Jump to content

Banner.jpg.b89429c566825f6ab32bcafbada449c9.jpg

First Attempt at Lunar Close-Up


Mandy D

Recommended Posts

Last night everything came together;  the Moon approaching first quarter, clear, steady skies, the RC6 nicely cooled and mounted on the new Skytee 2 and the trusty old Nikon D3200 with it's smaller pixels acquiring the images. This is the best and sharpest image I have ever acquired of the lunar surface. I am very impressed wih the RC6 and knew that the D3200 was capable of good quality imaging, but the results still surprised me. My next step has to be to go closer with the Explore Scientific focal extender, but it's clouded over and pouring with rain.

Final processing was carried out in GIMP as usual, after stacking in AS3.

South.jpg

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great first effort!  I have a skytee 2 arriving this week for my not-so-much-anymore "grab and go"!   I am looking forward to it.   My previous lighter mount/tripod was too wobbly for my 102ED loaded with a 2 inch diagonal and heavy eyepiece.

 

Clear skies

 

Mike

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, WestCoastCannuck said:

Great first effort!  I have a skytee 2 arriving this week for my not-so-much-anymore "grab and go"!   I am looking forward to it.   My previous lighter mount/tripod was too wobbly for my 102ED loaded with a 2 inch diagonal and heavy eyepiece.

 

Clear skies

 

Mike

Thank you! The Skytee 2 is amazing. Mine has quite a bit of slop in the azimuth drive, but the thing is so heavy and has so much inertia, you barely notice except when you reverse direction. The bigger problem I was finding was that with the Moon as high as it was last night, I was sitting on the ground to look through the viewfinder or at the LCD and could barely reach the altitude control knobs!

It really has become not-so-much-anymore "grab and go", but I have now cleared space where I can get west and north without being seen and it is not far from my door, so I don't really care as I keep it set up in the hallway and just have to unfold the legs, mount the scope and I'm ready to go. That sounds worse than it really is, but it takes no longer than dragging the 200P Dob out. I must really get it on the 2" tripod with the pier which needs a bit more machining to achieve that, but will give me more height.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, Mandy D said:

Thank you! The Skytee 2 is amazing. Mine has quite a bit of slop in the azimuth drive, but the thing is so heavy and has so much inertia, you barely notice except when you reverse direction. The bigger problem I was finding was that with the Moon as high as it was last night, I was sitting on the ground to look through the viewfinder or at the LCD and could barely reach the altitude control knobs!

It really has become not-so-much-anymore "grab and go", but I have now cleared space where I can get west and north without being seen and it is not far from my door, so I don't really care as I keep it set up in the hallway and just have to unfold the legs, mount the scope and I'm ready to go. That sounds worse than it really is, but it takes no longer than dragging the 200P Dob out. I must really get it on the 2" tripod with the pier which needs a bit more machining to achieve that, but will give me more height.

It is never ending I have found.   Always something new or something you want to improve or change.  haha.   But its all worth it when under the sky.  :)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.