For those that know me, I’m not an imager but rather a visual observer and an EAA’r (Electronically Assisted Astronomy) and in my 17 years in the hobby, I’ve never before taken a prime focus picture of planet. Prime focus is when the camera is attached directly to the telescope and not to an eyepiece (e.g. eyepiece projection). All my previous work has been unprocessed stacking of deep sky objects, the Moon or the Sun.

Attached is a picture of Mars I took on Saturday night at Staunton River State Park. The picture was taken through my CPC1100 using my ZWO ASI385MC camera running at f/10 (no focal reduction). My image is based on a video comprised of 1000 frames stacked and processed in Registax. I’m quite pleased with my first attempt.

Clear and Steady Skies!

-Mike