A couple of moon images 12th Feb 2011

[lukebl]

Seeing wasn't too bad, so I had a go at the moon last night with both my DSLR and the webcam.

Here's a full-frame shot with the Canon 450d at prime focus of the SW 250mm f/4.8 Newt:

And here's a couple with the SPC880 webcam + televue 5x Powermate

Plato:

Clavius (seeing had deteriorated a lot by the time I got to this one):

[Mamsoth]

Nice captures, Plato especially

[dlp]

Great images, love Plato. Bet you had fun focussing with that gear attached!

[lukebl]

Thanks gents.

Actually focussing was easy! I focussed on nearby Aldebaran with a Bahtinov mask, then slewed to the moon.

[luis]

Excelent PLATO!!! The full-frame shot also got very good.

[bigglesdad]

Cracking photos there!

[MrsR]

Wow

[nightfisher]

very good

[Photohound]

Hi luke, lovely shots there well done, i've just started imaging and i cant get my focus anywhere near as good as that, you say you use a bahtinov was it home made, purchased, from whom... and a bit of advice on using one if you could please...

[lukebl]

Hi luke, lovely shots there well done, i've just started imaging and i cant get my focus anywhere near as good as that, you say you use a bahtinov was it home made, purchased, from whom... and a bit of advice on using one if you could please...

Thanks, Photohound. My Bahtinov mask was commercially-made. I think I got it from 'Stay Focussed' but I have a feeling they are no longer trading. There are plenty of other places, through, where you can get them. Easy to make, too. See this thread. I had a home-made card one which worked fine till it got a bit soggy with dew one night!

They are very easy to use. Just hang them on the front of the scope (any orientation).

on Youtube shows what happens as you focus.

I play around with the exposure on the webcam so that the star is as bright as possible, focus, remove the mask, and then slew to the moon (or planet). Getting the moon on the chip is easy, given the moon's size. Bit more tricky with the planets.