Moon - 16th Sept 2021 (First Ever Go!)

[DMH]

Good evening! After asking lots of questions and bugging everyone, I got myself into a position to take some snaps and thought I'd share as I like to chat and talk about this amazing hobby!

I started off with some single snaps, which were OK but I think I must have had some light pollution coming in as there is some glare (maybe it's something else?)

https://photos.app.goo.gl/iojohPo5LVTc96Cy5

Then I decided to give stacking a go for a laugh which was a good bit of fun, I really like technology so this was right up my street. I took 4 videos at 20 seconds each, ran those videos through PIPP to get an AVI, then put the AVI through AutoStakkerd3 to get this: 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/fRPtVEpY4enKP2My6

I think it's a bit over-processed and too sharp for my liking, but I have no idea how to control those settings! But it was a good bit of fun for this evening!

[Dark Vader]

From the first photo I'd say your alignment is almost there. If it were me I'd move it just a touch closer so the round area almost touches the sides. As well as maximising the FOV,  I've found this helps with light intrusion (orange streetlights?) 

Something else I've done is to use a bit of phone zoom, say 2x, and if possible set the phone's focus at infinity. Hope it helps.

Andy

Forgot to mention, nice view of the Golden handle.

Edited September 17, 2021 by Dark Vader

[DMH]

8 minutes ago, Dark Vader said:

From the first photo I'd say your alignment is almost there. If it were me I'd move it just a touch closer so the round area almost touches the sides. As well as maximising the FOV,  I've found this helps with light intrusion (orange streetlights?) 

Something else I've done is to use a bit of phone zoom, say 2x, and if possible set the phone's focus at infinity. Hope it helps.

Andy

 

Thanks Andy! That makes sense, I'm using a 25mm EP which gives me that view without any zoom on the phone so I'll have to do some phone zoom to increase the size. I've just found infinity focus on the procam Android app so I'll try that. Thanks for the advice.

[Dark Vader]

Anytime...

you won't need much as it's digital zoom and you'll really need optical zoom for the better results but it's mainly to reduce the light intrusion.

What scope are you shooting through?

 

 

[DMH]

Thanks! I'm using a StellaLyra 6" Dob

[Dark Vader]

I use the 8" SW dob and got some pleasing results with the 15mm BST and 2.25x Barlow at 180x using the built in camera app on auto. Had to tap the screen first to set the AF. On the odd occasion it all comes together you can get a nice crop shot like this.

 

[DMH]

Wow!!! That is amazing! I'm hoping to pick up a 15mm BST soon actually. I think we have a full moon due soon so looking forward to seeing some more of your snaps!

[Dark Vader]

Tbh I tend to leave the full moon alone as a lot of the details are too washed out. There's much more visible detail during the phases and it's not so bright.

[DMH]

13 minutes ago, Dark Vader said:

Tbh I tend to leave the full moon alone as a lot of the details are too washed out. There's much more visible detail during the phases and it's not so bright.

Thats a good point! So much to learn 🤣

[PeterStudz]

Keep at it. And it’s good that you’ve posted your first attempts. One other thing that you might appreciate already. The moon is still relatively low in the sky. You should be able to get better results later in the year/early next year when it’s higher up. Less atmosphere to go through.