That cheap planetary camera trick actually worked for Jupiter shots

I swapped my pricier color cam for a used monochrome one under $100 and stacked RGB filters, and the detail on Jupiter was way better than anything I got before - has anyone else tried this over just sticking with a single camera?

3 comments

3 Comments

gavin2286d ago

Yeah "muddy marble" is the perfect way to describe it. I did the same swap from a color cam to a used ASI120MM and it felt like I was seeing Jupiter for the first time. The color channels separate way cleaner in processing, so you can really dial in contrast on the belts without jacking up the background noise. Plus you can stretch each channel differently, which is huge for pulling out those subtle festoons and ovals near the equator.

ben_lewis2d ago

Gosh, yeah, that's the thing isn't it. It's funny how once you've seen a properly processed RGB stack of Jupiter, it kind of ruins the color cam results for you permanently. I keep finding this pattern in other hobbies too, not just astrophotography. The moment you realize a tool lets you work with each part of the signal separately, you can never go back to the all-in-one approach. @gavin228 hit the nail on the head about how it lets you dial in the belts without messing up the noise floor. It's the same reason people who get into serious audio mixing record vocals on a separate track from the instruments.

the_piper6d ago

Truth. Tried the same thing with a used ZWO ASI120MM and some cheap Baader filters. Jupiter looked like a muddy marble with my color cam, but stacking RGB gave me belts and zones that actually popped. The GRS stood out way sharper too.