Evening from me (newbie)

[Matchbox]

Evening all,

I have always had a deep curiosity with astronomy however, I have been unable to further explore these interests due to pursuing other goals. Alas, I felt that it was about time that I put my foot down and got into quenching my thirst for stargazing. So far it has been magical; staring at the moon, Jupiter and Saturn. I cannot wait for another full moon and also perhaps when other larger placates outside of our orbit hit opposition. I've also wanted to get into a little of astrophotography. So this is my introduction thread, I hope to gain a lot of knowledge and meet the many people apart of this forum.

thanks!

PS: here is a picture of the moon as seen in early Feb 2016. Taken by my iPad on a dobsonian 10".

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/content_link/NuIn7j5exwx3HzHFvNu2e5GH6gtEQlhMLbw vpT4q9455I5sBgvt1UsLWdAZKZvM7/file?dl=1
~ Ashley

[Somnium]

Hi Ashley

welcome to the boards :welcome:

it is great you are starting to see some fantastic targets. astrophotography is a fantastic hobby but does take some time to ride the steep learning curve and will probably empty your pockets, but you have come to the right place to talk to others and learn. good luck!

also, the best time to observe the moon is generally not when it is full, at quarter moon or even a crescent moon, you can see fantastic detail at the edge of its shadow (the termination line). that allows you to see the depth of craters and gives the moon a true 3D feel.

[Matchbox]

Thank you, Somnium!

Ooo, see I am learning something already! Yes, I am quite eager to see the moon despite it being full or otherwise. I assumed when it is full that there would be more to view. The image I attached in my first post might display what you talked about. In any case, yes, it probably will empty my pockets as I already received my Baader Hyperion zoom 8-24m eyepiece and it has already made my two standard 10mm and 25mm eyepieces redundant as the quality is quite impressive!

I do have a question though, why is Saturn so blurry?

[Somnium]

saturn is likely to be blurry due to 2 factors
1) it is quite small and you are trying to resolve detail that is difficult
2) the atmosphere is blurring your image. i assume, given the time it rises up, you are observing it quite close to the horizon. that means the light is having to go through a lot of the atmosphere to get to your eyepiece. it is probably better to wait a little later in the season to get great views.

[Matchbox]

That's true, I have been seeing it around 4:30AEST as it is comes from the horizon. I guess I am really eager to get exploring =P thanks for the advice Aiden. Much appreciated!