#etx90 — Public Fediverse posts

@repepo
Here's a peek just past the mountains at your pic's lower left, taken with an #ETX90 some years ago.

@repepo
Here's a peek just past the mountains at your pic's lower left, taken with an #ETX90 some years ago.

@lilithsaintcrow
I love that area of the moon. Here's my best image of the #BayOfRainbows taken with an #ETX90 telescope.

@lilithsaintcrow
I love that area of the moon. Here's my best image of the #BayOfRainbows taken with an #ETX90 telescope.

@N2ADV
Good show. That #ETX90 can gobble up the moon.

Here's the Plato region through an ETX 90.

@N2ADV
Good show. That #ETX90 can gobble up the moon.

Here's the Plato region through an ETX 90.

@catherineryanhyde
Your equipment is better than mine, and that's a great shot. I'm guessing your scope is bigger than 90mm.

My best is with my little #ETX90
Interesting to compare.

@catherineryanhyde
Your equipment is better than mine, and that's a great shot. I'm guessing your scope is bigger than 90mm.

My best is with my little #ETX90
Interesting to compare.

@appagalcrochet
Lots of my favorites in there. Here's #Clavius a long time favorite captured with my compact #ETX90

@appagalcrochet
Lots of my favorites in there. Here's #Clavius a long time favorite captured with my compact #ETX90

@bendur
I know the feeling. In my youth I never had a big enough telescope with a clock drive for photography. It always seemed too expensive.

Then technology increased dramatically, and I was able to get a discontinued #ETX90 model for $250. Soon after that a web cam to astro camera conversion for about $100. Add a $12 mod to the ETX drive to give a simple fast forward and stop feature , and with that modest collection I obtained this image of Clavious Crater:

@bendur
I know the feeling. In my youth I never had a big enough telescope with a clock drive for photography. It always seemed too expensive.

Then technology increased dramatically, and I was able to get a discontinued #ETX90 model for $250. Soon after that a web cam to astro camera conversion for about $100. Add a $12 mod to the ETX drive to give a simple fast forward and stop feature , and with that modest collection I obtained this image of Clavious Crater:

@astroland
Ohh, #Eratosthenes , one of my favorite craters. You've captured it well.

Here's my best attempt with my #ETX90

@astroland
Ohh, #Eratosthenes , one of my favorite craters. You've captured it well.

Here's my best attempt with my #ETX90

One of the real trouble jobs in #astronomy is collimating a reflector telescope. In particular, Maksutov-Cassegrains, like the ETX90, are tricky.

Fortunately, Escher over Cloudy Nights has posted a really useful guide.

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/391392-dont-mess-with-etx-collimation/

#ETX90 #MAK #Collimation #Telescope #TelescopeMaintainence

One of the real trouble jobs in #astronomy is collimating a reflector telescope. In particular, Maksutov-Cassegrains, like the ETX90, are tricky.

Fortunately, Escher over Cloudy Nights has posted a really useful guide.

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/391392-dont-mess-with-etx-collimation/

#ETX90 #MAK #Collimation #Telescope #TelescopeMaintainence

@repepo
Those are very sharp and withstand considerable zooming in. My photos of the same areas with my #ETX90 can't quite match that.

@repepo
Those are very sharp and withstand considerable zooming in. My photos of the same areas with my #ETX90 can't quite match that.

@macmade
I can't do much about a bad seeing night, but with my home grown software, I toss a few leading frames if necessary to get to a good one. Then when the alignment phase of the software is finished it presents a correlation plot of each aligned frame to the 1st frame.

Here's one of my best of #copernicus crater with this technique and my #ETX90 .

I can then click on the correlation level I'll accept, and all frames whose correlation fall below that level are excluded. That eliminates atmospheric blurring that is momentary. I was particularly happy to see the roughness of the crater floor on one side of the crater.

@macmade
I can't do much about a bad seeing night, but with my home grown software, I toss a few leading frames if necessary to get to a good one. Then when the alignment phase of the software is finished it presents a correlation plot of each aligned frame to the 1st frame.

Here's one of my best of #copernicus crater with this technique and my #ETX90 .

I can then click on the correlation level I'll accept, and all frames whose correlation fall below that level are excluded. That eliminates atmospheric blurring that is momentary. I was particularly happy to see the roughness of the crater floor on one side of the crater.

@catherineryanhyde
Compare this #jupiter photo with a more recent through my #ETX90 using better optical and digital technique.

@catherineryanhyde
Compare this #jupiter photo with a more recent through my #ETX90 using better optical and digital technique.

@naz
That's a really good image of Saturn, especially with a 6 inch. Not that a 6 can't produce sharp images, but that Saturn is a pretty dim target.

My best #Saturn image is this one taken with my #ETX90. The details are weak, and I had to go B/W because with my crummy web cam conversion Saturn wasn't bright enough to get a color image.

@naz
That's a really good image of Saturn, especially with a 6 inch. Not that a 6 can't produce sharp images, but that Saturn is a pretty dim target.

My best #Saturn image is this one taken with my #ETX90. The details are weak, and I had to go B/W because with my crummy web cam conversion Saturn wasn't bright enough to get a color image.

@naz
For occasional photography (lunar and planetary) I use a Meade #ETX90 and a Celestron #Nexstar5SE. I usually stack images using a homemade Yorick language stacking program. Here's one of my best images of the #Albategnius lunar region:

@naz
For occasional photography (lunar and planetary) I use a Meade #ETX90 and a Celestron #Nexstar5SE. I usually stack images using a homemade Yorick language stacking program. Here's one of my best images of the #Albategnius lunar region:

@uxor
That's good. Astrophotography is challenging. For planetary it's doing everything right to bring out the details, and you've done that.

I've had a few successes at it and many more failures. More for its uncommon view rather than its quality I like this old one I took with my #ETX90. It shows Jupiter in 2010 without the SEB, which disappears occasionally.

Visible is the Great Red Spot, though the SEB that's usually nudging the GRS is not visible.

@uxor
That's good. Astrophotography is challenging. For planetary it's doing everything right to bring out the details, and you've done that.

I've had a few successes at it and many more failures. More for its uncommon view rather than its quality I like this old one I took with my #ETX90. It shows Jupiter in 2010 without the SEB, which disappears occasionally.

Visible is the Great Red Spot, though the SEB that's usually nudging the GRS is not visible.

@philo
That's really a fine high res image. Zoom in on it to see how good it is. I haven't the optical horse power to compete.

Even so, I'm proud of this #Tycho image taken with my #ETX90. It's a stack of around 60 images.

@philo
That's really a fine high res image. Zoom in on it to see how good it is. I haven't the optical horse power to compete.

Even so, I'm proud of this #Tycho image taken with my #ETX90. It's a stack of around 60 images.

@philo
I notice #Eratosthenes Crater in the lower right of your image. A smaller crater than Copernicus, but with an interesting 3 mountain formation at its center.

That's another of my favorites, and I was able to catch it pretty well with my #ETX90 on one occasion.

@philo
I notice #Eratosthenes Crater in the lower right of your image. A smaller crater than Copernicus, but with an interesting 3 mountain formation at its center.

That's another of my favorites, and I was able to catch it pretty well with my #ETX90 on one occasion.

@setiinstitute
The #Aristarchus region is interesting for a number of features, but the Crater itself is in fact very bright.

Here's a view of the region taken with an #ETX90 telescope.

@setiinstitute
The #Aristarchus region is interesting for a number of features, but the Crater itself is in fact very bright.

Here's a view of the region taken with an #ETX90 telescope.

@estherhanko
That's a fine photo, lots of detail.

I've taken on Jupiter a few times with my #ETX90. At only 90 mm aperture, it's less capable than your telescope, but some images I've taken I'm proud of.

Like this one of #Jupiter in 2010 when the SEB did a disappearing act. Not a bad image for the little Maksutov, but comparing it to your image it's easy to see that in good conditions, aperture rules.

@estherhanko
That's a fine photo, lots of detail.

I've taken on Jupiter a few times with my #ETX90. At only 90 mm aperture, it's less capable than your telescope, but some images I've taken I'm proud of.

Like this one of #Jupiter in 2010 when the SEB did a disappearing act. Not a bad image for the little Maksutov, but comparing it to your image it's easy to see that in good conditions, aperture rules.

@skull
That's very good. I don't see any evidence of over sharpening. What telescope was used for this #CopernicusCrater shot?

Your camera clearly has more pixels than mine, providing fairly wide field views that allow serious zooming in capacity.

To get that kind of detail, I need a much narrower field shot. This is my best, done with an #Etx90 and a stack of around 60 frames.

@skull
That's very good. I don't see any evidence of over sharpening. What telescope was used for this #CopernicusCrater shot?

Your camera clearly has more pixels than mine, providing fairly wide field views that allow serious zooming in capacity.

To get that kind of detail, I need a much narrower field shot. This is my best, done with an #Etx90 and a stack of around 60 frames.

@naz
That's quite good. Have you tried stacking frames? If you have 20 or more frames of comparable quality, stacking would give a really nice image.

Here's a stacked image of #Jupiter taken in 2010 when the SEB was missing. It was taken with a bit smaller scope than yours, an #ETX90. Such a stack of your images would blow this one away.

@naz
That's quite good. Have you tried stacking frames? If you have 20 or more frames of comparable quality, stacking would give a really nice image.

Here's a stacked image of #Jupiter taken in 2010 when the SEB was missing. It was taken with a bit smaller scope than yours, an #ETX90. Such a stack of your images would blow this one away.

@badastro
I read your article to be sure I was on the right track, and for once I was. I noticed as you describe that the image shows part of #Jupiter in shadow. Thus it couldn't be a ground based photo.

Great article by the way.

I offer a Jupiter photo mystery of my own, captured in 2010 with a lowly #ETX90 . What's unusual about it?

Answer: the SEB is missing, having exercised one of its occasional disappearing acts for a few months.

@badastro
I read your article to be sure I was on the right track, and for once I was. I noticed as you describe that the image shows part of #Jupiter in shadow. Thus it couldn't be a ground based photo.

Great article by the way.

I offer a Jupiter photo mystery of my own, captured in 2010 with a lowly #ETX90 . What's unusual about it?

Answer: the SEB is missing, having exercised one of its occasional disappearing acts for a few months.

@Astrobum
Very nice image of Copernicus crater. A lot of zoom potential there.

You can see the difference aperture makes when comparing your high resolution image with my best Copernicus image captured with my #ETX90. I think the ETX did a heck of a job, but your image clearly shows that all else being equal, aperture rules.

@Astrobum
Very nice image of Copernicus crater. A lot of zoom potential there.

You can see the difference aperture makes when comparing your high resolution image with my best Copernicus image captured with my #ETX90. I think the ETX did a heck of a job, but your image clearly shows that all else being equal, aperture rules.

@estherhanko
Here's my best #saturn photo taken with an #ETX90 . It pales in comparison to your photo.

@estherhanko
Here's my best #saturn photo taken with an #ETX90 . It pales in comparison to your photo.

@Astrobum
That's a great photo, wider field than my gear can capture with good resolution.
Here's one of my best with an #ETX90 and a web cam conversion.

@Astrobum
That's a great photo, wider field than my gear can capture with good resolution.
Here's one of my best with an #ETX90 and a web cam conversion.

@WestwoodAstro

Here's one of my best #Plato region photos obtained with my modest #ETX90.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/v4k3PJLZGLgpomBaA

@WestwoodAstro

Here's one of my best #Plato region photos obtained with my modest #ETX90.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/v4k3PJLZGLgpomBaA

@65dBnoise
I've dug through my multiple efforts at moon photography and produced a few #3DMoonPics. The 3D effect is from lunar libration.

Here is one of the #LunarApennines taken on two different occasions with my #ETX90.

@65dBnoise
I've dug through my multiple efforts at moon photography and produced a few #3DMoonPics. The 3D effect is from lunar libration.

Here is one of the #LunarApennines taken on two different occasions with my #ETX90.

@repepo
Wow, look at the details when you zoom in on the image. What telescope produced this?

Here's my own modest #moon photo of Gassinendi with an #ETX90 .

@repepo
Wow, look at the details when you zoom in on the image. What telescope produced this?

Here's my own modest #moon photo of Gassinendi with an #ETX90 .

@cafuego
I've done some lunar and planetary photography with an early version #ETX90 . It is a version with a simple base with non-computerized drive. You may have read about the ETX, great optics but crummy mount.

I had to modify the drive electronics to even hope to use the device for simple astrophotography. I added a small hand held controller that had 2 momentary switches, one sped up the drive, one turned it off.

Some photos with it are here:

https://afterdark-skies.blogspot.com/p/etx-90-lunar-and-planetary-photos.html?m=1

@cafuego
I've done some lunar and planetary photography with an early version #ETX90 . It is a version with a simple base with non-computerized drive. You may have read about the ETX, great optics but crummy mount.

I had to modify the drive electronics to even hope to use the device for simple astrophotography. I added a small hand held controller that had 2 momentary switches, one sped up the drive, one turned it off.

Some photos with it are here:

https://afterdark-skies.blogspot.com/p/etx-90-lunar-and-planetary-photos.html?m=1

@Astrobum
That's a great portrait. I don't have the equipment for such sharp images over that scale.

I can do #moon photos at smaller fields of view, like this #Copernicus image taken with my #ETX90.

@Astrobum
That's a great portrait. I don't have the equipment for such sharp images over that scale.

I can do #moon photos at smaller fields of view, like this #Copernicus image taken with my #ETX90.

@deepskies
I have a few portable telescopes.
An #etx90
6 inch f/5 #rft
#Nexstar5SE

@deepskies
I have a few portable telescopes.
An #etx90
6 inch f/5 #rft
#Nexstar5SE