       |
 |
|
Optics |
|
 |
Celestron C11 XLT My main instrument for planetary imaging is a Celestron 11 XLT on a Losmandy G-11 mount. The C11 is the successor of the C8 for this purpose. This system is really huge! When I first assembled all the components it got bigger and bigger, but I think it is still portable. Click here for some additional "first light" pictures... |
 |
Celestron C8 Starbright I also use a Celestron 8 SCT (203mm/2030 mm) on a Vixen Great Polaris German mount. The mount has electrical drive in both axis. For long exposure imaging I have a 60/700mm refractor guiding telescope from Celestron. |
 |
Takahashi FS 102 N
Apochromat I was able to catch one of the last Takahashi FS 102 N refractors (since this telescope is discontinued by Takahashi). The FS is an air spaced doublet fluorite Apochromat (Fraunhofer design). The front lens is made of CaF2, a synthetic grown calcium fluorite mono crystal with excellent optical performance. Aperture is 102mm, focal length is 820mm (f/8). The picture on the left also shows a 2" diagonal mirror and a 6mm Vixen LV eyepiece. |
 |
TMB-LOMO 80/600
Apochromat My latest purchase is a TMB-LOMO 80/600 refractor (March 2009). This refractor is very portable and will be used for "grab and go" observations. The objective is a triplet made by LOMO optics (Russia). With each lens, LOMO includes a test report with RMS and PtV values. For this telescope the RMS (at 546 nm) = 0,022 which results in a Strehl value of 0,981 (nearly perfect optics!). The tube is from Germany with fully retractable dew shield cover. The focuser is a US-made Starlight Feather Touch with 1:10 reduction, so this telescope is truly international! |
 |
Carl Zeiss Victory 8x42 T*
FL I also use the Carl Zeiss Victory 8x42 T* FL binocular to travel through the Milkyway. |
| Photo: Courtesy Carl Zeiss AG | |
|
Cameras |
|
 |
The Imaging Source DMK 21AF04.AS This little cam is used for high resolution imaging of the planets. The picture on the left shows the camera after a night of imaging, the configuration consists of the following components: Back of my C11 and then a Baader Steel Track focuser, a 2" to 1.25" reducer, TeleVue 2.5x Powermate, 1.25" adaptor , Atik filter wheel with Astronomik L-RGB filters, T-Thread adaptor, T-Thread to C-Mount adaptor and DMK 21AF04.AS camera. The camera is connected to the laptop via firewire (IEE 1394) which is a high speed connection allowing a maximum of 60 fps of uncompressed data. |
 |
Philips ToUCam Pro 740K For planetary imaging I also use a Philips ToUCam Pro 740K web cam together with a Toshiba Satellite 2410 Notebook. This is a very simple, but excellent planetary camera. I've had some great results with this cam. |
 |
Canon
EOS 450D The CMOS sensor has a resolution of 12.2 mega pixels. One great advantage of this camera is the new "live view" function. With this function, the camera displays a live image on the LCD monitor, which allows you to accurately find the focus for the image. |
 |
Canon T70 The Canon T70 SLR is an analog film camera. I took my first astro images with this camera. |
|
My observing site is in Germany at N 51°50' and E
09°08' approx. 150 m above sea level. ©1996-2009 Frank Brandl / Disclaimer |
|
