The moon-how close can we get

[TinMan]

Thought it might be fun to see how close we can get to the moon,as in super zoomed in pictures through a telescope,camera-or what have you.

The two pics below were shot with my digital camera,one as per Steve Jones request.

The first pic was shot tonight,using the same digital camera.
The second pic was shot this January on the 12th at 9.45pm

We get to see the difference in the moons orientation at the beginning of the year,and mid year.

So,it's time to dust off the scope's,and see how close we can get.

TK-time to show us some of your magic  \


Brad

[TinselKoala]

Not too bad Brad, what lens did you use?

I've often commented that "you never see the same moon twice" due to the various shadows, librations, phases and etc. Every image of our poor sister planet has its own charm and its own set of details.

Here's mine, then.

This is a mosaic of 5 frames, taken with my Canon Xti DSLR, through my Celestron 9.25 inch EdgeHD reflector on the CGEM mount. It's a mosaic because the field of view of the combo is such that the entire moon does not fit into a single frame. So I took a frame of the partial view, moved the scope a little bit, took another frame, etc. until I had the whole moon covered. The mosaic is put together with a program called nip2, then the entire image is processed in PixInsight and gimp.

(For the best view download the image and open it in your own imaging application. The forum's view is somewhat smaller than the actual image.)

[TinselKoala]

And here are a couple of video "lunar flyovers" on my YT channel. These are taken with a webcam imagers,
the first one with the 9.25 inch EdgeHD in 2014 from my Texas backyard,
and the second one in 2010 with the fine little Meade ETX125, which I left in Canada when I came back to the USA:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=740LZ9eelPc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vvq4RZ_nxs

The maximum usable magnification from earthbound telescopes depends on a lot of variables. The EdgeHD is
theoretically capable of 555x magnification but it is rarely able to achieve that much, due to atmospheric conditions
and other factors. 300x is about the best I can usually get using that scope and a 3.5 mm focal length eyepiece.
It really shines with long-exposure astrophotography at lesser magnifications though.

[TinMan]

Here's mine, then.

This is a mosaic of 5 frames, taken with my Canon Xti DSLR, through my Celestron 9.25 inch EdgeHD reflector on the CGEM mount. It's a mosaic because the field of view of the combo is such that the entire moon does not fit into a single frame. So I took a frame of the partial view, moved the scope a little bit, took another frame, etc. until I had the whole moon covered. The mosaic is put together with a program called nip2, then the entire image is processed in PixInsight and gimp.

Nice clear picture there TK,time for me to unpack the 12" dob i recon 

This time of year here is best for lunar viewing,as it's cold,and heat distortion is at a minimum .
I now also live out in the stick's,and so light pollution is very low.

Loved the two fly overs as well-some of the best i have seen yet. 


Brad

[TinselKoala]

Thanks Brad. I'd love to see some photos from your Dobsonian rig. I've seen some very good "eyepiece projection" photos made by simply holding cellphone camera or DSLR up to the eyepiece. My Baader Hyperion eyepieces even have adapter rings that mate to camera T-rings for projection photography.



By the way.... there don't seem to be any stars visible in your Moon photos... are you sure they aren't fake?           

[TinMan]

Thanks Brad. I'd love to see some photos from your Dobsonian rig. I've seen some very good "eyepiece projection" photos made by simply holding cellphone camera or DSLR up to the eyepiece. My Baader Hyperion eyepieces even have adapter rings that mate to camera T-rings for projection photography.



By the way.... there don't seem to be any stars visible in your Moon photos... are you sure they aren't fake?           

I took the photo's  with my Hasselblad-they have built in star filters   

Brad

[PhysicsProf]

  I'm intrigued by how the moon seems to rotate with different viewpoints - even though this is expected.

Thanks so much for these images, Brad and TK!!

Brad was great to give the time stamps: "The first pic was shot tonight,using the same digital camera.
The second pic was shot this January on the 12th at 9.45pm"
and was the location near Perth for both of these?

TK - would you kindly provide the location where your mosaic was acquired, and the date?

Thanks guys!

[TinMan]

  I'm intrigued by how the moon seems to rotate with different viewpoints - even though this is expected.

Thanks so much for these images, Brad and TK!!

Brad was great to give the time stamps: "The first pic was shot tonight,using the same digital camera.
The second pic was shot this January on the 12th at 9.45pm"
and was the location near Perth for both of these?

TK - would you kindly provide the location where your mosaic was acquired, and the date?

Thanks guys!

Yes,220km south of perth Steve.


Brad

[TinselKoala]

My mosaic was acquired, as near as I can tell, on August 1 or 2, 2012, at
29 degrees 23 minutes 49 seconds N latitude
98 deg 27 min 17 sec W longitude

The date is approximate because I can't find the raw images at the moment; the mosaic processing was finalized on 4 Aug 2012. I'll have to find and access another computer to see if I can find the raw camera files if you need a more exact date.

I think my image has the correct orientation that one would see in binoculars, that is, not reversed left-right or top-bottom. As you know, telescopes of various kinds will do either or both of these reversals while binoculars don't.

[TinselKoala]

Meanwhile, here's Dr. Carolin Crawford's excellent Gresham College talk about the Moon. Especially note the part from about 41 minutes on, to the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=an85WJ3hyF8