Saturn & Jupiter

Logitech Fusion Webcam

March 29, 2006

Other Fusion Pages:

• Page 1: Converting Fusion For Telescope UseConverting Fusion for Telescope Use
• Page 2: Fusion and Toucam Compared
• Page 3: Daytime Image Test Results
• Page 4: Lunar & H-Alpha Test Results
• Page 5: Fusion and Toucam Compared - Part 2
• Page 6: Hi Resolution Capture to Hard Drive
• Page 7: Closeup Look at Circuit Board
• Page 8: Sun in H-Alpha
• Page 9: Animation & Images of Sun in H-Alpha
• Page 10: Long Exposure Via Software
• Page 11: This Page - Saturn & Jupiter with settings and processing notes

A modified Fusion webcam was used with 5X Televue Powermate and 20" Starmaster GOTO Dobsonian for these images:

SATURN - 3/29/06 - 9:30pm:

Seeing was poor, skies were clear and temperature was 40 degrees Fahrenheit. OPEN VIDEO CAPTURE was used to capture a four minute AVI file at 1280X960 resolution and 7.5 frames per second using the HuffyUV lossless video codec. 18 frames out of 1800 total frames were stacked using Registax 3.

Fusion Webcam Settings:

The adjustment settings used for this image of Saturn:

Processing notes:

The size of the captured four-minute AVI file using the HuffyUV lossless codec at 1280X960 resolution and 7.5 fps was 2 Meg. Registax 3 was unable to align the AVI file so I used K3CCDTools to export frames as BMP files. I loaded the best 18 BMP frames into Registax 3 for stacking. Used Images Plus non-adaptive maximum Entropy with a PSF size of 7x7 pixels and 15 iterations. Used NEAT IMAGE for noise reduction then Photoshop CS unsharp mask, color balance and curves. Applied Images Plus adaptive Richardson-Lucy for the final image.

JUPITER - 03/29/06 - 3:30am:

This was my first image of Jupiter with the Fusion. Seeing was bad, skies were clear and temperature was 30 degrees Fahrenheit. OPEN VIDEO CAPTURE was used to capture a two minute AVI file at 1280X960 resolution and 7.5 frames per second using the HuffyUV lossless video codec. 40 frames out of 900 total frames were stacked using Registax 3. Even though seeing was bad, using the best 40 frames during moments of good seeing allowed stacking to bring out some detail on Jupiter. The large chip of the Fusion webcam allowed the sphere of Jupiter to fit on the 1280X960 frame which would not be possible using the Philips Toucam and my scope.

Fusion Webcam Settings:

The adjustment settings used for this image of Jupiter:

Processing notes:

The size of the captured two-minute AVI file using the HuffyUV lossless codec at 1280X960 resolution and 7.5 fps was 1.2 Meg. Registax 3 was unable to align the AVI file so I used K3CCDTools to export frames as BMP files. I loaded the best 40 BMP frames into Registax 3 for stacking. Used Images Plus non-adaptive maximum Entropy with a PSF size of 7x7 pixels and 11 iterations. Used NEAT IMAGE for noise reduction then Photoshop CS unsharp mask and levels for final image.

For H-Alpha images and animations with the Logitech Fusion webcam CLICK HERE.

Part 2 - Fusion and Toucam Compared - Saturn, Mars and Moon test images CLICK HERE.

For Solar H-Alpha and Lunar test image results using IC Capture Software CLICK HERE.

For test image results using IC Capture Software that provides higher resolution video imaging CLICK HERE.

Part 1 - Logitech Fusion and Philips Toucam compared CLICK HERE.

Conversion instructions for Fusion Webcam CLICK HERE.

Hi Resolution Capture to Hard Drive - Speed Performance CLICK HERE.

TO MY MAIN ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY PAGE