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Lunar observing (a forgotten pleasure)


D Wright

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Last night the moon was too bright to do anything else so I decided to do some lunar observing as it was nice and clear. I had forgotten how much pleasure you can get from this. I was using my 18" Dob. Normally I use my Naglers with this scope but I decided to use some of my 1.25" eyepieces to get more magnification. I had my 12.5 mm BST and a 2.5 barlow in and WOW. 360 X magnification and so clear. I concentrated on the area around Copernicus and could see all the mountains of the Montes Carapatus. The area of Sinus Iridium was spectacular too. This is definitely the best I have ever seen the moon.

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Absolutely agree. I was so tempted to get out last night just to look at the moon, but I had to get up at 4.30am this morning so decided against it. (But I'm hoping to get out tonight if it doesn't cloud over, and my friend and I have agreed in advance we'll just enjoy the moon rather than seeing it as a shame for washing out the faint fuzzies).

I bought a 12" Dob as I had a love for deep sky objects, but just lately, I've been finding more disappointments than wow moments, (due to light pollution and poor seeing I suppose), so I'm now starting to enjoy more and more finding features on the moon to sketch or photograph.

(Stargate 450P - Nice scope. How have you found it? They look good. I'm hoping they'll start making they're way onto the 2nd hand market in a few years time!).

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I was observing the same area as you last night and I can agree the area around Sinus Iridium was spectacular. I didn't have as much aperture as you but the clave' eyepieces were fantastic giving me so much contrast, I just loved it.

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The 450P is a fantastic scope. Huge light gathering but easy to put up and control. The week before last when there was no moon I was observing the Coma Berenices and Leo area and I have never seen so many galaxies. I can see things down to Mag 14.5. It does help that I live in a Bortle 3 area. They are very sturdy as well as I have found out. I keep it outside with a 365 cover on it and so far it has blown over 3 times. The last time it blew over onto paving and I panicked thinking it must be broken but not a scratch on it. It is now tied to a 6' fence post on a 3' fence spike so I can remove the post for use.

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Im really glad you rekindled your appreciation for our beautiful Moon, and had such an enjoyable session observing it. 

To me the Moon is the most wonderful object in our sky to observe. You rarely ever see exactly the same lunation where the shadows precisely replicate a previous observation, and the alien terrain is breathtaking, even in a good but small aperture scope it is spectacular. I like observing pretty much any kind of object, but the Moon has to be my favourite target of all. Fortunately for everyone else, its not around all the time, but if it were up to me I'd have it in our skies every night. 

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Blimey that is a hardcore and sturdy scope!

Oooh. Aperture greed kicking in again!!

I suppose I better learn how to use mine a little better first!! but thank you for your reply and feedback on the Stargate. It's nice to hear it's proving to be a well made scope. One day maybe. . . . .

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Nice scope! I'd love to use one like this someday, I guess the view must be fantastic, indeed!

We often see the Moon as a source of light pollution, but we forget how beautiful it actually is and how easy it is to observe. Besides, it probably played a significant role in the appearance (and the protection) of life on Earth. 

I saw recently in a video this beautiful picture of a 1% Moon. That's definitely an interesting subject to photograph!

 

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1 hour ago, Unklewhale said:

Strange isn't it how we are all so busy seeing as far away as posible that we so often bypass this awesome body, thinking it more of a nuisance.

Not all of us I assure you :smile:.  I'm glad you are making friends with the Moon again.  Personally I think the Kelling Autumn star party should be arranged centred around the first quarter Moon!  :laugh2:

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3 hours ago, D Wright said:

Last night the moon was too bright to do anything else so I decided to do some lunar observing as it was nice and clear. I had forgotten how much pleasure you can get from this. I was using my 18" Dob. Normally I use my Naglers with this scope but I decided to use some of my 1.25" eyepieces to get more magnification. I had my 12.5 mm BST and a 2.5 barlow in and WOW. 360 X magnification and so clear. I concentrated on the area around Copernicus and could see all the mountains of the Montes Carapatus. The area of Sinus Iridium was spectacular too. This is definitely the best I have ever seen the moon.

I often observe the moon with my dobsonian even though it's not what they are normally expected to be used for. I get some great views, with far more detail that any of my other scopes show.

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Nice report - thanks for posting it :icon_biggrin:

The Moon was lovely last night. I was just using my little 70mm TV Ranger but even with that the detail was almost overwhelming with ridges, wrinkles pits and mounds all along the terminator.

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For me, observing lunar features is complementary to spotting DSO's. With a big dob (18" in my case), it's very rewarding to meander with medium to high power through the different landscapes along the terminator. At 518x mag, I get that "landing module" impression. Moreover, lunar observations are absolutely immune against any kind of light pollution; and, due to the dob's large exit pupil, problems with age-related eye "floaters" are kept at bay.

Stephan

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Can only agree with the sentiment of the OP. 

I too spent an hour looking at the moon last night albeit on my smaller Dob, but with a new (to me) Meade uwa 24mm eyepiece. Very crisp views. One of my favourite areas is Sinus Iridium always has been and it looked stunning last night. Also towards the south pole area was very interesting too, never really paid much attention previously to this part. 

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I took a look at the moon as well at the weekend, during a brief break in the clouds.  Tried out my Watson Binoviewers with the 20mm eyepieces. on my Nextar GPS 9.25".  It really was spectacular when I finally got them set up!

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