Contains:  Solar system body or event
Jupiter 2020-04-03: Stereo pair time separation comparison, Darren (DMach)

Jupiter 2020-04-03: Stereo pair time separation comparison

Acquisition type: Lucky imaging
Jupiter 2020-04-03: Stereo pair time separation comparison, Darren (DMach)

Jupiter 2020-04-03: Stereo pair time separation comparison

Acquisition type: Lucky imaging

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Description

Early Saturday morning, I dragged myself out of bed at around 4:45am to check the quality of the sky. The sky was mostly clear but there were some fast-moving clouds which, from experience, spelled danger ... this often worsens towards dawn (more than once at the precise moment I've finished setup and collimation and am about to start imaging). I was feeling pretty tired and looking for an excuse to go back to bed, and almost did exactly that. However, upon observing the stars, it looked like seeing was actually pretty good.

So, after a period of internal struggle, I decided to set up the equipment and try.

I ended up spending most of my time on Jupiter. The slow seeing (periodic complete blurring of the target) was not as bad as previous sessions this year, and in between those moments of complete blurriness the fast seeing was good, bordering on excellent (and improving as the session progressed).

So I was hopeful of some good results. Rev A shows the best of the image results (a de-rotation of 6 individual stacks, with just under 1,000 frames per stack).

To my eye, there seems to be flecks of orange cloud heading back down the STZ, possibly from the GRS? (This is more easily seen in the stereoscopic images ... one thing I find fascinating about the stereo pair approach is that our eyes and brains seem to ultimately perceive more detail and less noise.)

There is also a raft (?) of light brown cloud along the southern edge of the STZ, surrounding a white oval.

The extended good conditions also allowed me to do some more experiments with 3D/stereo pairs. The consensus I'm hearing to date suggests 10-12 minutes is ideal in terms of time separation, but it's always good (and fun) to experiment for yourself.

Here I have posted two animations rotating through a variety of time separations. If you keep your eyes crossed & focused on the stereoscopic image, you'll be able to view the changes in "roundness" of the result.

The first animation demonstrates time separations with 2 minute increments (4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 minutes) but necessarily with changes in aspect, which is a little distracting.

The second version attempts to maintain a similar aspect for Jupiter with the hope of minimising distraction. This necessitated a gap of 4 minutes per test (4, 8 and 12 minute separations).

Finally, I have posted the individual still images of each time separation, in case the animations mess with your eyes (and head) too much.

I'm interested to hear your thoughts as to which time separation gives the most pleasing result! (I have my own opinion on this, but I'll reserve that for now.)

Comments

Revisions

  • Jupiter 2020-04-03: Stereo pair time separation comparison, Darren (DMach)
    Original
  • Final
    Jupiter 2020-04-03: Stereo pair time separation comparison, Darren (DMach)
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  • Jupiter 2020-04-03: Stereo pair time separation comparison, Darren (DMach)
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  • Jupiter 2020-04-03: Stereo pair time separation comparison, Darren (DMach)
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  • Jupiter 2020-04-03: Stereo pair time separation comparison, Darren (DMach)
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  • Jupiter 2020-04-03: Stereo pair time separation comparison, Darren (DMach)
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  • Jupiter 2020-04-03: Stereo pair time separation comparison, Darren (DMach)
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  • Jupiter 2020-04-03: Stereo pair time separation comparison, Darren (DMach)
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B

Description: Stereo pair time separation comparison v1 (4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 minutes)

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C

Description: Time comparison animation v2, with changes in aspect minimised (4, 8 and 12 minutes).

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D

Description: Individual stereo image: 4 minute time separation

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E

Description: Individual stereo image: 6 minute time separation

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F

Description: Individual stereo image: 8 minute time separation

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G

Description: Individual stereo image: 10 minute time separation

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H

Description: Individual stereo image: 12 minute time separation

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Histogram

Jupiter 2020-04-03: Stereo pair time separation comparison, Darren (DMach)