Refractor vs Schmidt Newtonian - Moon

[midnight (Darrin)]

Hi All!

It's good to be back home imaging again after work travels and I thought I would target my old favourite - Moon.

I have added a WO FLT110 to the test with my trusty SN 8" LXD55 and here is a comparison. Personally I think the SN is slightly better but I am rapped in the new Moonlite focuser for my LXD55. Such a leap forward (and excellant service btw) & I'm more comfortable now with the SN for imaging.

Details :

Subject : Moon 3 October 2010. Taken from 9:40pm (FLT 1st) to 10:30pm so the moon was fairly low

1. WO FLT110 + 2xPowermate + DBK41 + IR.
2. Meade LXD55 8"SN + 2 x Powermater + DBK41 + IR

Both were a mosaic of 12 images. All 500 frames with best 400. Stacked in Registax and the same settings applied to both OTA sources. Same wavelet on both.

Both imported into PS and exactly the same processing (level + curve only). Exported to jpg with same settings.

The refractor was noticeably more difficult to align in the mosaic. No flatteners nor other devices except those mentioned used in the imaging train.

The SN image was re-orientated to match the FLT for visual comparison.

Hope you like!

Darrin...

[Derek Klepp]

Great comparison Darrin I went between the two and the SN does seem to be sharper with better resolution. Both good pics though I'd be happy with either.

[michaellxv (Michael)]

Both very good images, but I do agree the SN is better.

[midnight (Darrin)]

Originally Posted by michaellxv

Both very good images, but I do agree the SN is better.

Thanks Michael. I was always very interested to see a side by side comparison.

Originally Posted by Derek Klepp

Great comparison Darrin I went between the two and the SN does seem to be sharper with better resolution. Both good pics though I'd be happy with either.

Thanks Derek. I decided to pull apart my SN after many years of service and clean the mirror and install the new focuser and with the result I got, I am very happy with it. 8 inches vs 4.5 seems to show.

Cheers,
Darrin...