Moon ~ Love it or Hate it

[PaulG]

After enjoying a clear blue sky all afternoon, i thought it would be a great night to shoot the Moon. I set up shortly before 6 pm and waited for darkness to arrive. I managed to shoot a handful of out of focus pictures before an almighty dark blanket cloud slowly engulfed the Moon . I immediately packed away as i really thought it was going to rain cats & dogs. To my surprise and frustration accompanied by a few unrepeatable words, the clouds had drifted by to leave a clear sky an hour later.

So again i set up and grabbed around twenty shots and even had time to swap a few eyepieces and have a look up and down the terminator.

This experience tonight nearly prompted me to sell up later this year due to the shear frustration. Just goes to show how the sky can change so quickly and to never give up even if it looks like there is no chance on earth for a clear sky.

So here is the best shot out of twenty, a prime focus single shot with a Helios 120mm F8.3 Refractor & Nikon D70 6mp DSLR.

[astropete]

good shot paul. the same clouds stopped my shoot as well.

[resonator77]

I say it is very good

was it a single shot with DSLR?

[brianb]

Yeah .... invest in a tarpaulin, chuck it over the scope when shower threatens, save yourself a whole lot of setup time & frustration .... I once had an excellent all night session interrupted by one, two, three, four, five, six, SEVEN showers ....

Still your perseverance paid off - that's a nice shot!

[Beyond_Vision]

That was well worth setting up again for. A very nice crisp shot

Regards

Kevin

[PaulG]

astropete ~ thanks, i think the weather maybe a problem during the next few nights with the rain that's forecast.

resonator77 ~ it is a single shot and tweeked in un sharp mask only.

brianb ~ thanks, thats a good idea i do have a motorbike cover somewhere that might be suitable.

BeyondVision ~ thanks Kevin, I'm pleased too that i went back out again as my aim 2 years ago was to capture each night in a Luna cycle (still woefully short ).

Paul

[AztecastroMcJ]

lol, i know what u mean regarding weather

well worth effort tho

great picture

really sharp gud processing

[davidscanlan]

Cracking photo....dont see how anyone could dislike the moon to be honest

Totally fantastic celestial body :-)