Moon friend or foe (foe)

[matt-c]

Hi all, I'm currently trying to get data on the heart and soul nebula (widefield) I'm aiming for about 5-8 hours but every time I try it's cloudy or the moon is up.

Should I just persevere or will the data be rubbish?

I'm having difficulty already processing with just a small amount of moon glow and fear spending 5 hours outside to find I have gradients of doom will result in grey hair.

Well that turned into a ramble.

My question is will more subs help or is it a lost cause when the moon is up.

[PhotoGav]

I'm afraid that you won't like my answer and I must stress that this is just my personal opinion...

I have given up doing any serious imaging while there is anything more than a quarter Moon. Don't lose heart though, there are opportunities even when the Moon is around, just wait for it to be very low or set or not risen yet. In fact, one of my favourite imaging periods is the few days after a full moon, those hours in the early evening before the waning moon rises feels like photon-burglary and that you have prevailed despite the Moon's best efforts! You can use an Ha filter when there is lots of moonlight about, but I generally reserve that for image framing experiments and not data gathering.

You can of course just image the Moon while it is about - that has it's own fascination...!

Good luck and remember the key to all of this is patience!

[matt-c]

Thanks for the reply,

I was afraid you'd say that haha o well I suppose I can look at buying more things I can't use

[PhotoGav]

Ha ha, exactly! A Celestron EdgeHD 14" for some planetary perhaps?!