Astronomy photos

#juan

Hall of Fame Member
Aug 30, 2005
18,326
119
63
This is my next telescope. It is a 6 inch Maksutof reflector that will cost about 1500 U.S. dollars. This telescope will set itself up by way of it's built in GPS and it will do it's own two star alignment. All you have to do is stand it up reasonably level and it will do everything else. One of the neat things is that it has it's own camera that will save images onto a memory card. I will be ordering it next week. Can't wait......:roll::lol:

 
Last edited:

#juan

Hall of Fame Member
Aug 30, 2005
18,326
119
63
Here are another few pictures of the moon and Saturn from last night. The sky was intermittently clear and hazy. The moon pictures are just about as good as they get. You will notice that Saturn's ring is almost perfectly edge on. A little more and the ring would just about disappear.


 
  • Like
Reactions: s_lone

#juan

Hall of Fame Member
Aug 30, 2005
18,326
119
63
The ring will be almost invisible in about a month. Saturn's biggest moon, Titan, will cross Saturn from our point of view in a few weeks. I'll try to get a picture of the event posted.
 

#juan

Hall of Fame Member
Aug 30, 2005
18,326
119
63
Very nice moon Juan.

My son took a photo through the big telescope on the weekend and he magnified the hell out of it. You can see craters within craters within craters. For some reason the seeing was particularly good. I'll try to get him to send me a copy and I'll post it.
 

DaSleeper

Trolling Hypocrites
May 27, 2007
33,676
1,666
113
Northern Ontario,
Juan:Did id you get any photos of the new solar array of the intrnational space station in the last few months...or is it moving too fast to lock in with your telescope and snap??
It was visible to the naked eye and I managed to get a good look with binoculars.
 

#juan

Hall of Fame Member
Aug 30, 2005
18,326
119
63
Juan:Did id you get any photos of the new solar array of the intrnational space station in the last few months...or is it moving too fast to lock in with your telescope and snap??
It was visible to the naked eye and I managed to get a good look with binoculars.

It moves too quickly. My telescope is only set up to cancel out the Earth's rotation.
 

#juan

Hall of Fame Member
Aug 30, 2005
18,326
119
63
Juan:Did id you get any photos of the new solar array of the intrnational space station in the last few months...or is it moving too fast to lock in with your telescope and snap??
It was visible to the naked eye and I managed to get a good look with binoculars.

It moves too quickly. My telescope is only set up to cancel out the Earth's rotation. My new telescope will be a bit better when I get it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DaSleeper

#juan

Hall of Fame Member
Aug 30, 2005
18,326
119
63
This is one of my favorite photos. The crescent moon and the crescent Venus.

 

#juan

Hall of Fame Member
Aug 30, 2005
18,326
119
63
I have ordered my new telescope. Should be here in a few weeks. I can hardly wait.

Meade ETX-LS 6'' Advanced Coma-Free Telescope


For a lot of telescope users, aligning the telescope is always a frustrating experience - even when it is considered a "Go To". There's always something you have to know... Be it the perfectly correct time, the date, your latitude or longitude. How many new users have been stumped by not knowing the names of the alignment stars? Or not being able to see an alignment star that is blocked by a tree or a house? All of these little things can add up to beginning an observing evening in an unpleasant way and that's not what enjoying astronomy is all about. Now imagine yourself setting up a very portable telescope called the Meade ETX-LS. Thanks to its new LightSwitch Technology, you simply turn it on and let it do the work. Inside a built-in Integrated Sensor Module (ISM) takes over the job and Global Positioning System (GPS) connects with overhead satellites to automatically recognize your telescope's position on Earth. Once this fix takes place, this means your telescope also understands the local time - without even looking at a watch! As silent as a cat on wheels, the Level North Technology (LNT) sensors take over and the Meade ETX-LS seeks out two alignment stars and automatically begins charting out a "real time" night sky map in its memory banks for your own personal time and location.
But, the Meade 6" ETX-LS doesn't stop there...
It's a marvelous experience to look through a telescope at a distant object - but nothing can match the experience of knowing things like how far, how fast, how hot, how high, etc. Thanks to The Astronomer-Inside, the Meade 6" f/10 ETX-LS delivers like no other telescope on today's market can. Right at the telescope the user has the capabilities of a complete audio/visual library at their fingertips... just waiting to give you a full tour of the night sky. Thanks to a built-in speaker and video-out jack, the whole family can share in the fun! Just think of what a great outreach tool the Meade ETX-LS can be...
But don't stop there, either... the Meade ETX-LS has even more to offer.
Built on the foundation of Meade's superb Advanced Coma Free Optics in a size capable of revealing all the Messier objects and such a huge portion of the NGC catalog as to keep most observers happy for a lifetime, this telescope is going to offer outstanding planetary and lunar views at a professional level. What more could you ask? What's that you say? Eyes like a CCD camera? Then stop dreaming and take a look at tomorrow's technology... the built-in ECLIPS CCD Camera. Now you can take vibrant, high-resolution, low-noise images of objects right at the telescope and view them on the spot using the scope's video output function. What's more, you can also store them on an SD card for later modifications - or sharing! Just exactly what does that mean? Can you imagine sending Grandma an email with a picture of comet you just viewed? Or how about an image of Saturn? For those who really like challenges, a built-in CCD camera means you can push the Meade ETX-LS beyond its visual limits by taking timed exposures of objects far fainter than the human eye can see - and revealing them right at the telescope before your eager eyes!
Meade ETX-LS LightSwitch Telescope 0610-13-10 Features...
Single arm fork Altitude-Azimuth (Alt-Az) mount provides rigid structure with large precision roller bearings on both axis designed to carry large OTAs.
Precision worm gear drives with 4.875" main gears in both axis for smooth and accurate tracking and slewing.
Long fork arm length to allow clearance with the base for most cameras.
Runs on internal "C" cell batteries for 3-5 hours of portable field operation with hand control holder built into base.
Off-On LightSwitch and USB and other ports for accessory equipment.
Heavy-duty stable tripod with quick attachment of the mount
6" ACF optical tube assembly (OTA) provides 6" clear aperture with 1524mm focal length for an f/10 system.
Advanced Coma-Free optical system for performance that only professionals or extreme amateurs have had.
Standard SC threaded back cell that accepts most existing accessories designed for all Schmidt-Cassegrain models over the last 30 years.
Integrated Sensor Module (ISM) with GPS and Level North Technologies (LNT).
Electronically Controlled Locate Identify Position System (ECLIPS) CCD imaging module.
Multimedia output includes professionally produced audio and video content for hundreds of objects and custom guided tours designed for your location, time and date.
Multimedia presentations feature the voices of Sandy Woods of "Star Date" astronomy radio program and George Woods, Hollywood actor and the voice on many productions.
Built-in speaker in drive base and audio out jack for audio instructions and object descriptions.
Video out for video presentations and images of many objects, instant display of images from the ECLIPS imager and easy on-screen menu navigation.
AutoStar III hand controller easily control telescope for automatic location of objects, tours and many other features including 100,000 object database.
ECLIPS CCD Imager is an essential part of the LightSwitch alignment system.
Sensitive wide-angle color 640x480 CCD imager for taking your own astrophotographs. Save your photos on a SD card (user supplied).
With a video monitor connected to the video out jack, see real-time images of the objects you see in the eyepiece.
New electronics provide full USB support for accessories like additional DSI CCD cameras.
SD card slot for easy software upgrades and storing your astrophotographs.


























Product Info


Product Name
Product Number
Price $CAN
Add
Meade ETX-LS 6'' Advanced Coma-Free Telescope596N080 $1754.96



EfstonScience Resource Centre





more resources





EfstonScience Inc.

The Science & Astronomy SuperStore
 

#juan

Hall of Fame Member
Aug 30, 2005
18,326
119
63
That seems to be a good machine and the price is within in reach too.

The neatest thing is that it will find, and use alignment stars before you think it is dark enough to see them. When it tells you it is aligned, it is ready to use. You simply tell it what you want to look at, and it will slew to that object and put it in the middle of the eyepiece.
 

#juan

Hall of Fame Member
Aug 30, 2005
18,326
119
63
There was a tiny little patch of clear sky last night. Managed to get a shot of the Dumbbell Nebula. (M 27) Not the greatest shot but definitely not the best of conditions.