A clear night and first real attempt

[Seymour Klearly]

The moon was on good form over mid Essex last night so it was a good opportunity to borrow my wife's camera (600D) and get a few shots.  I have cribbed up a peanut butter lid fine-tuner for my Celestron 9.25 but still need to work on the focusing.  I will have a go at stacking when I get some time.  Here are a couple of the better shots.

[greyhaven]

It's real hard for me to focus on the full Moon. The low contrast makes teasing the fine details out of the glare. Your image is  really quite good considering the Moon's illumination. What capture program are you using? I use BYEOS and find it helps me greatly in framing and focusing shots like this. Thanks for sharing your work.

Grey

[Astrosurf]

Nice job. The focusing seems pin sharp. I too have problems focusing and will try BYE.

The detail should pop when you stack and process. It gets really exciting!

Alexxx

[Seymour Klearly]

I know what you mean. The moon was a bit on the blinding side last night, so time to invest in some filters I think. 

I just played about with the settings on the camera and then used the basic iPhoto app on my Mac book to tweak the images slightly.  I will have a proper play with Registax later this week if I get the chance.  I haven't been too successful with that so far, but it's all part of the fun.

Thanks for recommending BYEOS.  I haven't come across it before but have just read some of the threads on here so will have a look at it.

Steve

[Astrosurf]

I've tried stacking stills (TIFFs and JPEGs) in Registax but haven't had much luck. I must be doing somthing wrong! Do ask on here for advice.

[Blazar]

Nice images. I was also out taking a few shots of it as well (and you are just down the road to me. In terms of planetary imaging, I think the best way forward is to use a webcam and take a video. You can then use other applications to 'stack' and then tweak the final stacked image. By stacking you are increasing the signal to noise ratio and so the final image should be sharper. 

The reason for webcams is to shoot a large amount of frames and then use the stacking software to pick the best percentage (set by you). You probably noticed the moon 'boiling' away..caused by our atmosphere....so by shooting lots of frames you manage to capture those moments when the disturbance is smaller or nil..hence getting a sharper image.

I have never taken a video with a DSLR though. What I usually do is use the live view function on the camera and then increase the zoom to sort out the focus (or use a focus mask on my larger scope). Also if you shoot with a DSLR use the RAW image mode (which I forgot to do last night!). simply allows for greater post processing than a JPEG.

Here was my one from last night. I was messing around with a new scope and a borrowed DSLR:

I am sure some of the more experienced planetary imagers will be along to assist shortly. I am still learning as well so don't just take my word for it. Good luck!

[mshaid]

Taken from my iPhone last night

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Seymour Klearly]

Thanks Blazar,

I have an old webcam so will give that a shot.  I might also have a go using the DSLR in video mode to see how that works.

A lovely picture by the way.  As you rightly guessed, mine was suffering from a bit of warm atmosphere, it was also shot between two houses, which didn't help much.

Looks like the cloud has set in, so no imaging tonight.

[Blazar]

might be ok by 10....my rig is outside waiting.....just in case!

[knobby]

If your up til 2 Uranus is right next to the moon

[Seymour Klearly]

That was way passed my bedtime last night, although I was tempted once the clouds shifted

Steve C (another one)

[Blazar]

Well I did go out....but as Knobby knows (after I rang him in despair), my mount threw a corrupted firmware message at me...so I had an expensive manual push to mount. still managed to view the moon though. Finished up about midnight. now waiting for a USB to serial cable to patch my handset.

[knobby]

Well I did go out....but as Knobby knows (after I rang him in despair), my mount threw a corrupted firmware message at me...so I had an expensive manual push to mount. still managed to view the moon though. Finished up about midnight. now waiting for a USB to serial cable to patch my handset.

I felt so gutted for you last night , I couldn't get to sleep ...

I've bunged my cable in the car in case I pass anywhere near you today

[Knight of Clear Skies]

Nice work, lots of detail there. Would probably benefit from a light sharpening, and perhaps boost of contrast.