These images and video capture Jupiter during its 2010 opposition, photographed on September 20 and September 21, 2010 from my backyard in Brooklyn, New York. Planetary opposition is one of the best times to observe Jupiter, as the planet is closest to Earth, appears brighter, and shows its largest apparent disk.
All video data was recorded using a Celestron NexStar 4SE telescope with a 2× Barlow lens and the original Celestron NexImage CCD camera. Despite heavy urban light pollution, Jupiter’s cloud bands and the Great Red Spot were clearly resolved using high-frame-rate video capture and stacking techniques.
Capture & Processing Details
- Telescope: Celestron NexStar 4SE
- Camera: Celestron NexImage CCD
- Barlow Lens: 2×
- Frame Rate: 10 frames per second
- Exposure: 1/10 second
- Video Length: ~4 minutes per capture
- Total Frames: ~2400
- Resolution: 640 × 480 (AVI)
- Stacking Software: RegiStax v5
- Final Processing: Adobe Photoshop
The AVI video files were stacked in RegiStax v5, where the best frames were aligned and combined to reduce atmospheric turbulence. Wavelet sharpening was applied to enhance fine details, followed by final contrast and color adjustments in Photoshop.
The video demonstrates the complete planetary imaging workflow: the physical backyard telescope setup, live Jupiter capture using AmCap, raw CCD footage, RegiStax stacking and wavelet processing, and the final sharpened planetary images.
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| Jupiter Celestron 4SE NexImage Brooklyn Backyard astronomy |
Image 1 shows three photographs of Jupiter arranged vertically, taken approximately one hour apart. The planet’s rotation is clearly visible through the changing position of the Great Red Spot. In the top image the Red Spot appears on the left side of Jupiter’s disk, in the middle image it is near the center, and in the bottom image it has moved toward the right side. From this sequence, Jupiter’s rapid rotation can be visually estimated directly from the photographs.
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| Celestron 4 SE Jupiter Astrophoto Brooklyn |
Image 2 shows the same three Jupiter photographs, again arranged vertically for comparison. This layout makes the motion of the Great Red Spot even easier to follow and highlights how much Jupiter rotates over a short period of time. Since Jupiter completes one full rotation in roughly 10 hours, significant surface movement can be observed within a single night of planetary imaging.
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| Comparison original one frame and Registax final Image, Celestron 4 SE, Brooklyn |
This project demonstrates how effective planetary imaging can be even from a light-polluted city when using high-frame-rate video capture and stacking techniques. Jupiter’s cloud belts, polar shading, and the Great Red Spot are clearly visible thanks to careful capture timing and RegiStax processing during opposition.
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