The Changing Face of Planet Mars with a 127mm Maksutov Telescope
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- Опубліковано 5 жов 2024
- The red planet got a lot of attention last autumn when it reached opposition in October, and I made several videos for this channel using a range of maksutov telescopes. In this video I see what a difference of three months makes to the image that Mars presents to the Earth, making a direct comparison of the video I captured using my Skymax 127 telescope and a 2x barlow lens. I used a ZWO ASI-120MC colour camera.
Amazing Comparison.🔭👍
Great vidoe Graham, love the comparison photos between opposition and now, quite a dramatic size difference. Thanks for sharing buddy :)
Thank You - I enjoy your straight forward approach. I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of my Skymax 127 and Omni CG-4 mount.
Thanks Peter, I hope you enjoy your new equipment. I think the 127 is great value for money.
Hi, mr.Jenham. iam glad to see your videos again. I learnt how the faces of mars changing. Thankx a lot. And also a great captures.
So powerful telescope. And you mortorized the focusor. Amazing sir. Waiting more videos from you.
Thanks, Graham, you got some great shots of Mars and did a fabulous job of stacking :)
Great stuff Graham. Here in Australia we have yet to get access to cardboard, plates, marbles etc but I live in hope. Great images.
Hello Graham de Bordeaux in france, i have been observing for a few months and i like to observe mars througt the eyepiece, i take this opportunity to do it as soon as possible between two clouds with the neighbor uranus on the trajectory, mars is at 60° here, which is good. thank you for sharing.
If the clouds and rain hold off I may go take a peek at Mars tonight. That focuser is sweet! Have you done a video on it yet?
Not yet, I’m hoping to use it a bit more first, weather permitting!
Loved this. Brought back good memories of this fall. Where is the Electronic focus from? That was the hardest part of getting my picture of mars...
Thanks. I bought a basic skywatcher electric focuser (£45) from First Light Optics. I then watched some videos and picked up the gears and belt on eBay.
@@JenhamsAstro I want to try this on my ETX 105, could you point me toward where on ebay you got the gears and belts? I'm not finding them :-( Thanks! A video on this would be popular by the look of it!
Laurence Cochrane Hi Laurence, they were from a company called Motion Tech, eBay name motiontechbay.
@@JenhamsAstro Thank you!
Nice comparison. Quite nice. I enjoyed the high tech special effects. I’m still waiting on a mount. Have you seen the SarBlue 60 Maksutov? It’s rather good. I’m working on a review. Impressive scope.
Thanks Garnett. I’ve seen it for birdwatching, but I’m waiting for your review to see if it’s any good for astro.
I spent a while observing Mars last night through my 127 SLT and couldn’t understand why it was so small when it seemed close to focused. I totally forgot it wasn’t as close anymore. Thank you for the reminder and the video images. Even with a 8mm EP and a 2x Barlow, my image of Mars seems so much brighter. Should I be magnifying it even more or should I get a variable polarizing filter or something to reduce the brightness?
Hi Curtis, yes it is getting very small now! An 8mm EP working as a 4mm is giving you about 380x which is already pushing the scope further than the ideal 50x per inch maximum. So i'd say don't try more magnification with this setup, and also remember that very few nights are stable enough to justify max power anyway. Filters are worth a try - they are one of those personal choice items in astro (ask 10 people, get 11 opinions). A polarizer may help and will not be wasted as other targets benefit from one, e.g. the moon, but probably you need to accept that the red planet is small now and if you get a clean, tiny image then that's a result. Clear skies, Graham
Would you recommend this kinda telescope or a reflecting scope would be better? This definitely takes less space.
Hello, telescopes like this are great for high magnification views of planets and the moon, but a reflector of sufficient aperture is better for many other objects, if they are large and faint.
Great video!! You have criminally low subscribers...compared to the teaching you're giving
Subscribed
Thanks!
Thanks for the video. Great setup. What type focuser do you have?
Thanks John. It’s the basic Skywatcher electric focuser unit (£45) which is connected using a pair of gears and a belt that I bought online after seeing various DIY videos. An L bracket connects it all up.
@@JenhamsAstro hi Graham, great video as always, I see the bracket connect the focuser to the ota, how is it fixed to the ota, clear skies
Lee hore Hi Lee, I bought an “L bracket” and studied the pictures and sizes to make sure it could work. The bracket - for a camera flash- has a bolt which screws into a camera tripod thread in the dovetail. I was concerned that the bracket would then cause problems balancing the OTA on the mount but it seems fine. I’ve seen tidier solutions using DIY metal brackets/plates, but my approach seems to work.
@@JenhamsAstro thank you Graham makes perfect sense now, it must provide a good shake free focus now, love to see the results whilst using it in another video, it's a very tidy mod you've done there, nice work 👍
Just don’t lose your marbles!
Hello there can you help me I want to no if I can use a Canon 4000d for astrophotography in thanks
Hi Robert, yes the 4000d will work, coupled either to a lens or telescope.
@@JenhamsAstro thanks very much for your help and your video's are brilliant for me to learn more about my telescopes thanks very much
Folks likely forget that Mars is much smaller then our Earth. About 4,200 miles in diameter. Whereas Earth is 7,926 miles in diameter!
In comparison, our Moon is 2,162 miles in diameter and never more then about 253,000. Miles away!
It's been said that an observer with binoculars can see more "detail" on the Moon, then can be seen with even the largest telescopes of any other planet!