Greg Shanos Earns ALPO Walter H. Haas Observers Award
September 2025 :
The Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers (ALPO) is a scientific and educational organization founded in March 1947 by Walter H. Haas. Skyscrapers member Gregory Shanos joined the ALPO in 2021 and has since submitted over 575 observations of the planets. The 2025 Walter H. Haas Observers Award is bestowed to Greg Shanos.
The author with the Walter H. Haas Observers Award. The plague reads “In recognition of your contributions to the ALPO, specifically in the field of photographing the planets with filters. Greg has become a valuable asset to ALPO, readily sharing his knowledge and experience in photographing the planets in infrared, ultraviolet and other wavelengths to reveal details not seen in visible wavelengths. His lectures at ALPO conferences and on YouTube webinars have generated great interest. ALPO members have also commented on his one-on-one correspondence to help them become successful in their own photographic pursuits. The ALPO recognizes and values your expertise and commends you and your dedication to our organization.”
Most amateur astronomers gravitate (pun intended) towards deep sky observing and astrophotography. The planets being a mere after thought. Nothing could be further from the truth. The light from deep sky objects took millions to billions of years to reach our telescopes whereas reflected light from the planets took only light minutes. In addition, the planets exhibit changes on a daily basis. For example, not only are the phases of Venus of interest but unbeknown to many, the upper and middle clouds of Venus are visible in ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths respectively. Today’s CMOS chips are also sensitive in the UV and IR and by using the proper filters, these wavelengths are enhanced and the clouds become visible on Venus. The clouds appear dark due to an unknown ultraviolet absorber. At 1010nm (1 micron) the surface features on Venus become visible and are able to be imaged!
Mars exhibits dark albedo features at specific central meridians which rotate with the planet. Syrtis Major, Hellas Basin and Olympus Mons are examples of such features. Mars exhibits seasons like the Earth. During Martian winter the seasonal ice caps, composed of carbon dioxide, form and grow, then shrink again the spring and summer. Dust storms typically develop, and may engulf the planet. During the 2018 apparition of Mars, a global dust storm engulfed the entire planet, and no albedo features were visible from Earth for several months until the dust began to clear. Clouds typically form near the limb and over the volcanoes. These clouds are easily visible from Earth especially with the use of a blue/violet filter. During the 2022 apparition, Greg was involved in a blue clearing study with ALPO Mars Section Coordinator Roger Venable MD. Blue clearing is a phenomenon whereas albedo features not typically visible with a blue/violet filter become visible. Greg submitted 61 images of Mars taken under strict protocols that were analyzed by Dr. Venable and published in the Winter 2025 issue of The Strolling Astronomer - the Journal of the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers.
Jupiter, being a gas giant, exhibits atmospheric clouds with storms such as cyclones, anticyclones, festoons and of course, the Great Red Spot. The colors of the atmospheric bands, including the Great Red Spot, also vary at unpredictable intervals. The four Galilean moons, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto regularly transit the planet and cast their shadows. These shadow transits are predictable and the free program WinJupos will alert you to which moon and at what time and date the shadow transit will occur.
Saturn is by far the “Lord of the Rings”. The most obvious feature is the tilt of the rings. Typically, the A, B, C & D rings are visible, as well as the Encke and Cassini divisions. The rings also cast a shadow on the planet. In reciprocation, Saturn itself also casts a shadow on the rings. Around opposition, the rings appear brighter due to the Seeliger effect, whereas shadows of the individual ring particles temporarily disappear from our view. Every 13.7 to 15.7 years, as Earth’s orbit passes through Saturn's ring plane, the rings appear thin and edge-on. During this time, shadow transits of the moons Titan, Dione, Mimas, Enceladus are able to be observed. Saturn's disk appears to be yellow-brown in color due to cloud bands with subtle color variations. These cloud bands do not change appearance as rapidly as those on Jupiter. Transient features such as storms, eddies and bright spots are of particular interest. Saturn’s rings and disk are always a delight.
The more difficult planets to image are Mercury, Uranus and Neptune. Mercury, being low on the horizon, is always a challenge, however, I have been able to image the larger impact craters on its surface. Mercury is best observed during morning apparitions since it rises higher in the sky instead of setting during the evening. Uranus and Neptune show a disk which is blue green in color with the poles appearing white.
As you can see, planetary astrophotography has much to offer. Since the planets are bright objects, the method utilized is different from that of deep sky astrophotography. The basic technique is to take a short 60 to 90 second uncompressed AVI/SER video of the planet using a dedicated uncooled planetary camera, align and stack the individual frames, sharpen and you are essentially finished. The software utilized is Firecapture, or Sharpcap to acquire the video, Autostakkert or Astrosuface to align and stack the individual frames and Registax or WaveSharp to sharpen the final image and GIMP for further post-processing. Best of all these programs are FREE! Derotation of images in WinJupos further reduces noise and increases resolution.
For planetary, larger is better since a long focal length is required. Most planetary imagers use at least an 8-to-14-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope with a Barlow lens. You can even be altazimuth mounted since Autostakkert/Astrosurface will eliminate any field rotation during the aligning and stacking process.
The high quality of planetary images by today’s amateur astronomers has caught the attention and interest of professional planetary scientists. ALPO serves as a database where amateur astronomers to submit their images with pertinent scientific information such as Date, Universal Time, Central Meridian, Telescope, Camera, Optics utilized etc. International databases include hstjupitergroups.io, Planetary Virtual Online Library, British Astronomical Association, and ALPO-Japan. I submit my images to all these organizations. I have received alerts on the hstjupitergroups.io that the Juno spacecraft will be at a certain position taking photographs of Jupiter during a certain time frame. All images of Jupiter from amateur astronomers are needed to compare with those of the spacecraft.
In conclusion, planetary astrophotography is a rewarding endeavor worth pursuing by amateur astronomers who have an interest in astrophotography. While you’re imaging a deep sky object with a refractor, turn your Schmidt-Cassegrain to whatever planet is visible during the observing session. You will be pleased with the results.
Free Programs/Websites for Planetary Imaging
ALPO https://www.alpo-astronomy.org/
PVOL http://pvol2.ehu.eus/pvol2/
WinJupos https://jupos.org/gh/download.htm
FireCapture https://www.firecapture.de/
SharpCap https://www.sharpcap.co.uk/
Autostakkert https://www.autostakkert.com/
AstroSurface https://astrosurface.com/pageuk.html
Registax https://www.astronomie.be/registax/
LuckyStackWorker https://www.wilcokas.com/luckystackworker
Planetary Cameras
Player One https://player-one-astronomy.com/
