nking@synner.co.uk (Nick King) [30 Sep 03]
First off, great site. Here's a shot of Saturn I got from London last Monday morning. Seeing was awesome at the time, and with Saturn at about 40=BA it doesn't get much better :-) Taken through an ETX105 with an unmodified ToUcam Pro. A 2x Barlow and an IR blocking filter were used. Stack of 400 (out of 450!) frames.=20 Captured with BTV, stacked and aligned with Keith's Image Stacker, and a final tweak given in Photoshop.
Dick.Sontag@bostikfindley-us.com (Dick Sontag) [30 Sep 03]
My first attempt at Saturn the other night with my ETX125 and ToUCam Pro. With more fine tuning I'll get better at it. Still, kind of proud of it.
Dieter.Wolf@DNSint.com [30 Sep 03]
Saturn is well positioned now during second part of the night in the northern parts of the Zodiac in the constellation of 'Gemini'. So, if you don't mind getting up early in the morning, have a look at - what in my opinion - is the most aesthetic view in the whole sky. Dieter Wolf (Munich, Germany) September 30th, 2003 at 04:45 CEST (02:45 UTC) MEADE ETX-125EC (5" Maksutov-Cassegrain) 2* Barlow Lens (3800mm equivalent focal length) Philips ToUCam pro in prime focus 352*288 pixels video with 5 fps 200 out of 1000 frames each 1/33s exposure time K3CCD tools and IrfanView South up, East left Besides the pretty clear 'Cassini division' and the planets shadow on the rings you see a colored cloud band on Saturn (which you don't find so often in the much more 'color-/detailless' view of Saturn - compared to Jupiter). And you can 'imagine' where 'Encke division' should be as well as the faint inner ring that's hard to catch for my equipment. As ever thanks for your site and time, Mike and always clear skies... Dieter
leutloffa@juno.com (Alan H Leutloff) [30 Sep 03]
With Jupiter and Mercury appearing in the eastern sky before dawn...I have been up many early mornings. Here are the best 2 photos of Mercury and Jupiter. Both taken with a ETX 90-M, and a Canon A70 digital camera. Camera handheld for Mercury and the shot of Jupiter camera was mounted on a tripod thru the lense.
tonyh0905@hotmail.com (Tony Hatwood) [30 Sep 03]
Here's another for the Mars pile. The seeing was pretty poor in South Wales, this night. A lot of heat haze from surrounding buildings.
williansouza@ig.com.br (willian) [30 Sep 03]
This is my Mars sketch done on sept 07.21UT with ETX 90 @ 96x.
rseip@focus-surgery.com (Ralf Seip) [30 Sep 03]
Please consider posting the following image on your website. Thanks for the good work! Details: 5" Meade ETX125 2x Barlow Autostar Guiding SAC IV Color CCD Camera 640x480 Resolution Prime Focus operation f/20 Imaging 1/30 second exposure 260 Individual Frames aligned and stacked using RegiStax, 2x resampled August 24, 2003, 0:11 am, CST, Indianapolis.
Dieter.Wolf@DNSint.com [25 Sep 03]
I would like to post a foto of Mars and tell a little story about it. It's still out there! Do you remember those days with headlines like 'Giant flaming red star ...'? It has become silent now. Mars no longer is of interest for TV stations and magazines (which may change in December again - Mars Express and others). At 'closest approach' our local public observatory had to keep its doors open until 4 am to give hundreds of visitors a quick view through the telescope (by the way a fine, long 7" refractor). When I was looking at Mars a few days ago with my telescope (by the way a fine, short 5" ETX-125) in the front garden, someone passed by and asked me what I am looking at. The conversation went as follows: Me: 'IT's Mars' - He: 'You can still see him?' - Me: 'What's the brightest light you see?' - Again me: 'NO, not that damm'd street light!' - Again me: 'YES, that's Mars.' Of course he took a look through the telescope and of course he did not see as much as he expected to see, but then I showed him a stacked and finished 'Mars' from the computer and that was fine for both of us. Dieter Wolf (Munich, Germany) MEADE ETX-125EC (5" Maksutov-Cassegrain, 1900mm) with 2* Barlow (3800 mm) Philips ToUCam pro (prime focus) 400 frames stacked September 20th, 2003 21:50 CEST (19:50 UTC) Thanks for your great site,
dadriance@swiftkenya.com (Dave Adriance) [21 Sep 03]
Attached please find my latest attempt at capturing Mars using a webcam.  About 300 images stacked with unsharp mask and some contrast adjustment.  Thanks for sharing.
mlecompte@astrovision.com (Malcolm LeCompte) [21 Sep 03]
I took this picture of Mars, on September 16, 2003 from Westford, Massachusetts. I used a 30 year old Minolta SRT 101 35 mm SLR on a T mount attachment with a (#64) T-Mount Adaptor at the prime focus of an ETX-90EC. The film was Kodak HD Color, ASA 400. I thing the exposure time was about 1/250th of a second. Eye piece projection is the next challenge after some lunar prime focus photography. (great website and an invaluable resource)
carlotes@tiscali.it (C.Tex) [18 Sep 03]
I send to you an Mars image taken in date 28/08/03 at 01:09 am from Italian Pre-Alps (Valdenogher) at 1000 meters of altitude. For this image I have used: -ETX 105 UHTC w/Autostar; -Philips ToUcam Pro at 10 fps; -Baader IR/Cut; The Mars image was processed by Registax and Stellar Magic.
Clint.Gouveia@btinternet.com (BT Internet) [18 Sep 03]
[Top] I attach another image of Mars. This time around I have stacked 60 images in RegiStax. The colour has improved from my previous images - in part due to my having discovered that the green LED on the Logitech pro 4000 was illuminating the inside of webcam body. Thanks for posting my image. [Bottom] My final image of Mars, this time using 58 images stacked using RegiStax.
araphael@tsn.ca (Alan Raphael) [18 Sep 03]
I've just started with astrophotography and have a nice Mars shot to share. ETX-90EC UHTC, Canon A70 camera, Meade 26mm, 2x barlow, with camera's 3x optical zoom attached with a Scopetronix Digi-T. This is a stack of 28 images (1/125sec) taken at approximately 22:40 ET on September 5, 2003 from Richmond Hill, Ontario (just north of Toronto).
mcgruen@cpinternet.com (Mike and Chris Gruenhagen) [18 Sep 03]
A stack of 7 photos taken 8-30-03 at 2:00am 30 miles SW of Minneapolis and stacked with Astrostack.  Meade DS-2130ATE, Scopetronix STWA14 eyepiece, nikon 4500,  1/8sec, f10.3.  I used TheForce freeware to snap 50 pics at 3 second intervals and manually picked the 7 best for stacking.
leutloffa@juno.com (Alan H Leutloff) [18 Sep 03]
Welcome back...I was beginning to get worried. Here are a few recent shots taken with my ETX 90-M (Mars and Saturn). All shots were taken with a Canon A70 digital camera held to the eyepiece (26 mm with 2x Barlow-Saturn, and Orion Epic zoon and 2x Barlow for Mars). Having lots of enjoyment with my new found hobby...I am a former geologist (and it was my wife's suggestion to purchase a telescope). I used to be early to bed...and not a night person...my how things have changed. Thanks...love your site,
euan.mason@canterbury.ac.nz (Euan Mason) [18 Sep 03]
You are welcome to use one of these images for your site, but please attribute it to me. They are two versions of a stack of 228 frames from about 850 total taken with a ToUcam pro through a Meade ETX 90 RA operating at F27.6 with a 2x shorty barlow lens. The time was 9:30 UT on September 11th 2003, from Christchurch, New Zealand. I retain copyright, and if anyone else wants to use them, please refer them to me.
geheniau@xs4all.nl [18 Sep 03]
[Top] The Mars moons Deimos and Phobos! [Bottom] The planet Neptune
Dick.Sontag@bostikfindley-us.com (Dick Sontag) [15 Sep 03]
This is my first attempt to photograph Mars on 09/05/03 with my ETX125 and my new ToUCam Pro. I know I should get better with time!
Dennym31@aol.com [15 Sep 03]
[Left] Here is a picture of Mars taken w/ETX-90 and pc164c video camera on 8/19/03. 117 images stacked and processed with K3CCD Tools. [Right] Here is a picture of Mars taken on 8/19/03 with ETX-90/2X barlow and PC164c B/W video camera. 117 avi frames were stacked and processed with K3CCD Tools. Seeing was 8/10. Mike here: I cropped these from their original size.
Alejandro.romanillos@enertec.com.mx (Alejandro Romanillos Valdez) [15 Sep 03]
Hi, here's a photo that I made with an ETX125 and a handheld digital camera to the eyepice in Monterrey Mexico. It also shows a starrynight image at the same time the photo was taken. Thanks for all the info in your webpage, its great!! it has made me realize the potential of my scope.
stankiewiczr@nexicom.net (Rick) [15 Sep 03]
I have to flip you a few images that once again shows the abilities of the little (but mighty) ETX 90. I am attaching three images that I took over the last few months of Mars. I am sure you have lots already, but... The first [top] is from July 17th, during the close Mars/Moon encounter when Mars was about 19.5 arc sec. (second shot [middle] is a close up of the Mars disc from this session). The third image [bottom] is from Sept.6th, when Mars was about 24.6 arc sec. (close up of the Mars disc). The neat thing I think about these images are that they are single from shots from a Nikon Coolpix digital camera (3.34 MP). They have not been manipulated or enhanced at all and the last shots really shots what I saw in the eyepiece that night. The ETX is a real piece of equipment! Keep up the good work.
yoshi@galaxies.jp (Yoshi-K) [15 Sep 03]
Mars pics from Yokohama. [Left] 5 Aug 2003 21:43 JST (90EC image) [Right] 6 Aug 2003 01:16 JST (105EC image) ToUcam + 2.5x PowerMate + LPS-P1 Registax 2 http://etx.galaxies.jp/modules/photo90ec/ http://etx.galaxies.jp/modules/photo105ec/
nick@yamaha.co.uk (Nick Howes) [15 Sep 03]
Here is the final group of Mars shots taken from Aug 9th to Sept 2nd 2003. Wide variety of filters and post processing on them. All images taken with a Creative Labs Webcam Pro EX, K3 CCD Tools, Registax for stacking, PSP7 for image processing. West London UK. ATB to all and, roll on Jupiter & Saturn...and clear skies
DAdriance@engenderhealth.org (David Adriance) [15 Sep 03]
Here's my first attempt at astrophotography with a webcam. ETX-125EC with a ToUcamPro and 2X barlow. Captured and processed in Nairobi, Kenya with K3CCD Tools, a couple of nights after Mars was at its largest. I was too excited at this first attempt to accurately monitor number of frames and other settings; also have not yet figured out how to post-process - hope to do better next time out.
p.v.camerijk@wxs.nl (Peter van Camerijk) [15 Sep 03]
here my first result in mars pictures!!!! Where I live Mars is in an awkward position: I have to take pictures ouit of the bedroomwindow and there is an appartment complex in front of the window. It was not easy to get a good view of mars but.... I took this picture with my ETX 125 (non-UHTC) on a Vixen GP mount with Skysensor 2000PC and a Vesta Pro webcam and a 1,8 barlow lens. I took 45 frames and used K3CCd tools to align them. This is b.t.w. a very nice and userfriendly program!!! I am not that god in sofware and computerthingies but even I can work with this program!!! I took the picture on september 3th, 24.06 hours. I did some minor adjustments on contrast and brightness in Photoshop. I hope you will enjoy this picture. Ps I hope to send some long exposure pictures in a few months!!!!
kubamalecki@i-net.com.pl (Kuba Malecki) [15 Sep 03]
Mars 20/08/2003 and Saturn 31/08/2003, ETX-90/RA, barlow x2, Toucam Pro, about 150 frames (Mars) and 600 (Saturn) stacked. More on my homepage www.joa.poznan.prv.pl
cstar@san.rr.com (Charles Falcone) [15 Sep 03]
I know you have recieved numerous Mars photos this summer including some from myself. This site has given me the opportunity to share my efforts with others. Thanks! Image taken from San Diego, CA using a ETX125EC and Qucikcam 4000.
yholmes@gda-intl.com (Yannick HOLMES) [15 Sep 03]
[Left] ETX 105, Barlow 2x, toUcam Pro. PRISM 5. addition of 71 pictures. [Right] ETX 105, Barlow 2x, toUcam Pro. PRISM 5. addition of 50 pictures.
SkyChih@aol.com [15 Sep 03]
Very appreciated your e-mail; is great the ETX. This picture was taked under suburban sky less than 2.5 - 2.8 than on rural sky. The K3CCD set up was Strenght = 683, Maxima = 66, Gamma = 0.60, on good aligned 136 frames at 1/33 seconds AVI video at 1X. ETX has no ligth enough as one 16" reflector, but recognize at 1.3 arc seconds the topographic features of the encounter of mars and earth, as a natural 2X Barlow. Thanks, your site about image processing is very nice.
mvbouts@hotmail.com (Mike Boutsikas) [15 Sep 03]
I see that a lot of people are trying to shoot Mars at this time (and thanks to your site, our efforts are being shared) so I decided to send you a 2nd set of Mars images I recently took from Greece (Athens and Koroni-Peloponnesus) using an ETX90RA and a ToUcam Pro. After a lot of experimentation I concluded that one key point is to stack as many frames as possible and process the resulting image in order to enhance the surface details. Usually, I make an avi file of ~2000 frames (352x288pixels), stack the best 1000-1500 of them using K3CCDTools (or registax), apply unsharp mask and adjust the contrast-brightness levels (using Photoshop). I also realized that an other crucial point for planet shooting is the humidity of the air (and not at all the darkness of the sky since most planets are quite bright). For example, In the dark sky of Koroni I shoot Mars above sea water and more 50% of the frames were totally useless (due to air turbulence). On the contrary, the avi files I shoot above heavily light polluted Athens (but with much less humidity) were much better (less than 20% of the frames were useless). I wish clear skies to all romantic sky observers and many thanks to you Mike for your great site.
Bouquerel@Orange.fr (Bouquerel) [15 Sep 03]
I send to you, if you want to add it on your web site, 3 photos we've done with an ETX125 and a webcam. You'll also find a view of Uranus. Photos done by Florence Clment and myself (Franck Bouquerel).
k2_71828@yahoo.es (Kacper Wierzchos) [15 Sep 03]
Im sending an image of mars for your guest planets gallery. Is the best image that I have today. Its a composition of 140 frames aligned with registax and procesed with adobe Photoshop.
divenuts@gte.net (Chuck Callaghan) [15 Sep 03]
I took this photo at Mars closest distance to my location here in Fla. Quite a bit of detail for its small size. Processed with ImagesPlus,RegiStax and touchup with Photoshopp. ETX-125,Nikon CP995 2x optical zoom at 1/30 @f5, Televue zoom eyepiece set at 12mm. Seeing poor,but the best we have had had in Fla in weeks.
timorley@fuse.net [30 Aug 03]
Here is a picture of Mars I took this week on 8/27/03 at 11:35 EST in Southeast Indiana. It was taken using an ETX125EC, IBM Net Camera Pro with a 3x Barlow. The image is comprised of 555 frames, from a 320x200 AVI, stacked with RegiStax using the default settings, cropped and saved as a Jpeg. I also included a Black and White image taken with the Meade Electronic Eyepiece on 8/24 at 12:54AM using a 2x Barlow and stacked with RegiStax. Feel free to post on your site.
bobcath28@msn.com (ROBERT Derouin) [30 Aug 03]
Here's a shot taken 2 nights after the closest approach of Mars. It was taken with a Meade 125etx with 7.5mm Orion plossl eyepiece,Nikon Coolpix 885 digital camera w/3x zoom.Scopetronix digi-t adapters also used.Not sure,but can you tell what the "V" shaped area is???(Sinus Sabaeus???area west of Syrtis Major)? Mike here: Check the Mars Profiler on the Sky&Telescope site to see what was visible at the time you took the photo.
geheniau@xs4all.nl [30 Aug 03]
Here a better one with some 'scientific' explanation. Have a nice vacation. Job Geheniau the Netherlands
katetom@znet.com (Kate / Tom) [30 Aug 03]
No, these aren't fuzzy photos of Christmas ornaments. Mars about 18 hours after closest approach on August 27, 2003 ETX-90, 26mm Super Plossl eyepiece with Scopetronics adapter, Nikon Coolpix 990 at various exposures bias around f3.5 @ 1/30 with absolutely awful coastal haze and local light pollution. Didn't even try our 8" SCT, but my little buddy ETX did good! Setup to pix on the computer less than 30 minutes.
sgrijalva@yahoo.com (Sal Grijalva) [30 Aug 03]
These images were taken on Agust, 27 10:45pm MST from Guaymas, Sonora , Mexico. I used a ETX-90, ToUCam pro and 2x barlow. Set of 25 images stacked and aligned with Astrostack. Some Unsharpmasking and Deconvolve. I added a Mars Previewer II image to compare.
kooney@hq.acm.org (William Kooney) [30 Aug 03]
Just thought I would share my picture of Mars taken in Oak Ridge NJ at 11:15 last night. This photo is "un-touched" **I have a Meade ETX-125 using the 20MM SP & a Sony Digital up to the eyepiece. Tracking done after a polar alignment. **Once I get moving on Photoshop I will try stacking.
Clint.Gouveia@btinternet.com (Clint Gouveia) [30 Aug 03]
Congratulations Mike, on what must be the most comprehensive ETX website on the internet. I thought the historic approach of Mars would be an appropriate occasion for my first attempt at astrophotography and although seeing was marginal to poor, I'm reasonably happy with the results. Both images created in RegiStax, stacking the best 20 frames from both nights. Correct (although very fine) adjustment of the Logitech Pro 4000 software brightness and contrast settings were fundamental in extracting any surface details. Thanks again for a great site. Oxford UK
geheniau@xs4all.nl [30 Aug 03]
This will probably be my last Mars exposure attached because: a) closer to earth is not possible anymore b) this is my best picture of Mars ever (I am a little bit proud on this one) c) I have had enough Mars now, back to deep sky :-)
morts@iowatelecom.net (TKM) [30 Aug 03]
This is my first attempt at stacking pictures. I used a program called K3CCDTOOLS, a free windows-based program: (http://www.pk3.org/Astro/index.htm?software.htm) I feel that this program is much more easier than Registax Picture Specs: I used my ETX-90 and a Nikon Coolpix 4500 set on 800 speed and infinity and the scopetronics 18mm wide angle eyepiece. I stacked a total of 15 pictures with K3CCDTools that I took at 1/1000 second and 1/500 second with out any filter, and also with a blue filter, red filter and yellow filter. This was my first attempt using the stacking program. The humidity was high also - 98 degrees today in Iowa!
tfjell@hotmail.com (Thor Fjell) [26 Aug 03]
Here is a pic I took using my ETX90 - this is from Phoenix in late August so the quality isn't great. I applied a few filters to try to make out surface features for a comparison. Happy viewing!
k2_71828@yahoo.es (Kacper Wierzchos) [26 Aug 03]
this is my contribution for The Planets Gallery. This image was taken using ETX90EC and TouCam. Three avi files were stacked by Registax (about the best 60 frames each avi) and three final images were again stacked and improved by Registax. Some Adobe Photoshop enhancment (levels, contrast, saturation) was performed. The pic was taken in Lerida (Spain) et 22:30 GTM with 4/10 seeing,
cstar@san.rr.com (Charles Falcone) [26 Aug 03]
Saturday night started out cloudy, but as it got later the skies improved greatly. I would say at the time I took the AVI for the attached picture the sky had good transparency and good seeing. Location was San Diego. Equipment was a ETX125EC and a Quickcam 4000. I took the AVI at 5fps for 30 seconds. I then stacked all frames using Registax and lowered the gamma from 1.0 to .5 after stacking (same program). Then I used Photo Explorer to adjust the focus and removed a slight blue tone. The camera settings I used were: Shutter ... 1/100th White Balance ... Auto Brightness... ~ 50% Contrast... ~50% Gamma... ~40% Saturation ... ~75% Gain ... ~40% It was one of those lucky nights for me. Best picture I have taken of Mars so far.
Dieter.Wolf@DNSint.com [26 Aug 03]
still chasing Mars - and learned from doing so. - in a larger city - like Munich, Germany - wait as late as possible until turbulence in the air has calmed down - try to 'shoot' over as much as possible 'free field' (having Mars along the street is much better than above a house) - there may be a lot of nights you better stuck in bed than stack frames... - if Mars looks fine with 1900mm try the 2*Barlow (probably it wou'nt look fine any more); if you catch a day it does - try the 3* Barlow Dieter Wolf (Munich, Germany) MEADE ETX-125EC Philips ToUCam pro [Left] Mars1.jpg, 23.08.03, 0:30 CEST (22.08. 22:30 UTC), 200 frames, 1/100s, prime focus, no Barlow (1900mm focal length), resized by 2 while processing [Right] Mars2.jpg, 23.08.03, 1:00 CEST (22.08. 23:00 UTC), 60 frames, 1/50s, prime focus, Barlow 2* (3800mm focal length) Both pictures South up, East left Slightly different processed in K3CCD Tools and IrfanView to make more bright / more dark details visible Besides the Polar Cap you nicely see the dark 'band' of Sinus Meridiani and Sinus Sabaeus up to Mare Serpentis on the right side, bright Decaulionis Regio in the middle of the picture, Mare Erythraeum and Margaritifer Sinus separated from Sinus Meridiani by the small, bright Aram Regio (round about 300km - that's what you can resolve with an ETX-125) and some more ... What you see too is the rotation within half an hour. Clear skies to all of you and a special thank for you, Mike,
pcomm@videotron.ca (Jacques Demers) [26 Aug 03]
Here's a little picture I took with the ETX-90 RA. I used a Coolpix 880 (in video mode), Registax and Photoshop. The image was shot from Longueuil (near
geheniau@xs4all.nl [26 Aug 03]
1) Mars on La Palma 2) Mars in The Netherlands and in compare with La Palma (did it yesterday) 3) Mars above paris from the airplane 4) The astrofysics site on La Palma 7200 ft 5) Nice clouds on La Palma only there to see 6) Uranus
jimabbey2002@yahoo.com (jim abbey) [26 Aug 03]
I have some good photos of mars if you would like to post them. My views of Mars here in Florida are great ! Mars is Quite high in the sky down here.I guess I'm one of the fortunate ones to have good seeing!This was one of the first nights I had in a few weeks to were the weather had cooperated!The weather here is so "Fickle"! So I have to observe when I'm off from work and the weather is good.This evening was one of those nights!
yoshi@galaxies.jp (Yoshi-K) [26 Aug 03]
Mars pics from Yokohama. pics data..... Telescope: ETX-105EC and TeleVue 2.5x PowerMate + LPS-P1 filter Camera: ToUcam Pro 1/25sec. 735frame Image processing: Registax + StellaImage3
hot_wired_99@yahoo.com (A J) [26 Aug 03]
Here is another photo of Mars I recently took. I hope you will be able to use this one. I took this one using the afocal method. I held the camera up to a 11mm Tele Vue eye piece and shot the pic through my 3.5" Meade ETX 90-RA Mak. The image was cropped and ran through registax for proccessing at default values.
jfaith@dmv.com (Joe Faith) [22 Aug 03]
Well, with Mars so close, I decided that I should try my hand for the first time at taking some pics. Not too bad but a very humid night (about 80%). Meade ETX-90, Vesta Cam, about 150 frames combined with Astrostak (didn't want to push it with a barlow considering the humidity)
C.A.Warburton@lboro.ac.uk (Chris Warburton) [22 Aug 03]
ongratulations again on such a fantastic site,here's one of my best shots so far with my ETX-70. I'm still a beginer when it comes down to astrophotography but my results are getting better now I've fabricated my own camera clamp. My camera is a Poleroid pdc 2070 2.1 meg. but seems to produce a blue cast in this unstacked image. I've not figured out how to remidy this yet. The image was produced by eye piece projection with a 9mm MA + 3x barlow. It's reorientated to be the correct way round and I've used a Gaussian blur and reduce the brightness and increased the contrast. Any advice on how to improve on this and alter the colour would be much appreciated. Mike here: I didn't see any blue cast in the image but using a shorter exposure might help. I also cropped the image from the original large version.
Mikel180@comcast.net (Mikel Stoer) [22 Aug 03]
This is my first ever astro Image. I have read up a little on the subject and wanted to try my hand at it. This is an image made from .avi file I created with one of the video cameras Meade was bundling with some of their packages (Wal-mart etc. I got it on e bay for about $30.00), and a 2x barlow. I recorded it to video tape. Ran it through a video capture program, then through Registax. after a few adjustments I came up with this for an image. Doubled the size and added the text in paint shop pro. I admit it isn't the most impressive picture of Mars I've ever seen, but it is the best I've ever taken.
divenuts@gte.net (divenuts) [19 Aug 03]
Here are 2 pictures of Mars I took last week. The one with the South pole on the bottom is a stack of 25 photos taken with my ETX-125 and Nikon CP995 at 1/30,f5. The other photo is the same except South is up and touched up in Photoshop. Look forward to the closest approch in 60,000 years next week.
gregaskins@cox.net (Greg Askins) [19 Aug 03]
Here's my first attempt at webcam astrophotography. Seeing was marginal (Mars looked like it was pulsing on the screen), but got some usable images for Keith's Image Stacker application. I can't wait for Phoenix's monsoon season to end so the seeing will stablize some. Equipment: ETX-125, ToUcam Pro, Meade 2x Barlow, Keith's Image Stacker. http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/planets/article_985_1.asp In the first computer-generated image, notice how small the polar cap will be by the end of August. Just by coincidence, I think the side of Mars shown in the computer-generated image "may" be at just about the same rotation shown in my image. Note the angle of the dark marking, and just possibly a couple of the large craters in the upper-left section (you might have to squint a little at my photo and you may see a couple of lighter round circles approximately where the craters are). I think my image compares pretty well to the second one on the Sky&Telescope page (note that the second image has South at top and how much larger the polar cap was 3 weeks ago).
James Blanden [19 Aug 03]
Great pages Mike! Here's a photo I took of mars a few days after buying my ETX-90. I put my Canon Powershot S50 (set to manual focus and exposure) straight into the 26mm eyepiece (as the lens barrel is a good fit), rigged up some rubber bands to hold it there so I could use the self-timer to prevent camera shake, and focused with the 'scope. I flipped the image horizontally so that it's orientated as it was in the sky, and did a little correction with the levels and curves in Photoshop.
bobcath28@msn.com (ROBERT Derouin) [19 Aug 03]
Here are a couple of Mars images taken over this past weekend(8/15 and8/16).I used a Meade 125etx and an Orion 7.5mm plossl eyepiece projection.Scopetronix digi-t adapters were also used.Exposures ran about 1/4 to 1/15 secs.Focus seems to be off a little...perhaps turbulent seeing played a part in tough focusing!!
HowesNickhowes@aol.com [19 Aug 03]
Attached is a compilation of my best shots so far with the ETX90EC from West London. Just bought a lovely new 8" SCT (Celestar...sorry), but will continue to use the ETX90EC for any dark site travelling. All shots again stacked with Registax, Colour adjustments with PSP7. Not sure about the clouds over Tharsis, maybe yes, maybe no, just cant tell? Hopefully some of your other posters will know for sure. ATB for the great site once more. Nick Howes London
SkyChih@aol.com [19 Aug 03]
When i read your book, have motivated enough to learn more about ETX and the physics involved in these beatiful Astro Telescope of 90mm. This is my first Telescope and i feel good finding that what i want. I take a video with Phillips TouCam of mars in august 12th at 03:15 AM. (attached but processed with Registax and Photoshop) I hope learn more about, can you send me an e-mail with web sites related with image processing? Mike here: The left image is full frame; the right image is the full size one cropped for just Mars. See the Helpful Information - Astrophotography page; there are several links there.
ROLOCHAVEZ@aol.com (Rolando Chavez) [15 Aug 03]
Thought might like these images with a 90mm ETX for your site.
tarashnat@earthlink.net (Taras R. Hnatyshyn) [15 Aug 03]
I like the information on your site. And the tips in your book helped me to get a decent polar alignment with my new ETX125AT tonight. Speaking of which, I just imaged Mars with the ETX125, a TeleVue 5x PowerMate and an iBot FireWire webcam on my iBook. The image can be found on my webpage ( direct link to the image homepage.mac.com/tarashnat/astrophoto/20030814-0139.html ). I hope you enjoy the image.
kianjin@well.com (Kian Jek) [11 Aug 03]
Another Mars posting to help other ETXers! Please feel free to edit it if you think it's worthy of posting. Some folks have been asking what can be seen with an ETX as Mars nears its historic opposition. Although Mars is as close as it gets to Earth, its maximum size will be no more than 25 arc seconds. How big is this? Let's assume you have an ETX-125 and you use a 6.4mm Plossl, giving a magnification of 296X. This is at the upper end of usable magnification in many cases. A simple calculation shows that the true field of view of this eyepiece is around 630 arc seconds, and the picture below shows the relative size of Mars to the view in the eyepiece! So if you're expecting Mars to fill up your eyepiece, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. Mike here: I adjusted the "levels" on the top photo to bring out the Polar Ice Cap.
ETX_Astro_Boy@sbcglobal.net (Craig Bobchin) [11 Aug 03]
I'm attaching a crop of one of the Mars shots I took earlier this week with the ETX-105 light mug. Not the best I realize, but it is a single shot. It was shot with my usual setup of the 105 w/UHTC and a Casio QV-3500 ex camera. The EP was an Orion 20mm Expanse Barlowed with a 2x Celestron Barlow.
HowesNickhowes@aol.com [11 Aug 03]
Nothing could thank you enough for this great site. Meade should hire you to write their user manuals and do their PR. Attached is my first attempt with the 90EC at astrophotography. I live in West London, practically under the flightpath of Heathrow Airport, and at the moment the pollution levels due to the heat are off the scale. The area I live in is heavily light polluted, and full of nosey neighbours, but I stayed up until 3.30AM last night to capture Mars from my back yard. Creative Labs Webcam Pro X, ETX90EC, no filters, home made webcam adapter (photo tube), 110 shots stacked from 11 second video with Registax, no Barlow adapter, unsharp mask with PSP7. Registax and Astrostack have got to be the two best bits of software ever made! Thanks once again, and all the best from sunny London
mvbouts@hotmail.com (Mike Boutsikas) [7 Aug 03]
At first, congratulations for your great site. I am sending you some images of Mars I recently took from Athens, Greece (using an ETX90RA, a ToUcam Pro and Registax software) which could be included in your "Guest Planetary Astrophotography" section. The transparency of the air was very poor (I felt I was looking Mars trough moving water) but after stacking hundreds of frames, the random distortion caused by the atmospheric turbulence (and less by the camera's noise) is canceling out. I also tried to shoot Uranus with the same technique but the frames were very noisy and I could not align them easily. I hope to improve my technique and shoot better images in the next days. Best Regards.
Dieter.Wolf@DNSint.com [7 Aug 03]
everyone is chasing Mars at the moment - so why not me too... Dieter Wolf (Munich, Germany) MEADE ETX-125EC Philips ToUCam pro (prime focus) [Top] The overview image is what Mars looks from my bedroom window (CASIO QV-2800UX, f/3.2, 60 seconds). That's the moment - after ringing of the alarm clock at 03:00 local time - where I have to decide if I get up or go back into bed; hard decision! [Middle] The second (the 'red one') shows Mars on August, 02 2003 at 02:00 UTC with 3-time Barlow (5700mm), 100 out of 300 frames stacked (South up, East left). [Bottom] The third (the more yellow one) shows Mars on August, 07 2003 at 01:30 UTC without Barlow (1900mm), resized 2* while processing, 300 out of 400 frames stacked (South up, East left). Thanks for your great site Mike,
tsbball@yahoo.com (Tim Swope) [7 Aug 03]
ETX-90 Toucam 2x Barlow 101 Frames 8/4/03
igrodroch@axtel.net (Ignacio Rodriguez) [7 Aug 03]
This is a stacked image created from 30 frames from a movie I captured with my B&W PC164C and ETX-125. The camera was at prime focus. Because this camara is so sensitive I had to use two color filters + a ND 0.96 filter. Polar cap is very nice in the picture.
fonta16@libero.it (fonta16) [7 Aug 03]
Hi, i'm an Italian boy with etx and the geat passion for astronomy.
geheniau@xs4all.nl [4 Aug 03]
divenuts@gte.net (divenuts) [4 Aug 03]
Mars sure is growing fast. Here is a photo taken with an ETX-125 CP995 camera. 45 images aligned and cropped with ImagePlus, stacked with RegiStax and touched up with Photoshop. TeleVue 8-24mm eyepiece(10mm), camera full optical zoom set at 1/8 sec @ f5.6 Keep up the good work and thanks,
kubamalecki@astronomia.net.pl [4 Aug 03]
Yesterday I took next photo of the Red Planet, and the effect is very sattisfying. Taken with ETX90/RA, barlow x2 and ToUcam Pro, stacked in Registax, 150 frames.
christian-hanke@t-online.de (Christian Hanke) [4 Aug 03]
here is my first picture of Mars. The picture was taken with my ETX 125 and the Philips ToUcam pro. About 100 pictures were stacked and processed with Registax. If you don´t mind, post in the the planet gallery. Thanks for your great site!