon’s near side, from the walled plain Plato and the bay of Sinus Iridum in the north, down through the Apennine highlands, to the bright rays of Copernicus in the south. The low sun angle throws every crater rim and mountain range into sharp relief along the entire length of the strip.

Captured as a multi-pane mosaic, with each pane stacked in AutoStakkert!3, aligned and blended together, then processed in PixInsight.