divenuts@gte.net (divenuts) [31 Jul 03]
Finally had a night of no clouds here in Fl and took advantage. This photo has a max optical zoom and (12 images) processed in ImagePlus and stacked using Registax . ETX -125, 12mm eyepiece,CP995 @ f5.6 1/8 sec ISO200
astrosfigato@katamail.com (weega) [31 Jul 03]
Hi! Here is a sequence where you can see Mars' rotation. Every picture has been obtained stacking about 40 frames captured with a Philips Vesta webcam on my ETX90 (I've also interposed a 2x Barlow -Celestron Ultima APO-). Pictures have been resampled 2x and stacked with Astrostack. Finally I've applied an unsharp mask and a Van Cittert's deconvolution using a gaussian kernel. Time showed is Italian daylight saving time. Pictures have been taken from Monza -MI-, Italy
navidv@juno.com [31 Jul 03]
This is an image of Mars I took with my ETX-90 on July 30. 185 out of 200 images stacked and processed in Registax. Exposure time for each frame was 1/25 sec with gian set to minimum value.
kubamalecki@astronomia.net.pl [31 Jul 03]
that's my recent photo of Mars taken with unmodified ETX-90/RA, ToUcam Pro and russian Barlow x2. About 75 frames stacked and processed in Registax. More photos here: www.joa.poznan.prv.pl
Tom.Alderweireldt@pandora.be (Tom Alderweireldt) [31 Jul 03]
Here are two recent Mars images, one with red filter, one without, acquired from Southern France with a standard ETX-90 + 2.5 Barlow + Philips ToUcam. Each is sum of about 450 frames. Visual image July 24, 2003, 23:50 UT, Red image July 25, 2003, 01:03 UT. I keep being impressed with what an ETX can achieve -- Tom Alderweireldt Belgium
rendelius@rpgdot.com (Bernhard "Rendelius" Rems) [31 Jul 03]
I have attached a snapshot of Mars I took with a Philips ToUCam Pro through my ETX 105, using a IR blocking filter and a 2x Barlow. The shot was taken on July 20th under less than favourable skies (horrible seeing), but I think it's not too bad for this aperture. The picture was processed with Registax and color corrected in Photoshop for a more "natural" look.
mike@e-axis.com (Mike Luis) [27 Jul 03]
Here is my first Planetary photo. The attached photo was taken from Toronto Canada. Tons of light pollution not to mention that in my field of view a street light was 5 feet away from Mars. It's amazing what else you can see in the city with this little scope. I also saw M51 (ring nebula) but I couldn't photograph it with my digital camera. But what a sight.
bobcath28@msn.com (ROBERT Derouin) [23 Jul 03]
Here's my first attempt at Mars 2003.ETX125 with 9.7mm Meade Plossl (166x and slight camera zoom) and Scopetronix adapters for Nikon Coolpix 885.Microsoft Picture it processing software used!!Keep up the great work on the site,Mike!!!
stankiewiczr@nexicom.net (Rick) [19 Jul 03]
You have likely been receiving lots of these sort of images, but I thought I would try too. It was a great morning at about 5:00 a.m. south of Peterborough, Ontario. Although a veil of clouds did roll in for a while, this was not enough to spoil the show. I have never tried to image Mars before, but this morning I had to give it a try and it was worth the effort, as far as I was concerned! The attached image was taken with a Nikon Coolpix 995 digital camera (3.34MP), afocally through a 32mm Meade EP, in a Meade ETX 90 (Mak). I could not believe the fact you can see the south polar ice cap region and even a hint of Mare Sirenum? Of course the view in the EP was better yet, but you must know that the attached image has not been enhanced. I love the colour differential. I can hardly wait until late August. If this is the sort of image when Mars is at about 19.5 arc seconds, 25 has to be better.
m_cz@gmx.de (Martin Czarnowski) [19 Jul 03]
Hi, here is my first Mars taken on 13/07/03 in Germany. With ETX90-RA, ToUcam Pro and 2xBarlow. 20 of 400 frames stacked with Registax. The seeing was really poor. Contrast&Sharpness adjusted with Giotto also Color with paint shop pro.
oldwexi@aon.at (Gerald Wechselberger) [15 Jul 03]
Please find attached an image of Mars, shot in the morninig of July 14th, 15 minutes after Sunrise. Out of 800 frames made with the Toucam Pro 760 i used 171 frames for stacking. The Webcam was working in the focus of the ETX90. Exposuretime was 1/100 Sek per frame. The ETX90 is mounted now on my main telescope a C14 which is driven by a GEMINI 41 mount with Pulsar controller. Attached an image of the new configuration. This image of the configuration was made during the 2 Minutes mars exposure with the ETX. On the position of the telescope you can see that Mars is very deep at the horizon here in middle Europe. But, i think getting Mars in that quality on ETX90 now is a proof that Mars is good visible for all kind of small telescopes now. For those who interested in how to build a permanent astronomical Pier find a link to my homepage which shows a small report how we did it. www.werbeagentur.org/oldwexi/images/Pier_page_01.htm Hope you get still time for watching the sky yourself - The maintaining of your huge ETX page must be already a fulltime job?
cmf@san.rr.com (cmf) [15 Jul 03]
I wanted to make sure I captured an image of Mars before the ice cap melted. This image was taken from my backyard in San Diego with an ETX125. Transparency and Seeing poor to average. Planet was 40 degress above horizon. Camera is QC Pro 4000. Settings were 5 fps for 60 seconds, exposure at 1/500, gain at 75%, saturation and gamma 50%. Stacked 60 frames of 300 using Registax and minor enhancement with Photo Explorer. Looking forward to August and hoping for better weather.
geheniau@xs4all.nl [15 Jul 03]
Mars with ETX90, last night, very late (3:30 am). So a little tired now :-) Job Geheniau The Netherlands
sywong2000@yahoo.com (Wong SY) [15 Jul 03]
here's a Mars photo taken on 12th Jul 2003 at 05:30 UT ETX90ec 15mm eyepiece coolpix 995 2.6x digital zoom 1/60 F5.1 292 frames Astrostack sharpen in paint shop pro Thanks Stephen Wong, Hongkong
k2_71828@yahoo.es (Kacper Wierzchos) [11 Jul 03]
Please find my contribution to the The Planets Guest Gallery. This is my first Mars image obtained at 4:00 on 8 July with ETX90EC (2x Barlow) and TouCam; 150 frames @ 5 fps captured with K3CCD; all frames aligned, stacked and processed in Registax; some Adobe Photoshop enhancement was done. I supose that this image is centered near the location of the Pathfinder landing site. Above the dark sand dunes that surround the south polar cap are massive Martian canyon systems of Valles Marineris. This Mars side, is shown in detail by image from the Hubble telescope. More images on my webpage: tu.auna.es/zonaweb/kacper (Thanks to Pilar Giou for permission to take the foto from her balcony).
jbowers1@mindspring.com (CVL) [3 Jul 03]
Well, lately I've been imaging with a C-8, but not enough time to setup the other night so brought out the ETX-90RA. The attached pic was taken when Mars was at approx. 35 degrees elevation. Seeing 4/5 but transparency 2/5. Time was approx. 4:30 AM EST. ETX-90, 4X barlow (2, 2X Meade shorty's stacked), and Toucam Pro. 1100 frames @ 5fps captured in K3CCD tools. Best 912 frames aligned, stacked and processed in Registax. A 3 minute dark frame avi was stacked and used to denoise the master avi during processing. Camera settings: 1/25 shutter, default gamma (near 0), gain 95%. Post-processing in Paint Shop Pro. Just a note for anyone who tries Mars at such high magnifications: Don't be discouraged by the large amount of noise you'll see in the avi. At these magnifications, there isn't much light left for the Toucam to work with. The key is to try to capture as many frames as possible, so when stacked there is much less noise, and to definitely take a dark frame and process accordingly. I would have tried for 1500 frames (about the max to avoid rotational blur) if my tracking had been better.
etxjim@yahoo.com (jim abbey) [30 Jun 03]
here is a photo of mars. taken 06/27/03 taken with my ETX90ec this was done with the Aiptek dv2 digital. at 277x
williansouza@yahoo.com (Willian) [28 Jun 03]
See my first picture of Mars...
mmathosian@comcast.net (mark mathosian) [4 Jun 03]
Here's a shot of Jupiter from 31 May.
p_roelofs@planet.nl (Peter Roelofs) [31 May 03]
First of all I want to say I really like your site. It has helped me a lot and I keep learning from it. For about six months now I am the proud owner of an ETX70-AT. This is my first scope and I really like it. The views of the moon are great and I also enjoy watching the big planets Jupiter and Saturn. Recently I bought a Coolpix 4300 (nice camera) and got the Scopetronix Digi-T kit for it, so now I'm already in astrophotografy, mainly thanks to this great site. Included is my very first attempt at photographing Jupiter. It is composed of six photo's I took with the CP4300, 9mm eyepiece. Photo's taken at 1/4sec at ISO 400 using timer and macro-mode and stacked in Registax.. I know it is not nearly as good as some photo's on your site, but I'm proud of it and hope you'll put it somewhere on your site. Please keep up the great work.
jaywward@gate.net (Jay Ward) [9 May 03]
Love the site, it's your fault I bought an ETX90. Saw it on Ebay, researched on your site. The info on the site convinced me to buy it. Here's a photo of Jupiter, shot 5/3/03 from my heavily light polluted backyard here in S. Florida. Used a 26mm Meade with Scopetronix adapter. 53 stacked images shot with Nikon CP5700 at f4.6 1/15sec. ISO 400. Processed in Registax, Photoshop and NeatImage.
mcour1@msn.com (Michael COURNOYER) [6 May 03]
New pictures taken with my ETX-105 using my Digital 885 camera a 20MM eyepiece and a barlow.
kubamalecki@astronomia.net.pl (MAECKI Kuba) [21 Apr 03]
Here's my last photo of Jupiter, taken with ETX-90/RA + russian Barlow x2 and ToUcam Pro. About 40 best pictures stacked with Registax. More pictures on my webpage www.joa.poznan.prv.pl Best regards, Kuba Malecki, Poland
phlloydl.home3@ntlworld.com (Peter) [21 Apr 03]
I thought you might like to see a picture of Saturn I took through the EXT125 in March.
geheniau@xs4all.nl [10 Apr 03]
Here a picture of Mercury I made today with my ETX90 and a Sony TRV110 camcorder and a 2* Barlow / 26 mm Plossl. The red color is because Mercury is low on the horizon with gives a lot of disturbance in the light gathered (Like a sunset). I just had 1 hour to set up my stuff, look for mercury and make a shot, so I didn't had time to do it with my webcam (I have to move my Apple G4 to the attick because I don't have a portable computer) so I tried to use my video camcorder. Before I knew Mercury had already set behind the horizon (rooftops...) So this is for now the best I can make of it. Maybe later (when the weather keeps steady and hopefully less wind and less cold) I can use my webcam for better results. It's a difficult one because it's hard to find with the sun and I can't use the GOTO system because I can't see any stars yet only mercury and Jupiter, it's too much light. I have 2 or 3 weeks to get the picture in April after that there's too much sun and the magnitude is too low to get it on tape. On the Internet I can't find amateur pictures of Mercury (only transits and bigger views, not magnified ones made with a Barlow and a telescope). So if people have the opportunity to make a shot of Mercury with an ETX, I will be glad to see them!
Attached a picture I took today with my ETX90 2x Barlow and a Toucam Pro and a still made with my normal Sony Camcorder 10 minutes later (without ETX of course). Mercurius is a difficult planet to catch because you have only little time to take a picture and it's higly illuminated by the sun so you won't see any details. Still wondering if people have better shots of Mercury (with ETX or other 'amateur' telescope).
williansouza@yahoo.com (Willian) [31 Mar 03]
I'm again...now with my first jupiter picture..see atachment...
geheniau@xs4all.nl [31 Mar 03]
Here the shadow from Io on Jupiter yesterday and the astroid 4 vesta (now at magnitude 5.5 here in the Netherlands). There was a little fog in The Netherlands! ETX90, with ToucamPro and 2 times Barlow. (No Barlow for the 4Vesta picture)
renegade@flci.net (Gregg) [25 Mar 03]
Wow, nice web site Mike! I don't know how you keep it up so well! The pictures on you site are GREAT, don't know if I can complete. I took this picture of Jupiter on March 21, 2003. ETX 125, SAC IV camera on a 2X barlow lens (not "prime focus"). 16 pictures taken with PhotoImpressions, stacked with Registax, and brightness adjustment on final photo with PhotoImpressions. My first experience with "stacking". I've had the telescope for about a month now, and the SAC IV for about 2 weeks. Hope all is well with you and your family. Signed: Gregg
Damhof@home.nl (Jan Damhof) [18 Mar 03]
I wanna let you know that I'm very happy with my ETX125. I got it 2 months by now and was lucky to have a lot of clear skies ( very unusual here in Holland ! ) After borrowing a webcam I decided to get one for myself ( my canonG2 didn't do the astro imaging for me ). I found a used Modified toucam on the net ( with long exposure MOD. ) and had a try on Jupiter. I didn't use the long exposure option yet but m81 and m82 is the next thing I'm going for :) The attached picture shows the result after stacking in K3CCD using registack and some Photoshop. I'm impressed what a ETX125 can do ! I hope you can place the picture in your Planet gallery. thx, Jan members.home.nl/damhof/astro/
pence73@bellsouth.net (Kameron) [18 Mar 03]
Included is my first picture of Jupiter. 3 shots, 1sec each, f/2, with a Sony F707, stacked in Photoshop. Mike here: I adjusted the levels a little bit to lighten the image.
olivier.cioni@cea.fr (Olivier Cioni) [12 Mar 03]
I took these shots with an ETX105+webcam toucam pro, in Grenoble, France. The image processing are performed with GIMP and with an own application. This application and others photos are on my own web page http://www.astrosurf.com/astro-c. Thanks you
jlecomte@easyplanet.net (jlecomte) [12 Mar 03]
Here is a movie I made last night. It is a rotation of planet Jupiter during 2 hours (my laptop was running out of batteries when I had to stop). The movie is made of 25 pictures (2.5 seconds/10 frames per second). Each frame is actually the result of the processing of 50 frames shot in 10 seconds with my "Super charged" ETX 105 EC.
Damhof@home.nl (Jan Damhof) [4 Mar 03]
This are my first pictures of jupiter and saturn using a webcam on my ETX125.
ks@bt.usf.edu (Ken) [23 Feb 03]
Thanks for the wonderful WWW site. I would have probably never even tried taking astrophotographs if it weren't for you and some of the people I've met because of your WWW site. This is a stack of four pictures using registax taken by a Coolpix 4500, ETX-90 RA and the 18mm Scopetronix adaptor. I really pushed the ETX by using the 4x optical zoom in the Nikon as well as a 2X barlow. The exposures were 1/30 and ISO was set at 200. The picture was taken from a heavily light polluted area south of downtown Tampa, Florida on February 20th 2003.
etxjim@yahoo.com (jim abbey) [23 Feb 03]
I am attaching a photo done with an Aiptek DV2 camera ,shot a focal. Enhanced through photo shop7. Mike here: image cropped from original 640x480.
reltran@comcast.net [23 Feb 03]
Here's a Saturn picture I took on 2/20/03 with a Coolpix990 on a Starmax 102 attached with the Digi-t.This is a composit of 5 pictures stacked in Registax each photo was taken at ISO400,1/4sec,and full optical zoom on a 25mm eyepiece with 3x barlow.
k2_71828@yahoo.es (Kacper Wierzchos) [19 Feb 03]
The seeing was not the best, but I have noted that GRS (on Jupiter) was in the transit on 15/02/03. So, I took four *.avi's files (K3CCD) with my ETX90EC and TouCam (barlow x2) every 10 minutes (aligned and stacked: Registax). The result is a *.gif annimation where the motion of GRS could te observed.
oldwexi@aon.at (Gerald Wechselberger) [16 Feb 03]
Part two of using the good weather came on the 13th of February where there was a nice Ganymed transit on Jupiter. Again i brought the the ETX125 out into the night to capture this event with the Olympus 2020 Digitalcamera. The first image shows the transit in the middle phase and the second image shows Ganymed already just out of the transit but the shadow is still visible on Jupiter. Each image consist of 25 single images and they have been stacked with Imageplus. The very good part of making these images was: it was a very cold winternight but i did all the picturing imaging from inside the warm house. How? I extended the Autostarcable to 10 meter so ETXcontrol and focusing could be done inside the house. To control the images on my TV set I brought the videosignal via a 10m cable from the digitalcamera to the inside. And finally i have misused a simple radio controlled wall outlet to start and stop the imaging with the Digitalcamera. It was really fun to work in my " remote ETX observatory"! Thanks for keeping the ETX world interesting and active.
alethier@ccr.jussieu.fr (Alexandre Lethiers) [13 Feb 03]
I take this pictures with my etx 90ec and a ToUcam Pro. Saturne images staking with Registax, Jupiter with Iris software (About fifty pictures from AVI files) and all enhancement with Photoshop 7. Alexandre LETHIERS near Paris(France)
oldwexi@aon.at (Gerald Wechselberger) [13 Feb 03]
You should not miss the return of Jupiters big red spot today evening. It has a lot of white ballclouds trailing. Looks really beautiful. Find attached an image made with the ETX125EC and my Olympus 2020 digitalcamera, Eyepiece projection with 13.5mm eyepiece exposure 1/8 second (24 single images stacked and overworked with Imageplus)
millebr@erols.com (Brad Miller) [13 Feb 03]
While visiting Shifting Sands Observatory in Chiefland Florida, I took these planet shots Feb 4th 2003 using my ETX-90, Olympus C-2100 and a Scopetronics 40mm Maxview. Multiple images were stacked in K3 CCD and noise reduced with Neat Image. Brad Miller Newtown, PA
divenuts@gte.net (divenuts) [26 Jan 03]
I took this picture of Saturn with my Supercharged ETX-125 and thought it came out pretty good. 1/25/03-Meade ETX-125, Televue zoom @ 12mm 1/4sec f/9.9, 10 images Registax, touch-up Photoshop Resolution: 400 x 233 Killing time before I watch my BUC's win the Superbowl!!! GO BUCS Chuck Callaghan Dunedin, Fl
dr_demers@yahoo.com (Jacques Demers) [13 Jan 03]
Congratulations for your site. Here's a photo of Saturn taken with my ETX-90 RA and a 14mm WA Scopetronix eyepiece on my Nikon Coolpix 880. There's some image stacking with Registax, and enhancement with Photoshop 5.0 LE.
divenuts@gte.net (divenuts) [13 Jan 03]
I took this photo 01/08/03 of Jupiter and caught the GRS along with the shadows of Ganymede and Io(details on the photo). I think I'm getting the most out of the images considering the light pollution. Have you any experience with the many light pollution reduction fiters available? I also wanted to remind you of a possible dark location for your next star party(pretty close to Dr. Clays area). As always thanks for your efforts and clear skies to all.
oldwexi@aon.at (Gerald Wechselberger) [3 Jan 03]
Please find attached a stacked image of Saturn which i shot with my ETX125 on the evening of December 19th 2002. It is my first try to do stacking of images from Digitalcamera with a new software i got. I stacked and overworked 69 images with IMAGEPLUS. Here the technical data: Date:2002-12-19, Telescope:ETX125EC, Polar mounted, Eyepiece: 13.8mm Standard Meade at the back of the ETX, Camera:Olympus 2020 Digitalcamera, Mounting:Scopetronix Eyepiece Adapter, Camera Aperture:F 2.8, Shutter Speed: 1/5 Second, Number of images stacked: 69, Software: Imageplus I would be happy if you will place this saturn image on your ETX guest page. Thanks for your work on the ETX support and a happy new year to you and your family.