Saturn & Mars - Mak Cass 180 (7") - Updated with C8i Images

[Bushy69]

Hi All,

Break in the weather here in Perth, so I had a go at Saturn and Mars with the 7" Mak Cass, 2x Barlow and ASI120 Colour Cam.

If weather stays clear, will do a comparison with the C8i I picked up 2nd hand a few weeks ago.

Both scopes similar vintage, so I am keen to compare image quality.

Cheers,

Justin

[5ash]

Hi Justin ,nice captures , mars shows a little detail coming through the dust storm. I’d be interested to see your comparison with the 8” . Did you gain much by using the x2 Barlow? I tried a x2 Barlow with the 180 mak on lunar captures and found the images a bit soft
Regards philip

[Rkonrad]

Nice thanks for sharing lets hope we bet a bit more detail to see when in opposion the current dust storm just kill it for me

[Bushy69]

Similar conditions tonight as last night, so setup the C8i to compare images with the Mak Cass 180.

I was really surprised at how well the C8i tracked the planets, especially as all I did was the quick align. Focusing much more difficult using the C8i focuser (the Mak Cass has a 10:1 Crayford Focuser fitted).

Celestron SCT 8i
ASI-120MC-S
FireCapture
Stacked in RegiStax6

Cheers,

Justin

[Bushy69]

Yes I find the 2X Barlow makes a big difference for Saturn, Jupiter and Mars.

Have not spent much time on the Moon, will be my next target after Mars Opposition.

How long have you had your Mak Cass 180? Happy with it?

Justin

[5ash]

Hi Justin,
I bought mine second hand on The forum here. Cleaned it up replaced the dovetail with padded out tube rings and initially used it for lunar photography which it excels at. a couple of weeks ago whilst taking pics of the moon swung the lunar focussed scope to Jupiter and was surprised at the detail in the stacked images. Am very happy with it, however with the closeness of mars I miss my old 9.25” SCT.
Regards philip

[5ash]

Hi Justin,
I think I prefer the mak images, you could improve focus by using a focussing mask on a nearby star and swinging the scope back to the planet.
Regards philip

[RobNevyn]

At first glance the Mak images are clearly better in my opinion perhaps due to the 10:1 Crayford however as Philip has mentioned I agree the focus appears to be playing a part in the quality of the 8i images.
Either way they are still looking pretty good.

[Bushy69]

What I really should have done is screw the Crayford 10:1 onto the SCT. Doh!!

My personal opinion, the Mak180 out performs the SCT 8i on the planets I looked at over past two nights... but it is marginal.

The C8i on the AltAz mount is soooo light, it is a breeze to setup... the Mak180 on HEQ5Pro has to be setup in two parts (as it is just too heavy for me when assembled).

Cooldown... C8i faster... but forward planning generally fixes this.

I am a bit torn on which OTA to keep TBH.

Justin

[TareqPhoto]

Nice images, your images showing me that i must buy 2x Powermate then, because using the scope native it is small size, i feel i want to buy larger scopes because of that, but if i buy 2x Powermate it may change my mind, i do have Tele Vue 3x and it didn't give good results at all, so i will simply go with 2x instead, and Powermate all said it is the best.

[Wavytone]

Then swap both for a TEC 10”, or even better, the last of the big Russian maks - APM have the last 14” for sale. Production from Intes and LZOS has stopped.

[SuperG]

I'd say you had a bad night with the sct compared to your mak images. The mak images are better by a mile. But the c6 I use routinely produces better images than the c8 ones you posted. So I expect if you had another go with the sct you'd have to get much better. It's all about sky quality. Awesome Mars capture on the mak.