How do you get rid of brightness "washout"?

[kdog72]

Last night I was observing Jupiter and I got it focused and all, could clearly see 3 of its moons off to the left. But Jupiter was so bright I could see any of the cloudbands or anything. Just a bright white ball. This was when I used either the 32mm or 12mm eyepiece on my C90 Mak. Is there some kind of screen or something? Or is it just a matter of magnification?

 

[tfwthom]

That's where color filters come in. I don't like to use them on anything smaller the a 8" scope but that's about the only thing that will work.<br /><br />Try a light yellow to improve the red and orange-colored phenomena in the belts of Jupiter and in enhancing the level of observable detail of small orange-red zonal features within the belts of the planet. <br /><br />Maybe a light blue but you have to watch out for the small aperture, go too dark and you cut down on the amount of light you get.<br /><br />Another thing......I don't use color filter often so I'd advise not spending a lot on them. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="1" color="#3366ff">www.siriuslookers.org</font> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

Another thing I've found useful is observing around an hour after sunset or before sunrise. (an hour before sunrise is better, since the atmosphere is steadier.) The sky is a bit brighter then, and it reduces the contrast between Jupiter and the sky.<br />I often stop for a short session of Jupiter viewing after a night of meteor watching, since I generally stop my meteor session around astro twilight, and get home about nautical twilight, when the sky is a bit brighter.<br /><br />Also a C90 leaves jupiter still rather small. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[docm]

Use a CCD and let the software do it <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

I always wonder what artifacts the software in introducing though.... <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[docm]

The big problem is thermal noise if the CCD isn't chilled, which is why you look for one with an embedded Peltier solid state device like those used to cool CPU's or chill drinks in electrically powered coolers. <br /><br />Cook your own using a cheap Meade LPI Imager....<br /><br />Meade LPI page....<br /><br />or buy one. ex: http://www.perseu.pt/atik/products.php<br /><br />among many others.<br /><br />Peltier cooled CCD's deliver dramatically lower noise and perform better in general. Check Google "astrophotography ccd peltier" and you'll even find sites that'll show how to turn a QucikCam webcam into a 'scope CCD and add a Peltier cooler to it. This can also be done to cheap digital cameras if you have a little electronics experience.<br /><br />A filter wheel (lots on the market) lets you take red, green & blue filtered images which can be layered in PhotoShop, PhotoImpact (my favorite) or any other layer-capable tool and saved as a full color composite. The more images in each primary color, the better. <br /><br />Once you have the layers loaded & aligned you can apply image enhancement filters to adjust the gamma, each color or to reduce noise, just like NASA or the big scopes.<br /><br />The software can actually reduce the amount of noise in an image once you get the hang of it. Good software is smart and will even let you save function macros so you can re-use a series of filter/noise reduction steps later. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>