MARCH 1ST - WAXING CRESCENT, 39.6%, 7.13 DAYS

[paulastro]

First chance to observe the Moon this evening for a while due to the story weather and snow we've been having up here..  Rima Hyginus and Rima Ariadaeus, Stofler and Maurolycus in the S Highlands plus Aristloteles and Eudoxus all well placed.  Some nice details on view using binoviewer with SW 120ED. 

Took some single frames using an Olympus E-M5 Mk11 including the pic below, with some crops from it to show the areas above.  Much better visually of course.

 

  

 

[mikeDnight]

Excellent images Paul. It was good to get a dry, clear spell for a change.

[Stu]

Cracking shots Paul. Love the shadows in the first crop.

[paulastro]

8 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

Excellent images Paul. It was good to get a dry, clear spell for a change.

Thanks Mike. Yes. a rare event in the last few weeks. 🙂

[paulastro]

7 hours ago, Stu said:

Cracking shots Paul. Love the shadows in the first crop.

Many thanks Stu.  It started to rain while I was observing, and this morning there was a layer of snow - again!  🙂

[maw lod qan]

Excellent images.

[Ouroboros]

That's a cracker of an image, @paulastro  Crisp.  What telescope is your Olympus E-M5 Mk11 attached to? I'd also be interested to learn what camera settings you used and what post processing you did if any. 🙂 

[Trevor N]

Very sharp and clear. Same scope as me. It doesn't do a bad job at all on the moon. Trevor

[Ouroboros]

1 hour ago, Trevor N said:

Very sharp and clear. Same scope as me. It doesn't do a bad job at all on the moon. Trevor

Ah! I’ve just realised I didn’t read the original post. It’s using a SW 120ED. Silly me. 

[paulastro]

11 hours ago, Ouroboros said:

That's a cracker of an image, @paulastro  Crisp.  What telescope is your Olympus E-M5 Mk11 attached to? I'd also be interested to learn what camera settings you used and what post processing you did if any. 🙂 

Many thanks.  The Olympus is attached to my SW 120ED, with cable release to prevent movement.  The mount is my Ercole Altaz mount, no drives of course.  I use the camera on A setting - aperture priority which is fixed to that of the scope of course.  I adjust the exposure on the pull-out focusing screen by changing the shutter speed.

At prime focus the mag through the telescope with the Olympus is x36 and I can magnify the image on the screen up to x14, giving 36x14 which gives a good high mag to focus on with the telescope's  fine focus.

Any processing is with an ancient copy of Photoshop Elements. Only the usual simple stuff, croping, contrast, brightness and sharpening if necessary. I usually change the image to mono, but I didn't on this occasion.

[Ouroboros]

@paulastro Thanks.  You must be pretty much filling the chip with that camera/scope with a full moon if my maths is right. I guess you use quite a fast shutter speed.  I tend to on the rare occasion I photograph the Moon. 

Edited March 2, 2020 by Ouroboros

[paulastro]

2 hours ago, Ouroboros said:

@paulastro Thanks.  You must be pretty much filling the chip with that camera/scope with a full moon if my maths is right. I guess you use quite a fast shutter speed.  I tend to on the rare occasion I photograph the Moon. 

Many thanks

Yes, you are correct, the full moon does nearly fill the frame.  Because of the format of the macro 4/3 format of the camera, the effective focal length is 1800mm, only 200mm less than an 8 inch f10 SC.

The shutter speed varies with the phase of the Moon I generally use 400 asa and use speeds from around 1/500  to as slow as 1/30 sec. The transparency of the sky and altitude of the moon also has an effect of course.

[paulastro]

Forgot to say, the pic I posted was taken on 1/200 sec at 400 asa.