I used SkyTools Imaging 4 (ST4) to plan for and enjoy a very successful imaging session, recording the classical 4 Galilean satellites of Jupiter, the fainter inner body Amalthea and 8 of the fainter outer, irregular satellites.
Celestron C9.25 Edge HD F10 at prime focus (2350mm).
ASI2600MM Pro (Bin 2x2) for the outer, fainter moons. 60 sec exposures, Gain=0, Offset=15. (The Sky X Pro Camera Add On).
Player One Saturn SQR (Bin 1x1) for the 4 Galilean satellites and Amalthea. (SharpCap).
Bortle 7 skies.
I used SkyTools Imaging 4 (ST4) to locate and GoTo all the satellites, other than Leda, whose data I obtained from the JPL Horizons website. ST4 provided the following information for my location in Brisbane, set for the mid-time of my session.
Name Mag PA° Sep"
Io 4.8 247.4 95.1
Europa 5.1 75.8 156.8
Ganymede 4.4 226.8 53.6
Callisto 5.4 281.0 72.3
Amalthea 13.9 230.8 9.5
Himalia 14.6 223.6 3538.0
Elara 16.6 98.7 1682.8
Pasiphae 16.8 277.4 12164.8
Sinope 18.1 273.4 2576.9
Lysithea 18.2 168.9 1982.4
Carme 17.8 236.3 8051.9
Ananke 18.7 76.2 7649.4
Sinope was the most affected by the spill over of unwanted glare from the Jovian disc, so I had to place it towards the edge to lessen the impact. The whole project was made so easy through being able to obtain all the bodies data (apart from Leda) in ST4 and use ST4 to slew to each body in turn. I grabbed between 10 and 15 frames of 60 secs each which easily recorded these brighter satellites.
The positional data for Leda was obtained from the JPL Horizons website and I slewed to the RA and DEC coordinates to locate it. I grabbed 56x60 sec frames for the much fainter Leda. The recorded position is a good candidate when compared to the JPL position but to be certain, I would probably have to image it again to see if it has moved.
2023-Oct-20 15:00UT.
RA=02 38 05.41 DEC=+13 51 51.0.
Magnitude 20.068.
01 27 25 AEST
******** ASTROMETRIC SOLUTION RESULTS ********
Scale: 0.6460 arcseconds/pixel
Size (pixels): 3124 x 2088
Angular Size: 0° 33' 38" x 0° 22' 29"
Position Angle: 0° 49' from north through east
Mirror Image: No
RMS: 0.68 (X: 0.56 Y: 0.38)
Number of Stars Used in Solution: 102 (100%)
FWHM: 3.29 pixels, 2.13 arcseconds
**********************************************
I used Player One Saturn SQR (Bin 1x1) for the Jovian disc and Amalthea, with the 4 Galilean satellites of Europa, Callisto, Io and Ganymede as it had a higher framerate of 42 fps.
The 4-panel frames are full res crops where I have overlaid the text from ST4 over the BYW image, as a colour Layer in PS CC, to identify the satellites.
Dennis
Here are a few screen shots of SkyTools 4 Imaging that proved invaluable in tracking down these faint objects and determing the West Elongation of Amalthea.
Dennis
I have zoomed in for this scree capture, so some of the outer satellites lie outside the field of view.
Celestron C9.25 Edge HD F10 at prime focus (2350mm).
ASI2600MM Pro (Bin 2x2) for the outer, fainter moons. 60 sec exposures, Gain=0, Offset=15. (The Sky X Pro Camera Add On).
Player One Saturn SQR (Bin 1x1) for the 4 Galilean satellites and Amalthea. (SharpCap).
Bortle 7 skies.
I used SkyTools Imaging 4 (ST4) to locate and GoTo all the satellites, other than Leda, whose data I obtained from the JPL Horizons website. ST4 provided the following information for my location in Brisbane, set for the mid-time of my session.
Name Mag PA° Sep"
Io 4.8 247.4 95.1
Europa 5.1 75.8 156.8
Ganymede 4.4 226.8 53.6
Callisto 5.4 281.0 72.3
Amalthea 13.9 230.8 9.5
Himalia 14.6 223.6 3538.0
Elara 16.6 98.7 1682.8
Pasiphae 16.8 277.4 12164.8
Sinope 18.1 273.4 2576.9
Lysithea 18.2 168.9 1982.4
Carme 17.8 236.3 8051.9
Ananke 18.7 76.2 7649.4
Sinope was the most affected by the spill over of unwanted glare from the Jovian disc, so I had to place it towards the edge to lessen the impact. The whole project was made so easy through being able to obtain all the bodies data (apart from Leda) in ST4 and use ST4 to slew to each body in turn. I grabbed between 10 and 15 frames of 60 secs each which easily recorded these brighter satellites.
The positional data for Leda was obtained from the JPL Horizons website and I slewed to the RA and DEC coordinates to locate it. I grabbed 56x60 sec frames for the much fainter Leda. The recorded position is a good candidate when compared to the JPL position but to be certain, I would probably have to image it again to see if it has moved.
2023-Oct-20 15:00UT.
RA=02 38 05.41 DEC=+13 51 51.0.
Magnitude 20.068.
01 27 25 AEST
******** ASTROMETRIC SOLUTION RESULTS ********
Scale: 0.6460 arcseconds/pixel
Size (pixels): 3124 x 2088
Angular Size: 0° 33' 38" x 0° 22' 29"
Position Angle: 0° 49' from north through east
Mirror Image: No
RMS: 0.68 (X: 0.56 Y: 0.38)
Number of Stars Used in Solution: 102 (100%)
FWHM: 3.29 pixels, 2.13 arcseconds
**********************************************
I used Player One Saturn SQR (Bin 1x1) for the Jovian disc and Amalthea, with the 4 Galilean satellites of Europa, Callisto, Io and Ganymede as it had a higher framerate of 42 fps.
The 4-panel frames are full res crops where I have overlaid the text from ST4 over the BYW image, as a colour Layer in PS CC, to identify the satellites.
Dennis
Here are a few screen shots of SkyTools 4 Imaging that proved invaluable in tracking down these faint objects and determing the West Elongation of Amalthea.
Dennis
I have zoomed in for this scree capture, so some of the outer satellites lie outside the field of view.