Mars and Saturn

In the few breaks in the clouds we have had this summer, I managed to image Mars and Saturn on the evening of August 14^th. The steadiness of the air, also known as the seeing, was quite poor and the images show it. However, as astronomers are wont to say, I needed my photon fix. I did enjoy the evening under the star. Yes, that is singular, since the ever present high cloudiness managed to block out most of the visible stars. Actually, a few, as in maybe 10, were visible. For comparison's sake, the ideal number of stars visible should be around 2500 to 3000.

Also, for comparison's sake, I've included one frame of the Saturn group to show just how fuzzy looking the planet looked. So, how did I manage to get the final, somewhat clear image, you ask? (Thank you for asking.) By using the “magic” afforded to me by digital imaging techniques, of course. In this case, actually on both the Mars and Saturn images, I took 5000 frames of video and then “stacked” the best 3500 of them to make one image. That tends to eliminate to worst, most distorted, images. Then by using the wavelet sharpening in RegiStax 6, then importing that image into GIMP and using the unsharp mask, I was able to arrive at the images you see now. Bear in mind, there is has been a planet wide dust storm going on for quite some time. The amount of detail I think I pretty good, considering that. The dust storm also explains why the WinJUPOS generated image looks quite clear, and shows things you would think mine would, but doesn't.

Mars, best 3500 of 5000 frames 8" SCT at F10 ZWO ASI 120MC. See below to help  ID features.

WinJUPOS generated image of Mars, with a few features identified. I don't know what the red circle is.

Raw image (same equipment as above) of Saturn. Blurry, Huh?

Saturn, best 3500 of 5000 frames, sharpened. Cleans up pretty well, don't you think?