Quick Lunar Session 17Feb

[Dave882]

A clear night beckoned and I decided to have quick visual session and grab a few images. Unfortunately the heat haze/currents were abysmal till at least an hour after last-light, and by that time the moon was really low in the sky which made for really turbulent conditions and fine-focus was almost impossible. No keepers here but since it's been such a long time since my last lunar session thought I'd post my efforts anyway.

Posidonius Crater
Rima Ariadaeus
Aristoteles and Eudoxus
Atlas and Hercules

An area I want to revisit in better conditions is the Rima Ariadaeus and surrounding rills. I was really captivated by these features and (through the eyepiece) spent some time scanning the whole area following the length of the rills back and forth. I found some images of these areas from Apollo 10 that just blew me away!

c14 (non edge) @f11 with asi178mm (IR685 filter)
AS!3, Registax6
10ms, 5min captures, best 2%

Thanks for looking guys!

PS- Ironically, after this I reset the rig for some dso imaging and by midnight I was imaging in some of the most stable conditions I've ever had here....:rolleyes:

[Startrek]

Dave,
Excellent lunar vistas considering conditions and location
Well Done !!
Sometimes it is worth imaging when your in two minds about it
Yes Apollo 10 , I remember watching the launch ( or replay ) on my parents B&W PYE tv
Also visited the Science museum in London where the Apollo 10 command module is exhibited.
Gee it’s and old battle scared , rusty relic from the past , hard to believe 3 astronauts lived in this thing for 10 or 11 days ( well 2 went down for a few hours for a closer look at the lunar surface )
I think 10 holds the record for the fastest re entry ( 25,450 mph or something like that )

Martin

[Dave882]

Thanks Martin you're very kind!! Definitely not my best images but the best I could do this month lol!

I'm a bit young to have been able to enjoy Apollo 10 live, but I agree it's still incredibly awe-inspiring. These are the images that I was talking about of the same area: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rima_Ariadaeus

[Startrek]

Thanks
Those Apollo images are awe inspiring, how did those guys keep their eyes off the lunar terrain whilst in orbit. I suppose when Houston asked for read out data from the Nav and guidance system or consumables , they had no choice but turn their heads.

[Saturnine]

Hi Dave
Enjoyed the images, as you are probably already aware, you have nicely captured Rima Hyginus as well in the 2nd image.
Just to add to your ironic impressions, Sat. night was not forecast to be clear down here so I was pleasantly surprised to have a look outside after dinner and see that it was clear. The afternoon storm clouds had departed thankfully. It wasn't until I'd set up the 250mm dob that I was delighted to see that the seeing was very steady and after some casual browsing around the sky I realised that it was indeed, the steadiest skies that I can ever remember , during my astro life.

[Tinderboxsky]

Excellent and informative images given the conditions.

I have not imaged the Moon since late October. I take a break November through February as I find the Ecliptic too low here in Southern Tasmania and the twilights far too long.

[Dave882]

Thanks Jeff - yes it's funny how the sky can change so quickly! I'm glad you were out there too but just wish I could have had some more planetary views in those kind of conditions this season!

[Dave882]

Cheers Steve - yes it's quite challenging at the moment even here, and for you I imagine it's not dark till very late. But sometimes you just get the itch...
I live in a concrete jungle - with about 700m2 of steaming hot driveway right in front of my viewing location so astro in the early summer evenings is awful - but I have noticed that the sky has been really stable a few hours after dark so when I can get out there it's still been worth it

[bkm2304]

Hi Dave,

I posted images of the moon taken on several nights last October which were the best I'd ever captured in decades. The weird thing was that the sky looked OK-ish and there was a tinge of bushfire smoke in the air - so go figure! My point is that I very much agree with the comments about imaging even if it doesn't look great; Yes you're probably going to get ordinary pics, but once in a (long) while everything falls your way.

Have a look here -
https://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=207743

[John W]

Nice set of close ups David. Well done.

Cheers, John W

[Dave882]

Thanks guys I appreciate the comments!
Yes sometimes the sky can surprise in both good and bad ways- especially for planetary imaging at long focal lengths. I almost always start a planetary session with the binoviewers and it’s very easy to tell what kind of night you’re going to have once you look through the eyepiece. Still, to this date, my best view of Saturn was on a night I actually got rained on during the session…

https://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=200229