Appertizer Please,,

[mat,v]

GDAY ALL, Does anybody out there in the wonderful world of ISS have any pictures taken with a Meade LX-90 8" SCT,,I'm waiting for some goodies to arrive for my own scope and would like to see what it is (or should) be capable of shooting (practice req'd of course),any pics would be much appreciated,,,THANKS HEAPS,,,,MAT

[renormalised (Carl)]

Yes, I do...as I actually own one. You're going to like the scope

Here's a shot I took afocally, of the Moon, using a Canon Powershot A460 at f/2.8, FL of 5.4mm, single exp' of 1/100sec ISO100. No post processing at all except to reduce file size. The eyepiece I was using at the time was a 26mm Meade Series 4000...gives a mag of about x77

I also created an inverted image to highlight some of the crater rays and less obvious features.

[mat,v]

Sweet,,those shots are certainly wetting my appetite,,i've been out with mine every night lately,,simply using the alt az tracking and it is VERY accurate,,1hr tracking with no noticeable shift on many occasions using high magnification,,EQ wedge arriving on monday,,can't imagine how accurate it'll be then,,digital camera is at the ready & shutter release primed,,how much visual difference can i expect with 2" EP's over my 1.25's,,if they let in so much more light,that should also mean much more magnification is possible,,or am i getting a bit ahead of myself,,thanks buddy,,,,MAT

[renormalised (Carl)]

Those images I posted are actually small compared to the original

I can't post it to an image host...it's too big!!!!

[renormalised (Carl)]

2" EP's will mean two things....more apparent FoV per eyepiece and less chance of vignetting. They're also heavier EP's, so you may need to balance the scope to compensate (with the DSLR and everyrthing connected).

[mat,v]

Would you have any shots of globs or nebs,,what sort of camera do you use,,I'm interested in seeing what sort of colour i can expect to pick up,,not real keen on modding my 40D camera,,(not yet anyway)

[renormalised (Carl)]

I did have...they got "virus busted"!!!

However, if you want to see some piccies taken of globs etc...goto the Meade LX90 Gallery, and that should give you some idea of what you can expect

I use a camera called a GStar-EX....it's a video camera that is optimised for astronomical work. Go here... MyAstroShop ... and take a look.

[acropolite (Phil)]

It's worth visiting Pete's astronomy pages to see what is achievable using the LX90 and to get an idea of setup etc.

[mat,v]

That would have to break your heart losin your hard earned pics like that,,,thanks for the heads up on the LX-90 gallery and Pete's astronomy pages,,that'll keep me amused for the evening,,,Too much cloud outside to have a play tonight,,Good opportunity to do some surfin,,Thanks heaps guys ,,,MAT