paulastro

It was quite amazing Stu, it brightened so quickly it was like someone had just switched on a bright light - it happened in no more than two or three seconds. Never seen any peak light up that quickly before.

Many thanks Neil. I'm really pleased you had clear skies, it could hardly be better placed could it. When the brightest of the three peaks brightened so quickly it was really spectacular - it almost looked like a volcano had erupted on the Moon 😄 - I wish! The Equinox 80 in an excellent scope, I've had one myself and really liked it. My friend Mike has a set of the Vixen HRs and is very enthusiastic about them - I'm hoping to get to try them out myself next time I observe with him . Hope they are not too good though, as I couldn't afford to buy any of them .

Many thanks Stu, I'm very pleased you had a good view. It is exceptionally well placed tonight, with a high Moon and some clear skies! I can't recall the last time I had a better view, if indeed I have. I hope someone posts up some high res pics, it's a great opportunity. Moonlites are great focusers and it will be great with you're binoviewer on your Vixen. I hope you'll post a pic on SGL when you have it - I'd like to see it. I've had one or two over the years and really like them.

Stu, I was looking at the three peaks you've circled just before one of them brightened dramatically and very quickly - the brightest of the peaks you circled. I've just put it on a post I've just put on Lunar Imaging.

I was out from 6.40 pm to 8.15pm when cloud intervened. Seeing not great, but pleased to see Aristarchus well placed. Nice views with the binoviewer at x150 and x225 (when seeing permitted) with the SW 120ED. I took some single frames with my Olympus E-M5 Mk11, two of which are below. The full frame shot was taken at 7.59 pm, 1/200 at 400 asa, and the close up shots are mono and colour crops of the same shot taken at 7.43 pm - 1/160 at 400 asa.

Many thanks Stu. I hope I do as well as that if I have an opportunity. I hope you have some clear skies.

The whole of the Aristarchus area is well placed this evening near the terminator. An ideal time to peruse this wonderfully complex area including Schroter's Valley, Montes Agricala, Rimae Aristarchus, the plateau itself and numerous other points of interest. By 8pm it's already at 51 degrees altitude rising to around 56 degrees at 9.46 when the Moon transits. It's still at 48 degrees altitude by midnight, so no excuses for not taking a look, except for cloud of course. 😀

I had clear skies this evening as the Moon transited the meridian at 6.55 pm, at an altitude of 58 degrees. Sunlight was catching the E outer walls of Copernicus on the terminator, with Clavius also prominent on the terminator in the S Highlands. The Apennine were also showing very well. Observing with the SW 120ED, I had some excellent views with the binoviewer. The best views were at x150 using two 24mm Orthoscopics due to the seeing. The single frame below was taken at 6.44 pm with the Olympus E-M5 Mk11, 1/400 sec at 400 asa. The crops are taken from the same frame.

Great job Don 👍

Ps sorry MATT! I would have changed your name but my computer wouldn't let me edit it!

So that's where I'm going wrong Mark - I need a C14 and a fancy camera 🤣. Only joking Mark! What fabulous imaging. Thanks for posting. 🌝

Forgot to say, the pic I posted was taken on 1/200 sec at 400 asa.

Many thanks Yes, you are correct, the full moon does nearly fill the frame. Because of the format of the macro 4/3 format of the camera, the effective focal length is 1800mm, only 200mm less than an 8 inch f10 SC. The shutter speed varies with the phase of the Moon I generally use 400 asa and use speeds from around 1/500 to as slow as 1/30 sec. The transparency of the sky and altitude of the moon also has an effect of course.

Many thanks. The Olympus is attached to my SW 120ED, with cable release to prevent movement. The mount is my Ercole Altaz mount, no drives of course. I use the camera on A setting - aperture priority which is fixed to that of the scope of course. I adjust the exposure on the pull-out focusing screen by changing the shutter speed. At prime focus the mag through the telescope with the Olympus is x36 and I can magnify the image on the screen up to x14, giving 36x14 which gives a good high mag to focus on with the telescope's fine focus. Any processing is with an ancient copy of Photoshop Elements. Only the usual simple stuff, croping, contrast, brightness and sharpening if necessary. I usually change the image to mono, but I didn't on this occasion.

Many thanks Stu. It started to rain while I was observing, and this morning there was a layer of snow - again! 🙂

Thanks Mike. Yes. a rare event in the last few weeks. 🙂

First chance to observe the Moon this evening for a while due to the story weather and snow we've been having up here.. Rima Hyginus and Rima Ariadaeus, Stofler and Maurolycus in the S Highlands plus Aristloteles and Eudoxus all well placed. Some nice details on view using binoviewer with SW 120ED. Took some single frames using an Olympus E-M5 Mk11 including the pic below, with some crops from it to show the areas above. Much better visually of course.

Good!! There's enough light pollution as it is! 🙂

Very impressive It didn't look that good through my 80ED earlier 😁.

You'll be lucky to get a coffee out of Mike Garry 😁.

Thanks for the post, a great read. It did me a world of good as down here we are still suffering the aftermath of Storm Dennis, high winds and heavy rain as I write this. Thanks you.

A great loss, people of my age and older sort of grew up with her.

Mike, I thought you told me you were now doing your drawings with that ten inch dob you have on loan from The Astronomy Centre? 😀 Only joking! Better drawings than I could do - even if I did use a ten inch dob 👍.

Mike, I get the impression that you like your Tak 100 DC? Any old excuse, and even when there isn't one, there you go and post one or more photos of it. If I didn't know better I'd swear that Takahashi are paying you a quid every time you post a photo of it on SGL - in which case by now you should have enough cash to 'upgrade' to a better scope. 🤣

I can't wait for you to buy it Steve, and hopefully let us all know how you're getting on with it.