Saturn and Jupiter at a Normal Hour

Jupiter and Saturn are slowly drifting earlier in the evening, making them slightly easier to photograph. These photos I was able to get around 10:30pm, though if I waited until around midnight they would have been better and higher in the sky.

For both planets I used my telescope, 2x barlow lens, and ZWO ASI290MC camera. Each had about 1000 frames of video, and I stacked the top 10% before doing some sharpening in Registax. I think the quality could be improved if I wait until the planets are higher in the sky, and take many more frames.

Jupiter ended up being a little over exposed, but I’m still pleased with the level of detail. The moon Europa can be seen in the lower left hand corner of the image.

Saturn looks beautifully crisp, with a noticeable gap in the rings, though the entire thing is still somewhat grainy. I think by taking more frames and waiting for better conditions I can really improve on this image.

I love Jupiter and Saturn and it’s so nice to have them in the night sky again!