Cassiopeia Observatory

Moon, Earthshine

Posted: 15 February 2013

The observatory was opened Thursday, 14 February 2013, at 1807 MST, 67°F. The forecast was for clear skies, but that was hardly the case, as seen in this photograph taken as I walked to the observatory:

At 1812 MST, I took a quick look at Mercury, 77X. Then I slewed the 8" LX200-ACF to the moon and did a tour of the terminator, 206X. There were several nice sights, but unfortunately, thin clouds made for pooring seeing at times. I switched to a visual back and mounted the D7000 DSLR at prime focus. At 1830 MST, I took this 1/250sec, ISO 400, image:

Next, I made several attempts at capturing Earthshine. As the moon waxes, Earthshine gets more difficult to capture due to the increasing brightness and extent of the sunlit portion of the moon. The clouds this night also hampered the imaging. This image, taken at 1841 MST, "Hat Trick" method, ISO 500, shows Earthshine:

I ended imaging at 1900 MST and did some more lunar observing, 206X. At 1918 MST, thicker clouds began covering the moon.

The observatory was closed at 1930 MST, 49°F.

Comments are welcome; use the Comments section below, or you can Email Me. Thanks.

Go to the previous report.

Return to the Cassiopeia Observatory Home Page.