The IR742 is a near infra-red filter that only passes light with a wavelength greater that 742nanometres through. The atmosphere refracts the shorter wavelengths (which causes the sky to appear blue), so filtering everything but the near infra-red provides the sharpest images. You can clearly see how the IR and Red channels contain the most detail with the blue being badly distorted. I use the Red, Green and Blue data sets to provide colour and the IR data set overlayed to provide detail.

Europa's shadow transiting across the Jovian disc

Europa's shadow transiting across the Jovian disc

Captured February 2014

The Great Red Spot disappearing around the limb of the planet

This image is taken with a mono camera and RGB filters. The data is then combined to produce a colour image. A luminance layer is created using the Red data as this enhances the detail in the image. Captured February 2014

Jupiter with Io appearing around the limb Capture Details: DFK21au618 colour cam Celestron Cll PowerMate 2.5 Skywatcher EQ8 Stacked in Autostakkert, wavelet sharpening in Registax6 Final processing in Photoshop Very poor conditions, high winds and thin cloud. 22nd December 2013

Imaging Io is a tricky problem as Io moves at 17kms per second, which means that it moves its own diameter every 3 minutes. I have captured the bright yellow colour of Io (from its constant covering of sulphur and sulphur dioxide). The moon has smeared a little due to its fast orbital speed.

Ganymede is the largest moon in the Solar System and is nearly the size of a small planet (it's three-quarters of the size of Mars). I am very pleased to have captured some detail on the moons, as imaging a 5200Km target at 633 million Kms is certainly a challenge!

Imaged November 30th 2013

Captured November 23rd 2013

Captured November 23rd 2013

Imaged 5th December 2012

Imaged 5th December 2012 1300 frames (out of 3000) stacked in Autostakkert. Wavelet processing in Registax 6. DFK21au618, Powermate x2.5, Celestron C11.

Poorly imaged, when it was low in the sky. Equipment used: QHY IMG132e on Celestron C11