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This is an 18-frame stack out of 28 frames I originally captured on 4/30/20 at about 9:30 CST with my Meade 10-inch f/10 SCT without dew shield! I forgot that sucker at home. Fortunately the front corrector plate was clear for the first hour of the session. Unfortunately these images were grabbed just as the corrector plate was dewing up ever so slightly.
I also was able to sort out my Quattro 8 and its Baader coma corrector, too, later in the evening. I was really happy and relieved about that positive development. There was too much spacing between the coma corrector and the CCD. About two to three millimeters too much.
It was a fairly hazy night sky but with good, relatively calm air, a Pickering 6 or so. Exposures were 1/40th second at ISO100. The two other photos are crops of the first image I posted below.
I'm still in the tinkering stage of lunar photography. I find imaging the Moon worthwhile when it's really the only celestial object that I can image since I usually don't use narrow-band filters or LP filters for DSOAP. I'm waiting for Jupiter and Mars to rise in the last Spring early to mid-summer sky to see if I've learned anything useful about planetary AP over the last two years.
Attachments
Telescopes: Meade LX90 10-inch f/10 UHC Coma-free SCT; Explore Scientific 127mm f/7.5 APO ED triplet refractor; Explore Scientific 102mm f/7 APO ED triplet refractor; Explore Scientific 80mm f/6 APO ED triplet refractor; Skywatcher 72mm f/6 ED Schott doublet refractor; Meade 70mm f/5 APO quadruplet astrograph refractor; Skywatcher Quattro 8-inch f/4 Newtonian astrograph; Orion 6-inch f/4 Newtonian astrograph; Skywatcher SkyMax 180mm f/15 Maksutov; iOptron 150mm f/12 Maksutov; Orion f/9 Ritchey-Chretien RC astrograph Eyepieces: Set of 7 Baader Hyperion eyepieces, 3 Meade 5000 glass handgrenades; 1970s era Japanese manufactured Meade 12.5mm Orthoscopic, and too many other eclectic eyepieces to list Mounts: Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro mount; Orion Atlas EQ-G mount Post-production Software: Not good enough … oh, okay ... Canon's proprietary CanoScan ArcSoft 9000F photoshop suite
I have only taken a few single exposures of the moon it nothing like yours. lot of frames for you!
Thanks for sharing Henry!
Jim
Scopes: Explore Scientific ED102 APO, Sharpstar 61 EDPH II APO, Samyang 135 F2 (still on the Nikon).
Mount: Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro with Rowan Belt Mod
Stuff: ASI EAF Focus Motor (x2), Orion 50mm Guide Scope, ZWO 30 mm Guide Scope, ASI 220mm min, ASI 120mm mini, Stellarview 0.8 FR/FF, Sharpstar 0.8 FR/FF, Mele Overloock 3C.
Camera/Filters/Software: ASI 533 mc pro, ASI 120mm mini, Orion SSAG, IDAS LPS D-1, Optolong L-Enhance, ZWO UV/IR Cut, N.I.N.A., Green Swamp Server, PHD2, Adobe Photoshop CC, Pixinsight.
Dog and best bud: Jack
Sky: Bortle 6-7
My Astrobin: https://www.astrobin.com/users/Juno16/
Thanks, Jim. That is a "lot of frames" for me. Heh! You nailed that, sir!
One of these days, when conditions are spot-on, I'm going to get some single-frame lunar images that I hope would rival these. I know that's a tall order, but knowing my equipment and my ArcSoft Photostudio, it should be possible. I just need some super-steady air with Luna near the meridian. Some of the single-frames in the series I stacked for this image are pretty decent but I'm going to wait for better frame grabs to come along before I post them on the forum.
That's actually the current challenge for me at the moment though a 50-frame stack is certainly a possibility. I'd like to execute that scenario under a really nice Pickering 8 or 9 sky with zero wind, but good luck with that here in central Illinois at 750 feet above sea level.
Telescopes: Meade LX90 10-inch f/10 UHC Coma-free SCT; Explore Scientific 127mm f/7.5 APO ED triplet refractor; Explore Scientific 102mm f/7 APO ED triplet refractor; Explore Scientific 80mm f/6 APO ED triplet refractor; Skywatcher 72mm f/6 ED Schott doublet refractor; Meade 70mm f/5 APO quadruplet astrograph refractor; Skywatcher Quattro 8-inch f/4 Newtonian astrograph; Orion 6-inch f/4 Newtonian astrograph; Skywatcher SkyMax 180mm f/15 Maksutov; iOptron 150mm f/12 Maksutov; Orion f/9 Ritchey-Chretien RC astrograph Eyepieces: Set of 7 Baader Hyperion eyepieces, 3 Meade 5000 glass handgrenades; 1970s era Japanese manufactured Meade 12.5mm Orthoscopic, and too many other eclectic eyepieces to list Mounts: Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro mount; Orion Atlas EQ-G mount Post-production Software: Not good enough … oh, okay ... Canon's proprietary CanoScan ArcSoft 9000F photoshop suite
Gordon
Scopes: Explore Scientific ED80CF, Skywatcher 200 Quattro Imaging Newt, SeeStar S50 for EAA.
Mounts: Orion Atlas EQ-g mount & Skywatcher EQ5 Pro.
ZWO mini guider.
Image cameras: ZWO ASI1600 MM Cool, ZWO ASI533mc-Pro, ZWO ASI174mm-C (for use with my Quark chromosphere), ZWO ASI120MC
Filters: LRGB, Ha 7nm, O-III 7nm, S-II 7nm
Eyepieces: a few.
Primary software: Cartes du Ciel, N.I.N.A, StarTools V1.4.
Hello Henry. A beautiful lunar image from you. Tack sharp details, and the cropped images hold up nicely too. These are excellent captures and the processing was on target. Thanks for sharing these with us Henry, and congratulations on winning the TSSAPOD Award today.
Marshall
Sky-Watcher 90mm f/13.8 Maksutov-Cassegrain on motorized Multimount
Orion Astroview 120ST f/5 Refractor on EQ3 mount
Celestron Comet Catcher 140mm f/3.64 Schmidt-Newtonian on alt-az mount
Celestron Omni XLT150R f/5 Refractor on CG4 mount with dual axis drives.
Orion 180mm f/15 Maksutov-Cassegrain on CG5-GT Goto mount.
Orion XT12i 12" f/4.9 Dobsonian Intelliscope.
Kamakura 7x35 Binoculars and Celestron SkyMaster 15x70 Binoculars. ZWO ASI 120MC camera.
>)))))*>
Great job Henry - super nice images with great crispness! Congrats on winning the award for today!
-Michael Refractors: ES AR152 f/6.5 Achromat on Twilight II, Celestron 102mm XLT f/9.8 on Celestron Heavy Duty Alt Az mount, KOWA 90mm spotting scope Binoculars: Celestron SkyMaster 15x70, Bushnell 10x50 Eyepieces: Various, GSO Superview, 9mm Plossl, Celestron 25mm Plossl Camera: ZWO ASI 120 Naked Eye: Two Eyeballs Latitude: 48.7229° N
Thank you Gordon. This APOD really is unexpected. It was a night and a series of images that I was just committed to doing some experimentation with in hopes of pushing my envelope a bit more in the discipline of lunar photography. I was pleased with what I had captured when I viewed the single-frames the next day and wondered to myself how they would stack up (pun intended!). I never thought the outcome was APOD worthy but thank you for this recognitiion since I really don't consider myself an accomplished lunar photographer. To be totally honest, I'm blown away by some of the lunar images others have posted here, some of which look like they were taken from lunar orbit. Now that's a trip!
I guess the important thing for any APer or visual astronomer is that they're enjoying an entertaining craft and not being intimidated by the challenges or obstacles one generally has to overcome when working outside ones comfort zone. It's a fun kind of "work", especially when one spends hours on end during a given night trying to wring out that last arc/second of detail.
I also appreciate everyone else's compliments on this thread. Thanks everyone!
Now back to our regular programming ...
Telescopes: Meade LX90 10-inch f/10 UHC Coma-free SCT; Explore Scientific 127mm f/7.5 APO ED triplet refractor; Explore Scientific 102mm f/7 APO ED triplet refractor; Explore Scientific 80mm f/6 APO ED triplet refractor; Skywatcher 72mm f/6 ED Schott doublet refractor; Meade 70mm f/5 APO quadruplet astrograph refractor; Skywatcher Quattro 8-inch f/4 Newtonian astrograph; Orion 6-inch f/4 Newtonian astrograph; Skywatcher SkyMax 180mm f/15 Maksutov; iOptron 150mm f/12 Maksutov; Orion f/9 Ritchey-Chretien RC astrograph Eyepieces: Set of 7 Baader Hyperion eyepieces, 3 Meade 5000 glass handgrenades; 1970s era Japanese manufactured Meade 12.5mm Orthoscopic, and too many other eclectic eyepieces to list Mounts: Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro mount; Orion Atlas EQ-G mount Post-production Software: Not good enough … oh, okay ... Canon's proprietary CanoScan ArcSoft 9000F photoshop suite
Thank you, mariosi. I'm still learning a lot about lunar photography and post-processing lunar images. I'm hoping for some very nice, calm skies so that I can explore some single-frame lunar photography, Any kind of air turbulence really plays havoc with single-frame. I've yet to catch that "lucky shot" when the air is perfectly still for that fraction of a second. I see now why everyone stacks lunar and planetary images as well as DSO images, of course.
Telescopes: Meade LX90 10-inch f/10 UHC Coma-free SCT; Explore Scientific 127mm f/7.5 APO ED triplet refractor; Explore Scientific 102mm f/7 APO ED triplet refractor; Explore Scientific 80mm f/6 APO ED triplet refractor; Skywatcher 72mm f/6 ED Schott doublet refractor; Meade 70mm f/5 APO quadruplet astrograph refractor; Skywatcher Quattro 8-inch f/4 Newtonian astrograph; Orion 6-inch f/4 Newtonian astrograph; Skywatcher SkyMax 180mm f/15 Maksutov; iOptron 150mm f/12 Maksutov; Orion f/9 Ritchey-Chretien RC astrograph Eyepieces: Set of 7 Baader Hyperion eyepieces, 3 Meade 5000 glass handgrenades; 1970s era Japanese manufactured Meade 12.5mm Orthoscopic, and too many other eclectic eyepieces to list Mounts: Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro mount; Orion Atlas EQ-G mount Post-production Software: Not good enough … oh, okay ... Canon's proprietary CanoScan ArcSoft 9000F photoshop suite