Moon (m) - first proper image!

[ramdom]

Moon (m)

Total integration: 2-6 seconds (500-1500 x 4 milliseconds).

Cameras: QHY294M (11mp mono) CMOS cooled to -15 degrees C.

Telescope: Takahashi FC100DF Steinheil fluorite doublet apochromat refractor @ f/7.4.

Reducer: None.

Mount: Paramount MyT.

Filters: Orion SkyGlow Broadband L filter.

Software: TheSkyX Pro, SharpCap, PixInsight, Topaz Studio 2.

 

Full resolution images of the entire series are available at https://www.astrobin.com/84ehrx/ and of the main image at http://ram.org/images/space/scope/1.7.4.7/moon.jpg

What can I say about our Moon that hasn't already been said in countless poems, songs, stories, movies?  It is the only natural satellite of our planet, with a diametre about one quarter that of Earth and possessing one sixth of its surface gravity. It is the fifth largest satelite in our solar system and does not have any conditions suitable for life.  The Moon orbits Earth at an average distance of 384,400 kilometres and is illuminated by our sun.

I normally stick to deep sky objects but during the last total lunar eclipse on November 11, 2022, I managed to capture 1500 exposures of the moon prior to the eclipse (in three batches of 500). Unfortunately it got cloudy so I couldn't image the eclipse itself.  I registered and stacked the images using PixInsight and FFT registration and then processed it using Topaz Studio 2.  Each of the 1500 frames was 4ms, with a gain of 0 on the QHY294M with the Takahashi FC100DF at F/7.4 (no reducer).

The first image on AstroBin (the second below) is the processed version of the stacked 1500 exposures from all three sets; the second  image (first below) is the processed version of the stacked 500 exposures from the first set; and the third is the processed version of the very first frame only; and the final image (only on AstroBin) is the unprocessed version of the stacked 1500 exposures.

As always, thanks for looking!

 

--Ram