1st attempt at the Moon

[weetooner]

My 1st attempt at the moon taken through a sky-watcher mercury 705 with a 2x barlow. Camera - Nikon D3100, shutter speed 1/1250, iso 800. Just can't seem to get focus just right but I shall persevere   Photo taken on Sat. 31st January 2015.

[RichM63]

Not bad for a first attempt.   Ah focusing, this has me uttering all sorts of 'bad' words.

[Blazar]

Nice start. The fuller the phase the more difficult I find focusing. If you DSLR has a live view option, try focusing using the terminator. The sky quest will make it easier. why not give that a go?

[gnomus]

My 1st attempt at the moon taken through a sky-watcher mercury 705 with a 2x barlow. Camera - Nikon D3100, shutter speed 1/1250, iso 800. Just can't seem to get focus just right but I shall persevere   Photo taken on Sat. 31st January 2015.

It's a good first attempt.  Exposure is good, and I don't think focus is far off - indeed, it may not be off at all....

It is difficult to take single shot exposures of the moon because the 'seeing' changes rapidly, and catching the moment when the seeing is good enough to give a sharp image is very difficult.  Most folks taking shots of the moon use a technique called "lucky imaging".  In essence, they shoot a 3000+ frame video with the hope that a proportion of those frames will be in good focus.  It sounds complicated, but it is not that difficult.  The good news is that the software (AS2, Registax, for example) for doing this is free, and that your Nikon is capable of shooting HD video.

You must use LiveView for focussing if you are not already doing so.  You can zoom in to get a better idea of focussing.  If in doubt, you can get something called a Bahtinov mask.  You hang this over the end of your telescope, slew to a nearby star and focus.  Then go back to the moon (infinity is infinity).  I use a Bahtinov mask for focussing, since my eyes are now so old they have turned into hard-boiled eggs.

Looking forward to seeing your next attempt.

[weetooner]

The sky quest will make it easier. why not give that a go?

Thanks for the replies.

Can I ask what is "The Sky Quest"?

[weetooner]

Doh!! Just realised what Sky Quest is  . Will give it a go to see what happens.

[Blazar]

Doh!! Just realised what Sky Quest is  . Will give it a go to see what happens.

Lol....yer the big one ;-) I use an 8 inch scope for lunar and they are excellent....you will be seeing inside those craters. As Gnomes says, a lot of us use webcams / CMOS camera (like the ZWO range) for lunar. It can take a lot of frames in small amount of time and beat the atmosphere.  Have a look in my gallery for other images taken with the 8 iinch SCT. assume the sky quest is a dobsonian?

Keep going though you will find a lot of reward learning the lunar surface.