|
Hi again Carl, just noticed in your tag that you have a C 9.25. Many of the best planetary imagers started with this type of scope. I have seen stunning images produced with them.
Regarding the cooling, your primary needs to be within 1 degree C of ambient otherwise there will be turbulence in the boundary layer of air that is in contact with the mirror. At very long F/L you are not only magnifying the planet but also any turbulence within the atmosphere (jetstream & wind shear) along with any turbulence within the boundary layer of air in contact with your mirror. Adequate cool down time is critical along with some type of mechanical cooling, fans will help and in my Newt I have peltiers. I have info on my cooling system on my website but again, that is for a Newt.
Anthony Wesley aka Bird has excellent info on peltier cooling Newts on his website.
Regarding collimation for your SCT there are others here that that also use SCT's that should be able to help. With my Newt I use a Houghy Glatter laser & TuBlug, which becomes a barlowed laser along with a Cat's Eye Autocollimator, which is incredibly sensitive to the slightest misalignment. To get quality results with hi res planetary imaging having good collimation is not enough, it must be perfect.
It would also likely help if you did some research on the fine collimation of your SCT using defocused stars.
Another suggestion would be to start out with easier targets while you build up you knowlege base and experience level like maybe some craters on the Moon.
Cheers
Trevor
|