Category: Lunar log
On the image below you see Theophilus, Cyrillus and Catharina between the lunar terminator and Mare Nectaris. The Altai scarp is beautifully lit, and at the southern end of the Altai Scarp lies Piccolomini with its central peak clearly visible.
The image was taken on March 16 2005 with the Coolpix 4500, the TAL 200K and a 20mm Vixen Lanthanum eyepiece. The Moon was 5 days old.
Last night I shot this image of a 5-day-old Moon. In the South, the trio Theophilus, Cyrillus and Catharina were beautifully lit, together with Rupes Altai. On the northern half Posidonius and Dorsa Smirnov in Mare Serenitatis stole the show (visually). I also shot some detailed images. A report will follow in the Solar System section of my website.
The image was shot with the Coolpix 4500, a TAL 200K telescope, 32mm Televue plossl, IR/UV cut filter and a Baader Contrast Booster. The camera was set at 1/30s, ISO 100 and f/2.6. I stacked ten images with Keith’s Image Stacker and applied a little unsharp masking and adjustment of the middle and upper levels to get some more brightness into the image.
Hi all,
On January 14th 2005 I observed the 4-day-old moon with the 4-inch refractor. In the Solar system section you will find an observing report and some images that I shot during the session. On the first image you see my first result trying to capture the earthshine. The second image is an overview of the 4-day-old Moon. If you move the mouse pointer over the image the names and locations of the different lunar features discussed will appear on the image.
For the full story please follow this link.
Last night I had a short observing session of the 15-day-old Moon with the 15x80 binoculars and the SkyWindow. I concentrated on the large and obvious features that where visible. I could identify a lot of Mare on the nearly full Moon: Mare Crisium, Nectaris (with the crater Fracastorius), Fecundatis, Tranquillitatis, Serenetatis, Imbrium, Frigoris, Nubium, Humorum, Cognitum, Vaporum and Oceanus Procellarum.
Other features that where visible where Sinus Iridum, the 145 mile wide Crater Grimaldi with its dark floor (on of the darkest features visible), the craters Tycho, Copernicus and Kepler with its bright crater rays and Plato with its dark, lava flooded floor. There where two craters that stood out from the rest (extremely bright): Tycho and Aristarchus. especially Aristarchus stood out as a bright white beacon.
What I also found very striking while observing with the binoculars was the Imbrium basin. I never noticed the outline through the telescope, but with the binoculars it seemed to be very obvious.
At the end of my 1-hour lunar session I shot this image with the Coolpix 4500 handheld at the binocular. The image was taken at 21:32 UT. The settings of the camera where: shutter 1/125s, aperture f5.8 and ISO 100.
Last Saturday I spend the night with some fellow backyard-astronomers, observing a 15-day-old Moon. When the Moon is full (or almost full) you can observe the white crater rays very good. On the first of the images below you see the bright
On april 1st 2004 I observed the 11-day-old moon with the TAL 200K. For an observing report with digital images please follow this link. There you will find not only a detailed report but also an overview image of the moon and some detailed images of Sinus Iridum, Mare Humorum and the Schiller-Tycho area.
Enjoy!
Today I added a short observing report with a big digital image of a nine-day-old Moon to the Solar Sytem section on my website. The image was shot with the Coolpix 4500 mounted on a 10-inch Synta skywatcher Follow this link to read the full story.
I just added a detailed lunar observing report with digital images to my site. The report is of an 8-day-old moon and covers some interesting features like the Alps, Caucasus, Apennines, Ptolomaeus, Alphonsus, Arzachel and Rupes Recta. You can read the full report by following this link.