Jupiter webcam learning curve pictures gallery

Please read this first --- Importance of monitor calibration to webcam astrophotographers AND website visitors

• June 2003 - My first webcam picture of Jupiter

  13 October 2003 - The company that were supposed to modify my webcam to take long exposures broke it. I could not afford another. They 'were financially unable to help and pleaded innocence'.

  GREAT news: Mr. Charles E. Floyd of Phenix City, USA took pity on me and send me a new webcam as well as a Baader UV/IR filter free of charge. Thanks a lot.

  So I am imaging again. Results below ...

• 5 June 2004 - One year later - started imaging Jupiter again

• 6 June 2004 - Much better images than last night - collimation much better

• 7 June 2004 - Scattered clouds and light rain spoiled the astro-evening. Similar weather forecasted for next 7 evenings. Reprocessed some older results.

• 8 June 2004 - How many frames should I stack?, 5 to 50 percent compared. Also, how long can I expose at prime focus, 60 to 150 seconds compared.

• 9 June 2004 - Cooling my webcam using only a 12 Volt computer fan.

• 10 June 2004 - Cooling my webcam using a Peltier device - it WORKS great

• 11 June 2004 - More Peltier cooling tests on Jupiter to prove it works.

• 12 June 2004 - Completely overcast :-(

• 13 June 2004 - Experiments to determine useful range of webcam settings (gamma, gain, saturation and brightness) when photographing Jupiter.

• 15 June 2004 - Preliminary wedge testing.

• 16 June 2004 - 60, 90 and 180 seconds exposure times compared.

• 17 June 2004 - Transit of Io - moon of Jupiter. Massive quality improvement after I fixed the vibrations and got the Peltier cooling running again.

• 18 June 2004 - First 2x Meade barlow pictures of Jupiter. Success at last.

• 19 June 2004 - Another successful 2x Balow image of Jupiter.

• 20 June 2004 - Cloudy

• 21 June 2004 - Cloudy

• 22 June 2004 - More 2x Balow images of Jupiter. Not as good as those taken 18 and 19 June 2004.

• 24 June 2004 - More 2x Balow images of Jupiter. Still not as good as those taken 18 and 19 June 2004.

• 25-1 July 2004 - Cloudy
• 2 July 2004 - Rain
• End of Jupiter 'season' - This marks the end of my Jupiter imaging until 5 Dec 2004. Five families stay directly 'underneath' where Jupiter now appears in the sky. These people all cook their dinner over their own fires so seeing is horrendous. This is also the cause of my poor Jupiter images on this webpage. During earlier June 2004 Jupiter was 10 degrees to the East of the fire-center so I could take some pictures. Unfortunately after 19h00 at night Jupiter gradually moved to this heatwave center. I will not have this problem in December - only nearly 100 percent cloudcover throughout that month.