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Last updated: 15 July 2003
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Last updated: 15 July 2003 |
This page shows some of my planetary astrophotography using the ETX.
| Mars [15 Jul 03] |
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A frequently asked question is "how will Mars look" in a particular telescope. I decided to take some photographs of Mars through several of my telescopes to show a comparison. So, on the morning of 13 July 2003 I set up the ETX-70AT, ETX-90RA, ETX-125EC, and the LXD55-8"SC. When I started the skies were clear but once I get everything set up and ready to go I noticed a band of high clouds coming in from the South. As you know, Mars is low in the South for this opposition so I began to worry. I started the astrophotography with the ETX-70AT but before I finished with that one I was having to wait for holes in the clouds. Unfortunately, seeing was really horrible and so focusing was nearly impossible. But by using the camera's digital zoom feature I was able to focus fairly well (but not perfectly). All of these Mars photos were taken with the Nikon Coolpix 995 (max optical zoom, 1/15sec to 1/125sec at ISO 800) mounted to the eyepiece using the Scopetronix Digi-T System, and a Scopetronix 25mm eyepiece with and without a Meade #126 2X Barlow Lens. None of the photos have been edited. Don't look for any real details in the photographs; I present them for telescope comparison purposes only. The quality of the images does not represent the view during periods of good seeing.
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From left-to-right: LXD55-8"SC, ETX-90RA, ETX-125, ETX-70 |
ETX-70AT, 70mm aperture, 350mm focal length, 25mm eyepiece (14X) |
ETX-70AT, 70mm aperture, 350mm focal length, 25mm eyepiece + 2X Barlow Lens (28X) |
ETX-90RA, 90mm aperture, 1250mm focal length, 25mm eyepiece (50X) |
ETX-90RA, 90mm aperture, 1250mm focal length, 25mm eyepiece + 2X Barlow Lens (100X) |
ETX-125, 127mm aperture, 1900mm focal length, 25mm eyepiece (76X) |
ETX-125, 127mm aperture, 1900mm focal length, 25mm eyepiece + 2X Barlow Lens (152X) |
LXD55-8"SC, 200mm aperture, 2000mm focal length, 25mm eyepiece (80X) |
LXD55-8"SC, 200mm aperture, 2000mm focal length, 25mm eyepiece + 2X Barlow Lens (160X) |
See the Planets Astrophotography for photos taken in 2001.
See the Planets Astrophotography for photos taken in 1996 and 1997.
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