Capturing the king of the planets
I picked up a second hand Sky-Watcher Skymax 102 telescope recently on Astro buy and Sell website. I figured the 1300 mm focal length would allow me to try my hand at some planetary, lunar and solar imaging using the ZWO ASI120MM-S guide camera. A clear night with a high pressure system overhead and no wind to speak of offered up the perfect opportunity to give it a whirl.
Being accustomed to much shorter focal lengths of binoculars and small refractors, the crisp and detailed views offered by such a small and affordable telescope (I paid just £80) were a revelation! Although the Great Red Spot must have been out of view, the views of the bands in the Jovian atmosphere along with the Galilean moons were spectacular. I couldn’t take my eyes off it! I’m unsure which moon I also managed to capture in the image.
Above is an bonus image of Mars taken a couple of hours later, around 1am local time. I used Photoshop to colourise / colorize the planets details.
I’m using refractors for DSO and looking at this scope for planetary imaging but not sure best way to attach the imaging train. Are adapters needed to attach camera, barlow, and spacers to the back for prime focus?
Hi Jim. I use the nosepiece which came with the ZWO camera, along with the optional ADC and 2x barlow. I use prime focus and haven’t encountered any issues with back-focus, possibly because the sensor and region of interest is so small!
Thanks!