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Well, stayed up for the Lunar eclipse and was really happy - clear skies in Brisbane's West, despite not looking very good earlier on in the evening.
This is the first Lunar eclipse that I've seen in a fair while, with previous events being clouded out or rained out in Brisbane. Was spectacular as far as I was concerned - turning blood Red for me during totality.
I even managed a few shots, although nothing spectacular. My eyes aren't very good these days and focusing is very hard for me (Canon EOS 60D + 300mm F4 IS L). I wasn't sure how to best approach showing the shadow section of the moon though, so didn't grab any shots like that. I tried to get some images during totality, but even at 1/300, f4, ISO 6400 the images were Black with no detail. What did I do wrong?
A big disappointment was the 60D + T adaptor could not reach focus in my 6" dob. I really wish DSLRs would come to focus in *any* scope with a basic T adaptor - there's no excuse from manufacturers not ensuring this when they design their focusers imho. Is there any way to address this? I was very close to achieving focus, only just out by a bit.
My brother in law also enjoyed the Lunar eclipse alongside me. We also checked out Mars with the 6" dob - trying my TAL 24mm UWA first, then moving to my Nagler 12mm T4, then a TMB 6mm (original, not clone version) and finally testing my new TV Delos 3.2mm (well, I've had it for 7 months but haven't had a chance to use it before).
The Nagler 12mm gave the sharpest views imho (and I'm slowly getting used to the eye placement with this eyepiece to avoid kidney beaning), with the TMB a close 2nd. The Delos could not be bought to sharp focus (pretty sure this is the classic "seeing conditions" limitation issue). I think I could see the Southern polar cap with averted vision with the 6mm TMB, but wasn't 100% sure if my eyes were playing tricks on me or not. The 12mm Nagler definitely showed some darker details to my eyes (Syrtis Major I suspect), I'm more confident of that than my seeing with the 6mm TMB. I experienced some kidney beaning with the Delos too, so I suspect the wider FOV eyepieces do not suit my eyes. Interestingly, the TAL UWA presents no issues to my eyes, despite being 84 degrees.
Overall, was a fun few hours. About to get the scope out for my 4 year old niece :-)
Dave
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