The Gardening Astronomer Thanks, I think there was a good deal of luck involved in capturing it! The seeing became steady for five minutes and the detail appeared on the laptop screen. I scrabbled to start another recording.Then it was gone, and the clouds returned. UK astro!
Digital signal processing makes the impossible possible via averaging and stacking. I well remember the fuzzy reddish blur that was Mars in the 1970's through a 10.5 inch Grubb Parsons very long focal length planetary telescope. Software is awesome. Keep up the good work Graham.
Thendiman I use a Televue 2x which is old but good quality. I’d say it isn’t perfect for inserting into a Mak’s visual back as it is not a “shorty” unit. A good value option is a Baader 2.25x.
The camera is a ZWO ASI-120MC. An entry-level colour astro camera best suited to planetary photography. The field of view of a DSLR is not well suited to planets.
Cool. I’m still waiting on a new mount. Currently have zero. I’m considering handholding my mak. Jk. A little humor there. Nice capture. Looking forward to next attempt.
@@JenhamsAstro Orion Atlas 2 EQ-G. It’s a rebrand of the Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro. I’ve been waiting for several months due to Covid-19. Missed my window for Mars unfortunately. I’m still experimenting heavily with Maks. My intended setup will be dual mounting the 127 along side a an Orion ST-80. Canon 6D on the Mak and a QHY5 2 M for guiding on the refractor. Likely I’ll find I need to use an off axis setup instead for long exposures. I like the challenge of the limited field of view but mostly I really want to push this optical system. I love the Maksutov. I especially like your video of deep sky with a Maksutov. I’m surprised it hasn’t gotten more attention. They truly are hidden gems of scopes. I’m at latitude 38 and on the eastern coast of USA. Here we experience a lot of turbulence even on ideally clear nights. It’s not quite as bad as your location but rather humid most of the year. The struggle is real. If I can get consistent 2” subs off a 127 Mak I will opt to purchase the 180 monster. The biggest question I have remains unanswered. SW has s video where they say a 2” reducer works for visual with their 150mm model. If that’s true the same should be true of a photographic nature... back focus considered. Anyway, I’m also waiting on an SCT thread adapter from Scopestuff and an Antares 6.3 reducer. I’ve discovered that 2” of back focus is enough to stop the small exit hole from clipping a full frame Canon sensor. A TPO 1.25” 0.5 reducer works with small sensor cameras such as the ASI 120 you use. I’m hoping I can increase the speed of the system combined with my Canon 6D. My goal is to get the required ISO down and nothing more. If I can cut the integration time then I’ll value it more. That’s pretty much what I’ve been up to. Just waiting. Your testing has been invaluable to my pursuit and encouraging.
Garnett Leary Wow you have a plan, but you aren’t making things easy with those long subs. I’ll certainly be interested in your results . OAG seems out of fashion, I think because modern guidecams can give good results with smaller apertures, and PHD2 etc are clever apps. An ST80 will work but perhaps a smaller scope would be an alternative to simplify your rig? You don’t see many images from the 180 and I wonder why. On paper the scope is a planet killer at a reasonable cost. Is it cool down, weight? Any thoughts? I get a few questions about Maks and reducers but I haven’t taken that route as an APS-C user. I think a video (or series of...) would be VERY popular. You need to make it!
@@JenhamsAstro I’m guessing the popularity of the 180 Mak lacking is due to cost. It’s known as a “One trick pony”. It’s around 1000 USD so at that price a large aperture RC is favorable. There’s also the C8 to consider. Both of those can take reducers and image DSO’s with reasonable fov’s. I’m assuming that’s the logic people are using. What they aren’t considering is, although only 180mm of aperture, it’s less obstructed by its secondary. It’s easier to collimate and keep it so. It’s higher contrast. It’s a corrected, flat field, out of the box. I was told by a colleague that the cool down time is around two hours. That could be problematic for a lot of folks. I will post all my tests with reducers regarding the 127mm model as soon as I get all the parts in the mail. I’m dead set on making this work. I hope it does because I’ve invested right much into the project that will end up being useless adapters etc. if not. The lack of information on the topic annoys me. I’ll pioneer it for the sake of others. Not even Cloudy Nights has reliable information on the topic. I seek to change that and with clear and scientific tests. I guess I’m obsessed with finding answers. If it works I will, like I said, get a 180mm version. There’s optical reasons why 180mm isn’t exceeded often. I aim to find that out too. You may be right concerning the smaller Guidescope. I have multiple ways to test. Everything from full sized scopes to the mini guide scopes on the market. From my experience the pixel ratio between the primary and guider is severe if less than/ greater than 2-5. The idea for the ST-80 was to more closely approach this range. With modern sensor sensitivity etc you may be right tho. Possibly I’m overcomplicating that.
Garnett Leary Well I agree the forums offer no conclusive view on the topic. My own SCT experience was slightly underwhelming. Looking back i wonder if I expected too much visually from them, but they were some way short of the tack sharp high contrast views I was hoping for. I look forward to seeing how the 127 fares in your tests. Clear skies and stay safe. Graham
Very interesting your videos! I have a question... I have a Celestron Next Star 102 SLT. And I'm thinking to buy the ZWO ASI 120MC in order to take videos and photos of the planets and deep space objects (I will use a x2,5 barlow) . Do you think this camera works fine with this Celestron? Thank you!
Jose F. Gómez Thanks. Yes I think it will work if you use the Barlow to increase the size of the image . you may have some false colour because the telescope itself has a short focal ratio so you might see that in the images but the camera itself should be compatible with the telescope
Hi Cindy, yes, it’s from a jar of Marmite. I can’t stand the stuff but I’m in a minority of one here so I’ve used it to make a free improvement to the focus, as the extra radius does give some more sensitivity. It’s not as good as an electric focuser, but it’s something. Some people use a clothes peg to help. DIY astro!
Amazing - your videos are inspiring to someone new to all this like myself. They give me something to aim for. Cheers!
Nice watch my last video about Mars!
Another great capture of Mars, Graham. Your videos are so informative - thanks so much for putting them together for us. :)
Great capture. Iam going to start calling you the new Damian Peach
Fred in the Shed I don’t think he’s too worried as yet!
Nice capture of Mars there!
well done, very nice capture of Mars
That’s an amazing image. I’ve been observing visually and sketching, but I’m not seeing that level of detail.
The Gardening Astronomer Thanks, I think there was a good deal of luck involved in capturing it! The seeing became steady for five minutes and the detail appeared on the laptop screen. I scrabbled to start another recording.Then it was gone, and the clouds returned. UK astro!
Digital signal processing makes the impossible possible via averaging and stacking. I well remember the fuzzy reddish blur that was Mars in the 1970's through a 10.5 inch Grubb Parsons very long focal length planetary telescope. Software is awesome. Keep up the good work Graham.
Graham, I'd bet the same telescope NOW with digital signal processing could be truly awesome because you 'can't put back what wasn't there'.
@@allancopland1768 Thanks Allan, it is amazing how software can pull the details from an unpromising video file.
did you use any Barlow? OR 1500mm with small sensor like ASI120 will do?
Hello, I used a 2x barlow.
@@JenhamsAstro Thx for reply, which one would you recommend? I'm using skymax102 with QHY5II
Thendiman I use a Televue 2x which is old but good quality. I’d say it isn’t perfect for inserting into a Mak’s visual back as it is not a “shorty” unit. A good value option is a Baader 2.25x.
Wow.. thats look like amazing😁😁. Is your telescope a skywatcher cassegrain??🤔🤔. Ower all sir, thats amazing
Hansana Randeep astronomy sri lanka Thanks! Yes the telescope is a 127mm Maksutov Cassegrain.
@@JenhamsAstro sir what did you used to photography planetary images. Smartphone or dslr cam. Those are amazing 😉😉
The camera is a ZWO ASI-120MC. An entry-level colour astro camera best suited to planetary photography. The field of view of a DSLR is not well suited to planets.
@@JenhamsAstro wow.. how about the cost of that camera. Ower all your planetary imaging collection is soo amazzzing🤤🤤
Hansana Randeep astronomy sri lanka Thanks. It is around £150 in the UK.
Cool. I’m still waiting on a new mount. Currently have zero. I’m considering handholding my mak. Jk. A little humor there. Nice capture. Looking forward to next attempt.
Garnett Leary Thanks Garnett, it’s a work in progress. What mount are you getting?
@@JenhamsAstro Orion Atlas 2 EQ-G. It’s a rebrand of the Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro. I’ve been waiting for several months due to Covid-19. Missed my window for Mars unfortunately. I’m still experimenting heavily with Maks. My intended setup will be dual mounting the 127 along side a an Orion ST-80. Canon 6D on the Mak and a QHY5 2 M for guiding on the refractor. Likely I’ll find I need to use an off axis setup instead for long exposures. I like the challenge of the limited field of view but mostly I really want to push this optical system. I love the Maksutov. I especially like your video of deep sky with a Maksutov. I’m surprised it hasn’t gotten more attention. They truly are hidden gems of scopes. I’m at latitude 38 and on the eastern coast of USA. Here we experience a lot of turbulence even on ideally clear nights. It’s not quite as bad as your location but rather humid most of the year. The struggle is real. If I can get consistent 2” subs off a 127 Mak I will opt to purchase the 180 monster. The biggest question I have remains unanswered. SW has s video where they say a 2” reducer works for visual with their 150mm model. If that’s true the same should be true of a photographic nature... back focus considered. Anyway, I’m also waiting on an SCT thread adapter from Scopestuff and an Antares 6.3 reducer. I’ve discovered that 2” of back focus is enough to stop the small exit hole from clipping a full frame Canon sensor. A TPO 1.25” 0.5 reducer works with small sensor cameras such as the ASI 120 you use. I’m hoping I can increase the speed of the system combined with my Canon 6D. My goal is to get the required ISO down and nothing more. If I can cut the integration time then I’ll value it more. That’s pretty much what I’ve been up to. Just waiting. Your testing has been invaluable to my pursuit and encouraging.
Garnett Leary Wow you have a plan, but you aren’t making things easy with those long subs. I’ll certainly be interested in your results . OAG seems out of fashion, I think because modern guidecams can give good results with smaller apertures, and PHD2 etc are clever apps. An ST80 will work but perhaps a smaller scope would be an alternative to simplify your rig? You don’t see many images from the 180 and I wonder why. On paper the scope is a planet killer at a reasonable cost. Is it cool down, weight? Any thoughts? I get a few questions about Maks and reducers but I haven’t taken that route as an APS-C user. I think a video (or series of...) would be VERY popular. You need to make it!
@@JenhamsAstro I’m guessing the popularity of the 180 Mak lacking is due to cost. It’s known as a “One trick pony”. It’s around 1000 USD so at that price a large aperture RC is favorable. There’s also the C8 to consider. Both of those can take reducers and image DSO’s with reasonable fov’s. I’m assuming that’s the logic people are using. What they aren’t considering is, although only 180mm of aperture, it’s less obstructed by its secondary. It’s easier to collimate and keep it so. It’s higher contrast. It’s a corrected, flat field, out of the box. I was told by a colleague that the cool down time is around two hours. That could be problematic for a lot of folks. I will post all my tests with reducers regarding the 127mm model as soon as I get all the parts in the mail. I’m dead set on making this work. I hope it does because I’ve invested right much into the project that will end up being useless adapters etc. if not. The lack of information on the topic annoys me. I’ll pioneer it for the sake of others. Not even Cloudy Nights has reliable information on the topic. I seek to change that and with clear and scientific tests. I guess I’m obsessed with finding answers. If it works I will, like I said, get a 180mm version. There’s optical reasons why 180mm isn’t exceeded often. I aim to find that out too. You may be right concerning the smaller Guidescope. I have multiple ways to test. Everything from full sized scopes to the mini guide scopes on the market. From my experience the pixel ratio between the primary and guider is severe if less than/ greater than 2-5. The idea for the ST-80 was to more closely approach this range. With modern sensor sensitivity etc you may be right tho. Possibly I’m overcomplicating that.
Garnett Leary Well I agree the forums offer no conclusive view on the topic. My own SCT experience was slightly underwhelming. Looking back i wonder if I expected too much visually from them, but they were some way short of the tack sharp high contrast views I was hoping for. I look forward to seeing how the 127 fares in your tests. Clear skies and stay safe. Graham
Very interesting your videos! I have a question... I have a Celestron Next Star 102 SLT. And I'm thinking to buy the ZWO ASI 120MC in order to take videos and photos of the planets and deep space objects (I will use a x2,5 barlow) . Do you think this camera works fine with this Celestron? Thank you!
Jose F. Gómez Thanks. Yes I think it will work if you use the Barlow to increase the size of the image . you may have some false colour because the telescope itself has a short focal ratio so you might see that in the images but the camera itself should be compatible with the telescope
I envy all stargazers who are capturing Mars! the weather where i am is just not kind....nice upload ☺🔭
Notts boy24 Thanks! Yes 10 days of clouds here but luckily there was a short gap last night.
Are you only tracking the mount or using autoguiding to hold the object still in your frame? What mount and tracking/guiding system are you using?
Hello, I am only tracking, with an HEQ5 Pro.
Really nice! Did you capture in rgb or raw and then debayered afterwards?
HenrikR Thanks Henrik, in raw. The file size was only a third which keeps the laptop happy!
Does the disk around your focus knob (a jar lid?) help with focusing? I wish I had a fine focus knob for my 102 mak.
Hi Cindy, yes, it’s from a jar of Marmite. I can’t stand the stuff but I’m in a minority of one here so I’ve used it to make a free improvement to the focus, as the extra radius does give some more sensitivity. It’s not as good as an electric focuser, but it’s something. Some people use a clothes peg to help. DIY astro!
@@JenhamsAstro A clothes pin is a great idea! I'll try that. Thanks!
Are you going to use the 150 Maksutov?
Ken N Hi Ken, the 150 is gone now. Great scope but I just prefer a smaller Mak.
@@JenhamsAstro Ok, I know the feeling. I am currently using the 180 Maksutov.