Afternoon moon and Appenines - 12 Feb

[mightymonoped]

Bit of a rush job as we had people coming over for the evening so it was late afternoon or nothing!

Captured at 4:00pm just before the clouds came over again. Sod's law, the evening was clear but I did manage to get some visual in.

Whole was at prime-focus, Appenine detail using Televue 3x Barlow.

Skywatcher ED80 with ToUcam 840K on EQ5

Whole using Regi5, 5 panes stitched in iMerge

Appenines using Avistack, stitched in ICE

All captured at 5fps using QCFocus

Tony

[astropete]

hi mightymonoped, for a rushed picture its came out fantastic. now imo this is what pow should be about. yes the dsi are fantastic, but who can afford the gear. for the casual back garden observer, this is what he/she wants to know what he/she can expect with modest equipment, then expand to greater things. anyway well done for such a fantastic shot.

[mightymonoped]

I know what you mean :-)

If you just want to dip your toes into imaging you don't need to spend a fortune. You don't even need an equatorial mount although it does things a little more challenging!

My first imaging setup was the ED80, a Manfrotto tripod with a mini-Giro mount, an extension tube and a £30 ToUcam. I haven't been able to spend a great deal since, just a couple of decent Barlows and a second-hand EQ5 that I have lovingly stripped and regreased. Astrophotography for the recession :-)

Tony