My first real attempt at planetary imaging! I finally got up the courage to disassemble my DSO image train and switch to long focal length on my Celestron EdgeHD 9.25" to try to take some pics of Jupiter and Saturn, since they are so omnipresent in the night sky this time of year.

I knew that very little of what I've learned over the last 9 months for DSO AP would apply to imaging solar system objects.  To start with, I removed the .7x focal reducer and had to find my original visual back and diagonal assembly, which I haven't used at all since last December or so.  I also added a 3X Explore Scientific Focal Extender for an overall F/R of F30 (7050 mm focal length), which I suspect is pushing the limit of over-sampling with my ASI294MC Pro.  

My first frustration was that I was unable to get plate-solving to work with APT at such high magnification.  Maybe it's possible -- I'm not sure -- but it felt like a hopeless cause.  I've definitely become spoiled with how easy it is to normally slew to a target without having to contort myself into awkward positions looking through the finder with the hand-controller in hand.  However, since the planets are so bright, it turns out it was easy enough to find them, and my CEM70 slews pretty consistently close after polar alignment.   I could also use the 60mm guidescope and guide camera for fine adjustments, and PhD2 to guide and keep the planet from drifting out of view.

Firecapture was  another learning curve. However, once I got the basics down and understood some of the quirks of the weird UI, it turns out it is pretty intuitive.  
Autostakkert was easy enough to understand, but Registax has been a whole other story!  I still don't know what I'm doing, but after two weeks of trial and error, I find if I fiddle long enough in a systematic way, I eventually get results that I'm pretty happy with.  Add Photoshop and Topaz Denoise, and I finally have something that I am not too embarrassed to share! 

This is the output of 30% of the best of 4458 frames captured around 1:15 am 8/28/2021, 20 ms each, stacked and drizzled in Autostakkert, sharpened with noise reduction through wavelet processing in Registax, then processed and tweaked in Topaz and Photoshop.  It's one of about 30 ser captures that I did with different settings, as GRS transited across the face of Jupiter.  I also captured some wider-angle shots with Europa and Io in frame.  Haven't yet had an opportunity to capture a shadow transit -- but there will be a couple chances this upcoming week if  the sky is clear.