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BBC Sky at Night Magazine Masterclass

Imaging the Planets

In association with Omega

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The planets of the Solar System are captivating objects to watch from night to night, their movement through the sky often bringing them close to one another and the Moon.

Photographing the planets reveals more: what were once dots of light become words rich in detail, be that Saturn’s majestic rings, Jupiter’s cloud bands, Mars’s red, rocky terrain or Venus’s passing phases.

Our new Masterclass series for spring 2024 sees talks from three of the best planetary imagers, covering capture and post-processing, helping you make the most of a fantastic period of planetary apparitions later in 2024.

Saturn and Jupiter will both be riding high above the horizon after dark, Mars and Venus burst back on the scene and the Moon passes over both Saturn and Mars in two rare lunar occultations of planets.

Masterclass 1

Pete Lawrence

Sky at Night co-presenter and expert astro imager

The planets in their prime

Join us to understand why the observing prospects for Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn improve markedly in the second half of this year, and for capture and processing advice that will prepare you for taking great images of the spectacle.

Thursday 25 April, 7pm BST

Masterclass 2

Damian Peach

Renowned astrophotographer, lecturer and writer

Capturing Jupiter on camera

Take a front row seat as we look at the considerations for capturing the largest planet in the Solar System, such as its rapid spin, and how to process images to reveal remarkable details in Jupiter’s cloud bands and even its moons.

Thursday 23 May 2024, 7pm BST

Masterclass 3

Martin Lewis

Prize-winning planetary photographer

Improve your imaging

Discover 10 (less well-known) nifty tips and tricks to improve your planetary imaging, based on Martin Lewis’s wealth of practical experience photographing the planets with his home-built 222mm and 444mm Dobsonian telescopes.

Thursday 13 June 2024, 7pm BST


Find out more about this Masterclass series below:

Masterclass 1

The planets in their prime

Jupiter and Saturn. Credit: Pete Lawrence
Credit: Pete Lawrence
  • Speaker: Pete Lawrence
  • Date: Thursday 25 April 2024, 7pm BST 

When it comes to planetary imaging, 2024 is a year of two halves. In this first talk of our series, Sky at Night presenter Pete Lawrence will explain why the observing prospects for Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn improve markedly in the second half of the year, and highlight how to take advantage of this.

He’ll prepare the audience for the rich pickings by covering the basics of planetary imaging, from collimation to weather forecasting, and on telescopes setups using smartphones for afocal photography to lucky imaging with a planetary camera. Also looking at a typical processing workflow for planetary imaging, Pete’s talk will prepare you for taking great images of our Solar System neighbours. 

Agenda

  • The improving circumstances for each planet throughout 2024 and beyond
  • Collimating, cooling, image scale and atmosphere; the basics of planetary imaging
  • Planetary imaging workflows, from capture to stacking and post-processing

About the speaker

Pete Lawrence is a co-presenter on BBC Four’s The Sky at Night, and writes the monthly Sky Guide in BBC Sky at Night Magazine. An astronomy tour guide, Pete is also an experienced astrophotographer and recipient of the Royal Photographic Society’s Davies Medal for his contribution to digital imaging science. He has been observing the planets since 1977. 


Masterclass 2

Capturing Jupiter on camera

The Jovian Family © Damian Peach, El Sauce Observatory, Río Hurtado, Coquimbo, Chile, 5 August 2021. Runner up, Planets, Comets & Asteroids, APY 14. Equipment: ASA 1000 RC telescope, ZWO ASI174MM camera, aperture 1000 mm, focal length 16,000 mm, multiple video frames
Credit: Damian Peach
  • Speaker: Damian Peach
  • Date: Thursday 23 May 2024, 7pm BST 

Renowned astrophotographer Damain Peach can surely lay claim to having taken some of the sharpest ground-based images of the planets ever obtained. However, Damian’s primary interest is in photographing the King of the Planets, Jupiter, and in his talk he will outline some of the special considerations to take into account when capturing the largest planet in the Solar System.

Damian’s talk will look at how to deal with the gas giant’s rapid rotation rate during the capture phase, and how to process raw images to reveal remarkable details in its cloud bands and even its moons. Also looking at planning an imaging campaign abroad and pro-am collaborations, this talk is a must for those wanting to brush up on technique as Jupiter reaches opposition later this year. 

Agenda

  • The challenges of imaging Jupiter and how to overcome them
  • Techniques to achieve detail on the Great Red Spot and cloud bands
  • Pro-am collaborations and imaging campaigns abroad

About the speaker

Damian Peach is a world-renowned astrophotographer, lecturer and writer who has been imaging the planets for over 30 years. Many times a prize-winning finalist in the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition, he was crowned overall winner in 2011, and has taken part in groundbreaking pro-am collaborations for planetary imaging, including with the One-Metre Telescope at the Pic du Midi Observatory, France.


Masterclass 3

10 (less-well known) ways to improve your planetary imaging 

Mars photographed by Martin Lewis
Credit: Martin Lewis
  • Speaker: Martin Lewis
  • Date: Thursday 13 June, 7pm GMT 

For over 18 years Martin Lewis has been capturing images of the planets from his back garden in St.Albans, using his home-built 222mm and 444mm Dobsonian telescopes. In more than 700 sessions, he has built up a wealth of practical experience, helping him produce exquisitely detailed, prize-winning images of our near neighbours in space.

His journey has taken him from imaging surface details on tiny Sun-scorched Mercury and mapping the planet Mars, to imaging the cloud shrouded surface of Venus, and even capturing the rings of Uranus. In this talk he will share 10 less well-known tips which could help you to improve your planetary imaging. 

Agenda

  • Digital video planetary imaging – a quick overview
  • 5 well known things that affect your planetary imaging
  • 10 less well-known tips to improve your planetary imaging

About the speaker

Martin Lewis is a professional engineer and amateur planetary imager and telescope builder. He images from his back garden using his home-built 444mm and 222mm Dobsonian telescopes on a home-built equatorial platform. Martin has been a prize-winner in the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition for the last six years – winning both first and second prize in the Planets section in 2018 and first prize in the Our Moon category in 2022.


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