Moon, Moon and again the Moon...

I am really enjoying taking pictures of the Moon through my telescope, as you can probably tell from this blog. This image was taken from the parking lot at the UNM Campus Observatory on Friday, February 6th and I think it is fairly amazing at how much clarity there is in the surface detail with a digital camera placed at the eyepiece. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I am, I am going to print a large one and try and identify some of the features visible.

Nikon CoolPix S210, F3.1, 1/152 sec., ISO-64

Don't Stir up the Dust...

It was a wonderful night for observing the crescent Moon, the air was still and the night was clear so the image through the eyepiece of my 13.1" scope was spectacular and unreal (as many said when they looked into the scope). I took a few moments in the crowds of people to take some photos through the eyepiece and am glad that I did, the lighted side of the Moon was well overexposed but the terminus is clear and crisp. The moon is still one of my favorite objects to observe in the telescope and especially at this phase so I am not surprised that others would be excited by it but I was surprised to have one of the people looking at it move away to wipe tears from her eyes as she said "it is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen." And as someone else said "I am afraid to sneeze because I do not want to stir up the dust" it was a good night for the moon and for me.

Friday, January 30, 2009
UNM Campus Observatory
Nikon CoolPix S210 Camera