Right here! In addition to my “observing season” being about over (the nights are staying in the 70s and muggy), I’ve just been super busy over the last month. I did manage to get outside a few days ago with just the Canon 300D and the 300mm lens to capture this Moon shot.

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Otherwise I’m afraid “I got nuthin.”

I dragged all my accouterments out last night to image the Moon with the Meade Lunar Planetary Imager (LPI). I took about a dozen movies and got SQUAT. I was pretty disappointed needless to say. It wasn’t a total bust however and just before retiring for the evening I attached the Canon OES 300D and got a decent shot of the 43% illuminated Moon. The focus is a tiny bit off but nonetheless it is all I accomplished.

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I was particularly struck by the different surface coloration’s between Mares Serenitatis and Tranquillitatis. I’d never really noticed that before.

Believe it or not the mosquitos were already out and biting. They seem to absolutely LOVE the red glow of the LCD screen on my iBook. Fortunately I keep the repellent with my observing gear because that’s usually the only time I’m retarded enough to be out there with the them.

I managed to pull the scope out for a few minutes the other evening and snap a few shots with the Canon EOS 300D. I got one that came out fairly decent. Didn’t bother to align or plug in the clock drive. The Moon was approximately 10% illuminated.

I think I’m finally getting the Meade Lunar Planetary Imager (LPI) down. This morning the temperature was in the mid 40s F. I got the scope outside about midnight and let it equalize for about an hour. I also uncapped the LPI and put it out there as well… hey the cooler the better with CCDs right? There were some wispy high cirrus clouds but it wasn’t enough to obscure the Moon at any time so I decided to go for it anyway.

Each of these Moon stacks is under 20 frames (the one on the right is 3 I believe) down from about 200 frames each. There was a lot of atmospheric turbulence as usual but I think I got some decent results.

Before switching to the Canon EOS 300D I did about a dozen runs with the LPI on Saturn and achieved what I think is my best shot yet of the ringed planet with the LPI.

I tried to get Saturn with the 2x barlow attached as well but it just wasn’t happening so I gave up after about 15 minutes. I was cold, tired and lacking in patience at this point.

I attached the 300D and at prime focus for what has become my requisite Moon portrait.

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