The moon - the problem

[AlistairW]

Hello,

So normally i can just about see the galatic plane, and my vague attempts at imaging are ok . Tonight the moon was waxing gibous at 80 percent . I took one preview shoot of 300s at a different location to the moon , but the jpg was almost white. I reduced the duration to 60 seconds - which was better but not great. So my question is - even if the night is clear , if the moon is up and bright - does this have serious implications for astrophotography ?

Thanks

Alistair

[JamesF]

Some people image in Ha when the Moon is near full as the signal is not supposed to be significantly affected by light from the Moon.  Planetary imaging still works ok when there are planets to image.  And of course you can image the Moon

James

[Tinker1947]

Is there a particular filter for this Ha, FLO show a few with different levels.......

[JamesF]

It's the width of the passband that is given in the description.  I think people usually consider that the smaller the passband the better, but the cost tends to increase as the passband gets smaller.  No idea how well one would work with a DSLR though.  I seem to recall that's what you use?

James

[Tinker1947]

It's the width of the passband that is given in the description.  I think people usually consider that the smaller the passband the better, but the cost tends to increase as the passband gets smaller.  No idea how well one would work with a DSLR though.  I seem to recall that's what you use?

James

Moved along a bit in the last 3 months or so James, 600D on a Star Adventurer, 414EX Mono on the Newt, it will guide nicely at 20 minutes but totally washed out, done some maintenance couple of Polar Aligns with the handset and this test image NGC 891, 600 seconds, the histogram was around 2/3 over to the right just moved the black slider over to the left edge for this image.....not sure if it's worth investing in a Ha filter or just wait for Moonless nights...

 

[jimbo747]

Dunno why, but here in hilly Derbyshire the only clear nights seem to be when the moon is out. Last couple of nights and tonight have been crystal. Having played around with a DSLR, albeit on an alt az tracking mount, I now understand why people go straight to mono CCD with filters and a pier/obsy setup. Waaay too much time spent faffing about setting up, aligning, focusing, choosing targets and with 2 young children, means I get near naff all done in my hour long viewing session and just come away annoyed after wasting what is quite rare around here, a cloud free night.

[alan4908]

Hi Alistair

It's the same question I've been asking, particularly given the relatively few clear nights we have here in the UK.

Initially, I thought about investing in a "moon filter" but after a bit of thought I don't see how this could work, the moon is a broadband reflector of light so I don't see how this could improve matters. However, I can see how a filter would help with man made light pollution, which is characterized by discrete emission lines. 

At the moment, I'm experimenting with various deep sky objects which are illuminated with the moon.

Alan