Lunar Pics

[astroman]

Took advantage of the clear skies recently to take a few pics of the Moon.....




I've posted lunar pics before, but thought I'd share these at the same time as pointing out that if the skies are clear there will be an unusual photo opportunity at around 1920hrs on Hogmanay when a partial lunar eclipse will be at its maximum. More details at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2...c_bluemoon.htm and http://shadowandsubstance.com/

[Lingland]

Absolutely amazing wonderful pics to end the year with.
Thank you for sharing

[North Light]

astroman

Stunning images.

[dafi]

Exelent shots astroman, i can only dream of getting in that close with my spotting scope.
Is your camera mounted on the scope and is the scope moving tracking the moons movement as it looks like a high magnification and must be moving at quite a rate, or is the picture a quick exposure knocked out quickly with every thing locked up tight?

[Happy Guy]

Brilliant photos! I thought about it last night, as I looked up and saw a bright clear full moon, but then it was sooo cold and I chickend out! But your pics are so inspiring, I just might screw up my courage and try tonight, but I BET it will be cloudy!

[astroman]

Exelent shots astroman, i can only dream of getting in that close with my spotting scope.
Is your camera mounted on the scope and is the scope moving tracking the moons movement as it looks like a high magnification and must be moving at quite a rate, or is the picture a quick exposure knocked out quickly with every thing locked up tight?

For these 2 photos my DSLR was mounted at prime focus on a motor driven telescope. The first was at 1000mm focal length (approximately). The second was at double that. At this high magnification I tend to use mirror lockup, remote shutter release and a lot of patience to ensure vibration free imaging (no wind also helps!).
It is possible to get good images of the moon without a motor driven mount and a compact camera (albeit more hassle!) - just increase the ISO setting to achieve a fairly fast shutter speed eg 1/100s.

The sequence of images below were taken in 2007 with a 4MP compact camera mounted afocally on the same telescope but without the motor driven mount....

It was published in Sky at Night magazine, proving you can get reasonably good results with basic equipment. Give it a go - you may be pleasantly surprised.

[Mystical Potato Head]

Brilliant results,been that long since i've had my scopes out i've forgotten how to work them.