Saturn 23rd Feb 2011

[Clayton]

Again, nothing special. But at least I'm getting some practise:D

[Shiraz]

Hi Rob. Another keeper - sure is a fascinating time to be imaging Saturn. Would be interested to know what focal length you have found to be best with your scope - I have tried a variety of Barlows and found that mine runs out of steam at about f20. Regards Ray

[renormalised]

Nice shot Rob:)

Grab a x5 Powermate and have a go with one of them and your Toucam.

You'll notice the difference:)

But pick a night of really good seeing...that'll help.

[Quark]

Reckon thats what it is all about Rob, using your equipment and trying different things.

Well done
Regards
Trevor

[Clayton]

Thanks Ray. I don't know for sure (one day I will calc it:rofl:) Just guesstimating I think it is around f18 that I reach the limit with Saturn at present. Hopefully as it gets a little brighter I can get some better data (seeing permitting :D) and with my PA tuned a little better I can keep the planet on the chip a bit easier at the longer f ratios. Maybe even crank out one or two that I am proud of:rofl:Not that I'm not pleased with my efforts, but I believe I can do better with the gear I have if I get a bit more fanatical. I would like to fit a decent finder so I can centre the image on the chip with the finder (or close) to enable me to collimate on a nearby star and slew back to the planet without removing the camera. And I would dearly love to bench test the optics which I suspect are good but less than great :question:

[Clayton]

Thanks Re. Though I think 5x might be pushing things a bit with Saturn.
I am a bit limited with slow shutter speeds 1/25th is the slowest option:(
And I'm still waiting for that good seeing:rofl:

[Clayton]

Thanks Trevor.
The two old enemies (Time and Seeing) are not helping much:lol: