Apollo 11 astronauts photographed on the Moon from Brisbane.

[Dennis]

I managed to pinpoint and image the craterlets Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins located in the North-East Quadrant, East part of Mare Tranquillitatis, using my 201mm dia. f/11.5 telescope from my back yard in Brisbane, Qld, Australia on 19th July 2019 at 00:55 am AEST.:)

The atmospheric conditions (seeing) were not ideal so image quality has suffered from the jet stream turbulence. The lighting is quite flat as the time was just after Full Moon.

At the time, our Moon was 396,730 Km from the Earth with an apparent diameter of 30.12'. The Lunar Phase was 340.8°, Lunation of 15.82 days and 97.2% illuminated.

Reference data from the “Virtual Moon Atlas”.

http://ap-i.net/avl/en/start

ARMSTRONG
Dimension: 5.0x5.0Km / 3.0x3.0Mi
Height: 670.0' / 2000.0ft

Longitude: 24.944° East
Latitude: 1.354° North

ALDRIN
Dimension: 3.0x3.0Km / 2.0x2.0Mi
Height: 600.0' / 1800.0ft

Longitude: 22.090° East
Latitude: 1.406° North

COLLINS
Dimension: 3.0x3.0Km / 2.0x2.0Mi
Height: 560.0' / 1700.0ft

Longitude: 23.709° East
Latitude: 1.298° North

I have included screen captures of reference maps from the “Virtual Moon Atlas” showing the region around the landing site of Apollo 11.

http://ap-i.net/avl/en/start

Cheers

Dennis

[beren]

:thumbsup: Brilliant Dennis what a timely project, excellent images and perfectly presented

[RichardJ]

Hi Dennis,

Great shot. Inspired me to do a similar version with my 12 inch Dob.
50 years ago whilst crowded around a small TV I saw Armstrong and Aldrin walk on the Moon.
How time flys!

Richard.

[bigjoe]

Nice work Dennis ..reminded me of when I was sitting at School in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney watching Neil, Buzz walk ..and then seeing Collins later on....Tempus Fugit!
bigjoe

[Dennis]

Thanks Stuart, Richard and Joe, I appreciate your comments.:)

Just for interest, here is a screen capture showing a single Raw frame from the AVI sequence with the cropped region.

I just love how SW tools such as Autostakkert3 and Registax6 can develop the raw, underlying data, lift it from the mush of atmospheric turbulence and reveal the details smeared by poor seeing.:thumbsup:

If only we had access to this technology back in July 1969.:)

Cheers

Dennis

[astroron]

I don't see any astronauts?,Only some craters and Mare.;)
Good work none the less Dennis. :)
Cheers:thumbsup:

[Dennis]

Thanks Ron.:)

If you look hard and long enough, using averted imagination, you should also be able to pick out Ranger 8 and Surveyor 5 nearby.;)

Note that all locations are approximate, as I have not yet been able to find a definitive map showing the location of all these man-made landers.

Cheers

Dennis

EDIT: Image updated based upon locations shown in "Virtual Moon Atlas".

[astroron]

Dennis, I can see it in my 16" ;):lol:
Cheers:thumbsup:

[Dennis]

Hah - nothing beats a dark sky site, pristine optics and sheer observing talent.:)

Cheers

Dennis