It’s been a while since I have looked at the Moon through my telescope. By no fault of my own, I might add; it has just been badly placed the last few weeks and I have not been able to see it. However, after weeks of DSO observing, last night completely reminded me how much I love observing the Moon, our beautiful and mysterious cosmic companion. Indeed, it was at First Quarter (around 7.8-8 days old), which is one of my favourite phases to observe. This is because you get to see both lunar seas (Maria) and innumerable craters along the terminator (the division between lunar day and night).

After carrying out some simple visual astronomy early in the evening (I have recently brought a great moon map, so I started off just crater hunting, which was really fun), I soon moved on to some ‘astrophotography’. I use the term lightly, because all I do is hold my smartphone up to the eyepiece of my telescope. That’s it. That’s all there is to it. All of the images shown below are raw photos that I have taken through the eyepiece; no stacking, no Photoshop…just the Moon as it appears through a very modest telescope and a cheap smartphone (contrast was modified using the free app ‘photo editor’ to correct for overexposure). Isn’t technology amazing? I hope you enjoy some of these pictures as much as I did taking them.

Details:

Telescope: Celestron Astromaster 130 EQ MD

Eyepieces: 30 mm, 15 mm, 6 mm, 2X Barlow

Camera: Samsung Galaxy S3 mini

Location: York, UK Time/Date: 20:00 hrs 03/08/2014

Moon age: 7.8 days old

Notes: Remember, images appear upside down in a reflector telescope, so the Moon appears the wrong way around in all of the images. Click on the photographs for large, more detailed versions.

First Quarter Moon medium power (15 mm EP and 2X Barlow). Lunar seas (Maria) appear as dark shadows on the left-hand side of the image.

The photograph below shows Montes Caucasus, which is a luna mountain range. The range is over 450 km in length and its highest peak is 6 km.

Some cloud began to gently fly across the Moon, which allowed me to make the following GIF:

Details and annotated photographs: Lunar seas, or Maria, are dark basaltic plains on the Moon. They were formed during ancient volcanic eruptions and got their name because early astronomers actually thought they were seas of liquid water. Their darkness is caused by iron-rich deposits, which reflect less light than the surrounding areas.

The annotated photograph shown below names a few of the craters I could see at high-power. Number 2, Ptolemaues, is 153 km in diameter and 2 km deep!

The picture below highlights the Moon’s mountain range Montes Caucasus.

If anything, I hope this blog post has made you realise just how easy it is to take photographs of the Moon’s surface. Indeed, even just using a DSLR you can capture some awesome pictures. Cheers and clear skies.

Fun bonus image(s):

04/08/2014: What a difference a day makes.

Last night I did something I have never done before. I set up my telescope on the pavement of the busy High Street outside my house. I did this for two reasons. Firstly, I cannot see the Moon when it is relatively low in the sky from my garden, and I wanted to have a cheeky observing session. Secondly, I wanted passers by to have a chance to look at the Moon and Saturn. It was a very successful night and lots of people, from small children to older folks, came and asked to have a look through the eyepiece. They were all amazed and some where lost for words. A couple of people told me they had never seen the Moon through a telescope and were completely awestruck by its beauty. Others had absolutely no idea you could see planets with your naked eye, let alone see details on them through small telescopes. I was really glad to have done this and I really think it made a few peoples night. It stands by my thesis that every human, from any background, has an innate interest and passion for the night sky. I was also able to capture a few nice shots with my smartphone; it really is amazing to see how different the Moon looks even after one day! Enjoy.

Update: Friday 15th August, 2014

Managed to snap a few new pictures of the Waning Gibbous Moon (66% illuminated and 21 days old).

Edit: 23/08/2014

I recently came across a couple of older photos (12 May 2014) of a nearly full moon (Waxing gibbous, 96% illuminated and 13 days old), and I thought I would add them here: