The Planets
Mars
I took multiple sequences of video
and then put them side by side to see how they compared. Sequences 9 and
12
seem the sharpest. The processing in registax was similar for each sequence;
some minor color balance and level
adjustments were made to make each sequence's image comparable to the other
sequence's images. Images 9 and 12
were given exagerated contrast, 9b and 12b, to see surface detail. Some of the
light spots may be real, though
there are differences between 9b and 12b which make me wary of overinterpreting
the small features. I guess we'll
see as Mars gets closer. Compared to the earlier images I used a smoother
algorithm for enlarging the images so
the background noise level is lower on these images. I upsized the
original images by a factor of two since they
are _small_ on a 640x480 pixel grid. I switched to a spline interpolation
after I realized that the other resizing
algorithm was introducing artifacts.
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Composite Image
I did some repetitive processing of
the last long sequence of Mars, 1000 frames cut down by first combining the
entire sequence then aligning the frames with the combined image to select the
best frames, then combining the best frames to get a better image, then repeat
the decimation until down to the 200 best frames. The limb of the planet got
"hot" and blown out but the albedo features on the planet started to show some
structure.
Saturn
Jupiter
The image info is jupiter with ToUcam Pro II on a Meade
10" SCT, no barlow, circa 700 frames avi video processed in registax and level
adjusted in photoshop, APril 24, 2005 9:08 pm.
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Shooting data: ToUcam Pro II, Meade 10" SCT w/ 2x
barlow, 800 frames in Registax with wavelet processing and despeckle and level
adjust in photoshop. April 20, 2005 at 11:01 pm from front yard in Monroe.
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Jupiter and Moons
All shots below taken with the ToUcam Pro II
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