1st Qtr Moon with Mewlon 180 & Canon 40D

[Dennis]

Hello,

Last night I was out imaging the Moon with the DMK and was lucky enough to strike some 7/10 seeing in the early evening which then dropped off rapidly after 9:00pm. So, I switched to the Canon 40D and grabbed a few shots at the F12 prime focus of the Mewlon 180 at ISO100, 1/30 sec. using Remote Live View to focus and also to keep the mirror locked up. Two panes make up this mosaic, processed in CS3.

File size warning: 195Kb 1600x2299 pixels.

Cheers

Dennis

[dannat]

nice work. looks crisp

[Matty P]

Lovely image Dennis. Very sharp and nice colour.

:thumbsup:

[IanL]

Very nice Dennis.

Ian

[Inmykombi]

A really sharp image with good colour.
Excellent time to capture our closest neighbour too.

Well done.

[Dennis]

Thanks guys,

Here’s a collage showing the Canon 40D view versus the DMK21AF04 view; 2150mm versus 5400mm focal length.

Cheers

Dennis

[Dennis]

Hi Ian

Thanks! I managed to drag the Mewlon out last night, after our collimation trials in the garage with the Tak collimating telescope and discovered that it was quite some way off collimation.

However, our practice session had given me some confidence and insight into which Bob’s knobs to tweak so I had it collimated within a couple of minutes using the star test.

I’ll insert the Tak collimating telescope again tomorrow and see what it shows. It could be the focuser although I did remove the copper compression band to make sure that eyepieces, diagonals and cameras seated properly.

Thanks for dropping by and leaving the Tak collimating telescope for me to play with!:thumbsup:

Cheers

Dennis

[netwolf]

Niice shot, you can see the man on the moon quite nicely. I saw a outline on CN from another similar moon shot and now i am seeing it everywhere in similar photos.

[Stephen65]

Very nice image, good views of Mares Marginalis and Smythii on the eastern limb

[Pierre]

Nice picture. It seems to be sharp ;)

I hope i would do as well as you can with my µ180...

[Robert_T]

Hey Dennis, love the collage view... :eyepop:that would make a great pic for a text on lunar imaging as it shows the differential FOV of DSLR vs webcam.. maybe you should write one:P I'd buy it;)

[Dennis]

Thanks Fahim! I can easily see the “rabbit” on the face of the full Moon, but I have yet to visualise the man in the Moon – maybe it’s a right/left brain thing for those of us who are artistically challenged.

Cheers

Dennis


Thanks Stephen! Thanks also for pointing out the limb features, I often get lost in the regions of the terminator due to the richness of the features to be seen there, brought to life by the low angle of the Sun.

Cheers

Dennis


Thanks Pierre! The Mewlon 180 is an amazing optical tube and I am surprised at how sharp the Moon was in the full frame of the APS sized Canon 40D. I have read that the Dall-Kirkham design only produces a sharp image at the centre of the FOV with much coma towards the edges.

You will definitely be able to produce wonderful, sharp images with your Mewlon 180 and I look forward to seeing them on Ice In Space.

Cheers

Dennis


Thanks Robert! The Mewlon 180 has become my favourite ‘scope due to its excellent optics, rapid cool down and “grab and go” size; the C9.5 is languishing in its box and I must get it out one day to do the comparison.

I can still vividly remember the day you delivered it to our house and I first saw it appear from its Takahashi box – art and engineering rolled into one.

Cheers

Dennis

[netwolf]

Dennis,

Check out this thread, the chap has posted a second image where he has drawn the outline.
http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/2455922/Main/2452978

Regards
Fahim

[Dennis]

Ahah, thanks for that Fahim, I see him now. In fact, once you have made the connection, it is impossible to miss the figure!

Cheers

Dennis

[[1ponders]]

Beautiful image Dennis. So crisp and colourful I almost felt like I was sinking into it. :cool2:

One day I'm sure you will enlighten us as to how you do those great little lines and boxes that outline your subframes. They really do the trick.

I second Robert. I'd buy your book.

Now there's an idea, weren't you thinking about a change of lifestyle ;)

[Dennis]

Hi Paul

The boxes and lines were a little easier in my older photo processing SW, Corel PhotoPaint 12. I now find them more difficult in CS3 (partially due to lack of knowledge and/or familiarity) but I’m working on it.

Cheers

Dennis