First Moon Shot

[cap603]

Took the new 8" Orion Sky Quest XT8 Dob to Prince Edward Island, Canada. When I was there in 2007, the stars popped out of the sky. It was spectacular and I was looking forward to having a telescope this time. As luck always has it, there was only one cloudless night, June 25, and that was graced with a full, bright moon. Attached (I hope) is a lunar photo taken by merely holding my Sony Cyber-Shot up to the eyepiece. This elaborate technique didn't work with Saturn, which I could see easily. Mars was low in the west. Looking at it through so much atmosphere was like looking through a prism. I was able to locate M3 (just a fuzzy) and I found M94 by accident as I was scanning the sky. Another fuzzy. However, they were my first galaxies!

All of this was done at 48 power (f 5.9 with a 25mm ep). Back in Western Pennsylvania the weather is very warm and very humid/hazy. Though the sky is "cloudless" the haze is restricting viewing. Yes, I know, common complaints.....

[Brendan of Borg]

Good capture! She's a bright thang!!

[jgs001]

That's a nice afocal image of the moon. Good job on the fuzzy finding