The Hotech CT Laser Collimator

With Jupiter still near opposition and Mars opposition approaching I would like to do a little high resolution planetary imaging. For planetary I use our Nexstar 11″ telescope, with 2800mm of focal length is has the high magnification needed.

SCT Alignment
Aligning our Nexstar 11″ with a Hotech CT Collimation Tool
One lesson in high resolution imaging is that collimation matters. Having the optics in your telescope precisely aligned makes all the difference in the results. A small misalignment will result in mushy images that will not quite focus properly. No amount of fancy image processing will salvage the image.

The Nexstar has not been giving me the results I know it is capable of. I shot Venus just before inferior conjunction and noted that there was probably some issues in collimation that were not addressed in the quick star collimation I had performed.

Thus I borrowed a Hotech CT Laser Collimatior from a friend. The collimator is an interesting piece of kit, enabling the user to check more than simple the tip-tilt of the secondary.

Continue reading “The Hotech CT Laser Collimator”