I looked at the moon!

[ewomack]

Okay, some of you will think I'm a little crazy, but my misjudgement may have actually enhanced my motivation and interest in this hobby.

I know I should have bought 11 X 50 binoculars. I know, I know, I know. But did I listen? No, of course not. Kids these days, geesh.

Instead, I just couldn't resist buying a pair of Celestron Skymaster 25 X 70s. Yes, they're huge. They will probably make finding anything dainty in the sky annoyingly difficult or even impossible.

Except for the moon.

After they arrived, I woke myself up 1:30 AM the next night and took them out when the full moon hovered through an opening in the trees outside the window (Stellarium helped me plan my lack of sleep). Massive binoculars fixed to a tripod, I easily found the moon and the view was absolutely amazing. Incredible. Mouth dropping. Mesmerizing. Stunning. Insert other words of wonder.

I saw Tycho and its ejecta clearly. Other craters, names of which I don't yet know, just stuck out. Wow. Oh my. Wow. Just... wow. I was able to clearly see and name 5+ Mares (though the biggest ones appear to the naked eye, of course, but not as amazingly). There it was... the luminous moon as I've never seen it with my own eyes before. I won't forget it and I hope to experience it again.

Naively, I did try to photograph it with my mobile phone (I did buy the binocular mobile adapter) and the results that most of you would expect are attached.

So a question, though I'm pretty sure the answer is "no," but do any filters exist that would work with binoculars to allow decent pictures of the moon? I know some exist for telescope eyepieces, but has anyone been able to dampen the moon's brightness with binoculars?

In any case, I don't regret buying those huge binoculars for that experience alone. Yet I know I will still need a less powerful pair for sky-hopping when the moon doesn't light pollute the evening sky. So I will also pick up some 11 X 50s, or something similar, soon.

[Lady Fraktor]

See if you can turn the exposure down on the phone camera. If you cannot and your binoculars are mounted on a tripod, try using a set of sunglasses as a filter.
There is nothing wrong with viewing with binoculars, larger ones like yours actually do nicely with some deep sky objects and with solar filters you can do white light viewing as well.
Enjoy the views on the Moon, it is a very dynamic target and the views change by the minute.

[chris_g]

You can get different filters for binoculars, does yours have threads?

Can your cell phone do manual? If so, to try iso 200 with an exposure of 1/500. Depends on the phase of the moon though.

[Aratus]

I've got a pair of Celestron Skymaster 25 X 70s. I found they were too powerful when looking for comets or deep-sky objects because the field of view is too small. I could never figure out which part of the sky I was looking at! However, they are great for observing major details on the planets. There are no threads on these, unfortunately, so unfiltered the moon is always going to be a bit overpowering. I have no experience in using a 'phone to take pictures, but if there isn't a manual control for the exposure, a 'night' or 'fireworks' mode tends to knock the exposure down, and may be enough. Another way might be to get a small Neutral Density filter and stick it over the lens. I hope you get some good photos!

[SkyHiker]

Just cover the apertures with pieces of cardboard with a round hole cut out. It will reduce the luminosity and make the image sharper. About the latter, I tried this with my Skymaster 20x80s once and the field curvature (blurred/streaky stars at the edges) was improved. The Skymasters offer great value for the money, the optics are not perfect but decent, for me that's OK.