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ZSpectre t1_iubz26g wrote

Reply to comment by J3RRYLIKESCHEESE in A three hour time-lapse of Jupiter I took with my 10 inch telescope by J3RRYLIKESCHEESE

I don't know much at all about telescope use and stargazing, but I was wondering what may have been causing the rhythmic and slightly "blurring" effect during the time lapse. Would it be due to something like the slight changes to the thickness in our atmosphere?

And I'd like to think that my question is really a testament to how clear and well done this was that it made me curious about the cause of any slight artifact and noise.

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J3RRYLIKESCHEESE OP t1_iuc0nr6 wrote

Yes, something like that. Most likely it was due to some thin low clouds passing in front of Jupiter but it could have also been due to wind making the air unstable causing more refraction. Also, towards the end of the time-lapse it was mostly due to the altitude, the lower Jupiter was in the sky, the more atmosphere light had to pass through resulting in a blurred image.

This is also why telescopes are usually on mountain tops, to avoid the effects of atmospheric distortion as much as possible :)

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