Following on the back of my lunar photography session on Saturday night, I had pinned my hopes on getting some clear skies here for the Harvest Moon on Monday evening. Sadly it was not to be - the weather was a complete washout and has stayed the same pretty much ever since. Rain, rain, rain and rain. It’s just so disappointing.
There is another occluded pressure front pushing up from the south, so Wednesday evening might present an opportunity for some more lunar observation/photography if the cloud breaks up. Unfortunately, the Harvest Moon will have to wait for another year.
Tags: Afocal Photography, Harvest Moon, Moon
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At about half past eleven on Saturday night my patience was rewarded with a clear sky and an almost full moon - so the Met Offices’ forecast was spot on. The sky transparency wasn’t that great, but I knew that this was as good as it was going to get. Without hesitation I set-up the tripod and mounted the 25×100 bins. The seeing wasn’t too bad, but after nearly a week with no clear skies, I wasn’t about to complain.
With the moon in the field of view I promptly set about taking pictures through my Pentax Optio S50 digital camera. Having never done any kind of Afocal photography before, I really was winging it. I took a good many shots, the bulk of which really weren’t worth processing. From the whole session, I produced two reasonably decent shots which I then post processed in Photoshop.
This scaled up image has to be my favorite. The ray craters Tycho, Copernicus, Kepler and Aristarchus are all clearly visible as are the Mare Imbrium, Nubium, Serenitatis, Tranquillitatis, Nectaris, Foecunditatis, Crisium and Humorum. West from Tycho, the crater Schiller can be picked out as can the crater Schickard a little further north.
The second shot has a wider field and is a little bit sharper than the first one purely because it was processed and output at it’s original size. As I have discovered, taking pictures near a full moon is not the best time to try and capture images. Surface detail is at a minimum and the brightness is almost overwhelming.
All in all, for a first time I’m particularly pleased with these two Afocal images. If I get even a partially clear sky on Monday evening then I should be able to get some good shots of the Harvest Moon. The Met Office forecast doesn’t look promising but I’m hoping my luck will hold out.
Tags: Afocal Photography, Harvest Moon, Moon, Photoshop
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Last night was a non starter. It was a changeable day as it was, but I had high hopes that things would clear up by early evening. From 6pm onwards my confidence was buoyed when the clouds parted, letting the sunshine and blue sky beam through. However, all of that was to change dramatically and any plans I had to get out and observe the moon where squashed as the clouds rolled in from the west at sunset.
I’m hopeful that tonight could bring a welcome break in this constant cloud cover. After taking a look at the Met Office website it seems there is an occluded front of pressure predicted for early morning that could help lift some of this overbearing grey cloud and break it up. Whether this predicted forecast will hold true I’ll just have to wait and see.
Tags: Moon, Weather
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With a break in the clouds earlier tonight, the sky had finally come out to play and with it, the moon. This is the first chance I have had to turn my 25×100 bins on the peppered lunar surface, and what a view! The seeing was reasonable but the sky transparency wasn’t that great. My view was constantly bombarded with thin clouds coming and going for most of my brief observing session.
Being able to view the moon at this level of detail again was brilliant. The giant ray craters’ Copernicus and Tycho were as always, visually stunning but the real delight was observing the southern terminator with it’s variegated pattern of craters. A wonderful and mesmerizing sight.
Primarily, this really was a chance to optically measure my giant bins against the bright moon prior to Monday’s lunar event. There was some colour fringing around the moon but there was absolutely no hint of any internal reflections which meant the baffling and broadband type IV coatings really stood up to the test. I was going to try my hand at some Afocal photography but then discovered that I had no batteries for the digital camera. Double AAs’ are definitely on the shopping list! Would have been great to try experimenting with the bins and the camera just to gauge what kind of results I could achieve. If I’m lucky I’ll get another chance tomorrow night.
Tags: Copernicus, Harvest Moon, Moon, Strathspey 25x100, Tycho
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Monday the 15th presents a chance to view (weather permitting) a full moon like no other. Due to the affect of the approaching Autumnal Equinox on the 22nd, the full moon will rise around sunset and appear closer to the horizon which will make the moon look bigger whilst possibly imbuing it with a red hue.
As the Earth nears this Equinox, something else unique happens to the moon. The moon rises on average around 50 minutes later each day at sunset but at the nearing of the Autumnal Equinox the moon will rise 30 minutes from one night to the next. This means that there is no period of darkness after sunset. In times gone by this would have helped farmers to bring in their crops by enabling them to work for much longer.
This lunar event is something I am really looking forward to and If I manage to get a good, clear evening I’m planning to try and take some Afocal shots through my 25×100 bins. If the weather holds out for me and my shots are successful you can expect to see my observations on here. Fingers crossed.
Tags: Autumnal Equinox, Celestial Equator, Ecliptic, Harvest Moon, Moon, Strathspey 25x100
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