Robert SCHULZ #231

Letters to the Editor

from Robert SCHULZ in CMO #231

@. . . . My name is Robert Schulz. I live in Vienna/Austria/Europe. I observe the planets since 1984 (Celestron 8) each year. My first planet that I see through a telescope was . . . . Mercury in spring 1984 ! With film equipment (1985-92) the results were not very productive in my opinion. Then came the ST4 in 1992. Some results are taken with it. But the ST7 (1998) was the first camera that fits my ideas. In 1999 I reached at last the resolution limit of my Celestron 8 with the aid of the right equipment and good work. Typical I took about 100 pictures per color and analyze it about sharpness. Every picture has its own distortions but a few are useable. The skies over Vienna are mostly NOT perfect and often cloudy. But the good moments still exist and must be used for photographing! A second important point is a good mount - in my case a Astro Physics 400 with wood tripod. I adjust the mount each time because I must carry it out of my house to observe. About 1h cooling down the tube is needed. In good seeing a few pictures could be meaned and better analyzed.

For 2001 I plan extensive CCD programs for Mars in spite of its low altitude. With filters you could hold the atmospheric dispersion down and have good color pictures. The best weather is between August and November. There is some humidity in the air but this is good for the air above Vienna - it is very stable in this situation. On the other side about 50-60% of the nights in this period are cloudy or foggy, so results are took not very often but the few are worth the wait !

I congratulate on your extensive web site . . . it is much work to check and describe each Mars photograph and drawing !

Yours,

(24 May 2000 eamil)

Robert SCHULZ (Wien, Austria) : franz.schulz@chello.at