First image of mars,

Geeze, another superb Mars image... DEFINITELY getting jealous now over my ETX-70's poor orange blob!



Seanie.

I know where you're coming from Seanie, for years I had a little 60mm, it was "fun" to use.
Having said that, I also got the etx70, and its actually not that bad, but I dont think planets are its strong point.

Good shot Dave, you've picked up alot of detail. Did you take that image at the prime focus at f/10? Do you find you can obtain better detail at the prime focus, than say using an amplifier of X2 or X4. I do realise that collimation/transparency is very important in order to increase the magnification to secure possible improved detail. Alot of the shots I have seen by other amateurs consistently use between f/20 to f/40.

Eamonn A

Hi Eamonn,
I did use F10 for that image, I do have 2x and 3x barlows, but the seeing prevented me from using them successfully. Maybe something like a 1.5 would be better.

Since thats the first ever time I managed to get Mars, I hope to go on more with it, presuming the weather co-operates.