30x Moon

[The Warthog]

As I mentioned in another thread, most of my good kit is unavailable as we sort out our sheds, so I took the little Mak out on a photo tripod to have a go at the moon. As it's not a bad little scope, I was able to focus it nicely at 30x, and get a fairly clear image of the terminator. At 30x, you don't get a lot of detail, but Fracastorius, about half way along the terminator, grabs your interest immediately. It is the partially ruined crater, or walled plain, to the south of Mare Nectaris, the tiny sea that has just emerged from the shadow. If I had been naming thngs, I think I would have called Fracastorius the Bay of Something - maybe Butterflies.

Tranquillitatis is about halfway out of the shadow at the moment. The only other real grabbers at this magnification are Atlas and Hercules to the north.

I had the scope on a photographic tripod, which was most of my problem with it. I must say, if you have a small scope on a shaky tripod, my heart goes out to you after the last two nights. I can tell you one thing from experience, though. If you only have enough money to make one improvement, buy a sturdier tripod. It will be like getting a new scope.

There are supposed to be some good nights coming up this week, and I hope to have my scope up and ready by tomorrow, or Wednesday at the latest. This is my favorite time of year for observing the Moon.

[TheThing]

Yep, second that thought! Lovely time for moon gazing.

Great report too. Hopefully cloud will clear over here for me to get out in the next couple of nights.

[Talitha]

Thanks WH !! 'Bay of Butterflies' sounds lovely... that would be 'Sinus' something or another (anyone know Latin?).

Btw, what's the focal ratio of the Mak? Mine (90mm ETX RA) is an f/13.9 and the only way I can use it on a photo tripod is with a Vixen Fine Adjustment Unit DX.. makes things a lot easier.

[The Warthog]

I'm pretty sure that butterflies are 'lepidoptera', which would make it 'Sinus Lepidopterae.' Not bad. Yes, I did study Latin.

Oh, the Mak is 12-point-something. I haven't looked at the manual for a while. I got it mainly for terrestrial use. I was able to confidently identify a cormorant with it, a kilometre away. It's by Konus. Gives a nice picture of Saturn, though.