.Astrophotography of the MoonThis is just a brief post to share the process and results of my Moon imaging last Saturday night. I had planned to picture M31 after the Moon had set after midnight, but I opted to postpone it for another night and focus on the Moon instead.
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Astrophotography of The Moon: EQUIPMENT USED TO CAPTURE THE MOON IMAGES
- Orion ED80 80mm f/7.5 Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
- Celestron CGEM Mount
- Canon XSi (450D) DSLR with T-ring / T-adapter
- Canon’s EOS Utility
- Bahtinov Focusing Mask
BASIC METHOD TO CAPTURE THE MOON IMAGES
- The first step was to set up the CGEM mount. I aimed the CGEM towards Polaris by sight, then centered Polaris via the mount’s polar axis hole (where the polar finderscope goes). Because the exposures are a fraction of a second, this is near enough for photographing the Moon. I also used the CGEM’s bubble level to level the mount.
- Next, I mounted my Canon XSi just long enough to balance the mount on both the RA and DEC axis.Astrophotography of the Moon. I wanted to make sure the scope was balanced before I began imaging.
- After achieving balance, I removed the camera, inserted my diagonal and lighted reticule eyepiece, and performed a 2-star alignment to enable the goto functionality.
- After completing the star alignment operation,Astrophotography of the Moon I used the C.GEM hand controller to slew to the star Vega. I stopped here first so I could connect the XSi and use my Bahtinov Focusing Mask to attain the closest focus possible with the camera. The Canon EOS utility included with my XSi came in handy here.Astrophotography of the Moon. I took multiple exposures in bulb mode (each around 12 seconds at ISO 800) using my laptop’s virtual interface. I adjusted the focus on the ED80 with each exposure until the center spike (from the Bahtinov focusing mask) was precisely in the middle of the two outside spikes. Dalton SkyGazer has helpful instructions on how to use the Bahtinov focusing mask.
- I swung the telescope to the Moon after achieving focus on Vega.
- The Moon is bright enough that I can easily center it in the XSi’s viewfinder. I just used the CGEM hand controller to fine-tune the location of the Moon in the viewfinder.
- It was time to start taking exposures after I had the moon centered. I switched the XSi to Manual mode (using the dial on the camera), then used the EOS utility to alter the ISO to 100 and the shutter speed to 1/200th. I took a test shot to check how it turned out. The outcome was good so I shot many additional photos using the EOS utility.
Astrophotography of the Moon:What about a Supermoon?
A supermoon occurs when the moon is both ‘full’ and closest to Earth. Every year, there are many supermoons.
Astrophotography of the Moon.Astronomers refer to this as a ‘perigee moon,’ which defines the full moon that happens each year when the moon is closest to Earth.
Perigee is the closest point a body gets to its host object, such as Earth, whereas apogee is the farthest point from its parent body.
Because orbits are elliptical rather than totally circular, almost every orbit has an apogee and perigee around the sun, including Earth’s.
It happens when a full or new moon coincides with Earth’s closest approach. The distance between the moon and Earth fluctuates between 222,000 miles (357,000km) and 252,000 miles (406,000km).
This accounts for a 30% change in brightness when the moon is closest and furthest away.
However, contrary to popular belief, the supermoon does not make the moon seem substantially larger in the night sky. In reality, the distinction is almost hard to detect with the naked eye.
Also, the supermoon is happening during a ‘new moon,’ the opposite of a full moon, which means the moon is mainly black, with the sun on the other side, explaining how the eclipse occurred.
PROCESSING THE PHOTOS OF THE MOON
Astrophotography of the Moon.I experimented with several processing methods before settling on stacking a few frames in Registax. I discovered that Registax 5.0 would enable you to stack the enormous RAW files produced by the XSi. After stacking, I used Photoshop to make some small modifications to the levels, contrast, and color balance. Then I sharpened the photo somewhat using Photoshop’s unsharp mask tool. I still have much to learn when it comes to processing the Moon! In fact, I forwarded one of the RAW frames to my dear buddy Martin Cohen so that he could work his magic on my photograph. The end product was spectacular!
This was the fundamental method I used to shoot the Moon last weekend. I didn’t go into too much depth here, so if you have any questions, please post them in the comments section. Stay tuned for more extensive instructions on Astrophotography of the Moon and processing methods in the near future!
.Astrophotography of the MoonThis is just a brief post to share the process and results of my Moon imaging last Saturday night. I had planned to picture M31 after the Moon had set after midnight, but I opted to postpone it for another night and focus on the Moon instead.
You may also like: Best Telescope for beginners
Astrophotography of The Moon: EQUIPMENT USED TO CAPTURE THE MOON IMAGES
- Orion ED80 80mm f/7.5 Apochromatic Refractor Telescope
- Celestron CGEM Mount
- Canon XSi (450D) DSLR with T-ring / T-adapter
- Canon’s EOS Utility
- Bahtinov Focusing Mask
BASIC METHOD TO CAPTURE THE MOON IMAGES
- The first step was to set up the CGEM mount. I aimed the CGEM towards Polaris by sight, then centered Polaris via the mount’s polar axis hole (where the polar finderscope goes). Because the exposures are a fraction of a second, this is near enough for photographing the Moon. I also used the CGEM’s bubble level to level the mount.
- Next, I mounted my Canon XSi just long enough to balance the mount on both the RA and DEC axis.Astrophotography of the Moon. I wanted to make sure the scope was balanced before I began imaging.
- After achieving balance, I removed the camera, inserted my diagonal and lighted reticule eyepiece, and performed a 2-star alignment to enable the goto functionality.
- After completing the star alignment operation,Astrophotography of the Moon I used the C.GEM hand controller to slew to the star Vega. I stopped here first so I could connect the XSi and use my Bahtinov Focusing Mask to attain the closest focus possible with the camera. The Canon EOS utility included with my XSi came in handy here.Astrophotography of the Moon. I took multiple exposures in bulb mode (each around 12 seconds at ISO 800) using my laptop’s virtual interface. I adjusted the focus on the ED80 with each exposure until the center spike (from the Bahtinov focusing mask) was precisely in the middle of the two outside spikes. Dalton SkyGazer has helpful instructions on how to use the Bahtinov focusing mask.
- I swung the telescope to the Moon after achieving focus on Vega.
- The Moon is bright enough that I can easily center it in the XSi’s viewfinder. I just used the CGEM hand controller to fine-tune the location of the Moon in the viewfinder.
- It was time to start taking exposures after I had the moon centered. I switched the XSi to Manual mode (using the dial on the camera), then used the EOS utility to alter the ISO to 100 and the shutter speed to 1/200th. I took a test shot to check how it turned out. The outcome was good so I shot many additional photos using the EOS utility.
Astrophotography of the Moon:What about a Supermoon?
A supermoon occurs when the moon is both ‘full’ and closest to Earth. Every year, there are many supermoons.
Astrophotography of the Moon.Astronomers refer to this as a ‘perigee moon,’ which defines the full moon that happens each year when the moon is closest to Earth.
Perigee is the closest point a body gets to its host object, such as Earth, whereas apogee is the farthest point from its parent body.
Because orbits are elliptical rather than totally circular, almost every orbit has an apogee and perigee around the sun, including Earth’s.
It happens when a full or new moon coincides with Earth’s closest approach. The distance between the moon and Earth fluctuates between 222,000 miles (357,000km) and 252,000 miles (406,000km).
This accounts for a 30% change in brightness when the moon is closest and furthest away.
However, contrary to popular belief, the supermoon does not make the moon seem substantially larger in the night sky. In reality, the distinction is almost hard to detect with the naked eye.
Also, the supermoon is happening during a ‘new moon,’ the opposite of a full moon, which means the moon is mainly black, with the sun on the other side, explaining how the eclipse occurred.
PROCESSING THE PHOTOS OF THE MOON
Astrophotography of the Moon.I experimented with several processing methods before settling on stacking a few frames in Registax. I discovered that Registax 5.0 would enable you to stack the enormous RAW files produced by the XSi. After stacking, I used Photoshop to make some small modifications to the levels, contrast, and color balance. Then I sharpened the photo somewhat using Photoshop’s unsharp mask tool. I still have much to learn when it comes to processing the Moon! In fact, I forwarded one of the RAW frames to my dear buddy Martin Cohen so that he could work his magic on my photograph. The end product was spectacular!
This was the fundamental method I used to shoot the Moon last weekend. I didn’t go into too much depth here, so if you have any questions, please post them in the comments section. Stay tuned for more extensive instructions on Astrophotography of the Moon and processing methods in the near future!
