Post by Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe on Nov 6, 2009 5:35:02 GMT -6
Lunar Imaging session
- 06 November 2009 -
A bright sunny day lead to a clear evening, but I had no intention of doing any observing this evening. My buddy Bill from the Adler called me and to see if I was going to set up this evening.
And so we had a unplanned session.
Bill brought along his portable 60mm shorty scope on a Takahashi mount and a set of eyepieces. We also brought out the massive sewer pipe for some comparison views.
The 8' Dob we discovered was good at gathering light, but did not offer razor sharp images as did the C5. It offers "soft" images, and perhaps a combo of dirty mirrors and a badly needed collimation is in order, but it's good for public/visitor abuse. Jumping from 8" Dob to the 60mm shorty refractor to the 5" SCT, Bill and I concurred on our evaluations of the scopes.
(I also discovered that one single screw holds the Sewer Pipe Dob to it's cradle. Wanting to rotate the tube for better viewing, I loosened the screw....and BAM!!!...the tube slid backwards with only the focuser stopping it's travel and taking the force of the slide. No damage, but at least I can rotate the tube now...)
)We had three scopes out, including my laptop, garage tunes and digital camera, spending the next couple of hours examining the Moon through different scopes. Using the remote operation option for the Canon Powershot S3 via computer - it was just ok. I appreciated that the vibration factor was eliminated, but it doesn't allow for focusing...and I prefer to have a "hands on" method of imaging. I also took some images of the changing lunarscape from yesterday....
Taken through Bill's 60mm, lunar sunset is racing across the surface - creating interesting lighting scenes. This evening, "Mare Nectaris" was the star of the evening. At 19.21 Lunar days, the 26,000 mile wide basin with two prominent Ear-like craters, ( Theophilus on the south, Beaumont in the middle and Fracastorius to the north), stood out nicely...
And the oddly shaped "Gutenberg" crater in deep dark shadow - here zoomed in -
Just to the "SW" of the basin was a long ridge - leading from "Piccolomini" crater - with a nice central peak...
Also in the vicinity, the three crater series in a row was inviting too...
With "Catharina" on the left, "Cyrillus" in the middle and "Theophilus" on the right, it's a remarkable trio of craters.
Theophilus has a interesting central peak formation which also seems to echo the triad theme...
During our session, three isolated and elongated cloud bands whisked across the sky at great speed from the west...
As they crossed the Moon, they reminded me of galactic dust lanes ala Sombero Galaxy...!
Closer to the south of the Moon was the "Mare Serenitatis" region where the double ringed "Posidonius" crater caught my attention and the flat floor/open ended Le Monnier crater to the left or north.
Bill left around 1:00 am, but I stayed out till 2:00 am and took some of the preceding lunar shots...using the "Virtual Moon Atlas" as my lunar road map....
www.ap-i.net/avl/en/start
Highly recommended... #Thumbsup#
Another satisfying and successful lunar observation/imaging session to grow on.