Jupiter as seen in the early morning hours of August 19th, 2023. Io can be seen transiting the planet on the lower right hand side. People may be surprised to learn that Jupiter is an area where I feel I've really underperformed. Perhaps I underestimated the difficulty. Many conditions have to be met and the processing is complicated. I do feel I finally understand the software much better, especially Registax and WinJupos. I am excited as I know I will continue to improve and my best is yet to come. Here I had good seeing, but I was a little impatient and started imaging too soon. It would later turn out that I hadn't achieved proper focus, and almost all of my data was unacceptable.

However, at the very last second, I decided to refocus the camera and do one more 3 minute session. It's funny how these last minute sessions can end up being your best stuff. The image is adequate, but for me this represents a significant improvement from previous images I've taken of Jupiter. Since receiving my new equipment, learning how to use it has given me a better understanding of the entire process as a whole.

With each session I do, I learn more. As it so happened, fate offered me a reward. In a serendipitous moment, I realized late that Io was transiting the planet, at the same time the Great Red Spot was coming around the other side. This was going to be an extremely fun picture to work on and to look at. The detail in the image was another step forward for me, but the satisfaction on this night was much more visceral: after my imaging session I put in my best eyepiece, a 15mm Televue DeLite, and took a long look. The moon was a brilliant independent body orbiting the planet. The colors of the bands and the Great Red Spot were vivid and bright. My telescope was offering a tremendous view and I made sure I took the time to enjoy it. The astrophotography is time consuming and demands attention, and while I find it rewarding, nothing could surpass the view in the eyepiece that night , nothing. And that's really what this is all about.