The Moon

Image	Date/Time	Description	Settings
	2007.08.28 1:51am PDT to 5:24am PDT Location: Mt. Tolmie, Lat N48-27-23 Long: W123-19-34	Total Lunar Eclipse Several RASC members and myself observed this lunar eclipse from Mt. Tolmie, where we were treated to a beautiful panoramic view of Victoria, the harbour, Juan de Fuca Strait, and the Olympic Mountains illuminated by the partial phases of this lunar eclipse. My Canon 30D & Canon 400mm f/5.6L telephoto were mounted on a tripod with no tracking, and the remote shutter release was not operational, so there is some camera shake apparent in these images caused by me pressing the shutter button on the camera.	Camera: Canon 30D, Canon 400mm f/5.6L telephoto operating at f/6.3, exposure times varied from 1/4000 sec at ISO 800 to 1/5 sec at ISO 1600, RAW format, mounted on a Manfrotto 055 tripod with 141RC head (no tracking) Image Processing: ACDSee Pro 2 Beta: RAW to TIF conversion Corel Photopaint X3: crop each composite image, compose background image, moderate increase in saturation, otherwise no further processing
	2007.05.24 10:37pm PDT	Lunar "X" Feature The "X" Feature was discussed in a letter to Skynews (Canadian magazine) written by David Chapman from RASC Halifax, NS, Canada. The crater closest to the "X" (above) is called Werner, which is 71km across.	Camera: Canon 300D, 1/430 sec, ISO 800, WB:daylight, mounted a-focally with Powermate 2.5x Scope: Tele Vue TV-76 Image Processing: ACDSee Photo Manager: increased gamma & cropped
4.5Mb wmv 2 minute video Finder chart (257k jpg)	2006.09.02 10:37pm PDT Location: Observatory Hill, Lat: N48-31 Long: W123-25 Elev: 78m	Moon - SMART-1 Impact - Sep 2, 2006 10:42:15pm PDT Several RASC members observed the SMART-1 lunar satellite impact from Observatory Hill. I used my Meade LX-200R 8" and the Meade LPI imager to take a total of 1,584 jpg frames covering the event from 10:37:48pm to 10:49:28pm PDT. The image to the left links to a 2 minute video extracted from the middle of this sequence, covering the event 1 minute either side of the impact in real time (i.e. video not slowed down or speeded up). I don't see any impact or resulting plume in the terminator region in my video, however please view my video and let me know if you spot anything. CFHT successfully took an Image of SMART-1 Impact	Camera: Meade LPI Scope: LX200R 8" RC, f/10, prime focus. Image Processing: AVI Edit - combined 1,584 jpgs into a 27Mb AVI. Extracted a 2 minute segment surrounding the forecast event time. Windows Movie Maker - inserted a title, saved as 4.5Mb wmv
	2005.09.23 8:34am PDT	The Moon in morning daylight There is a wide range of colours visible on the lunar surface in this image, and due to the stable early morning air, the image has excellent resolution. The beautiful blue sky background sets off the lunar colours.	Camera: Canon EOS 300D, 1/430 sec, ISO 200, f/6.3, WB:daylight, Canon EF 400mm L series telephoto, circular polarizing filter. Image Processing: Neat Image: default auto profile. Corel PhotoPaint: 3072x2048 image cropped to 642x649. Moderate contrast stretch, saturation and contrast, and adaptive unsharp applied.
	2005.09.23 8:34am PDT	The Moon in morning daylight This is the same image as above, but illustrates how different processing can produce radically different resulting images. In this version, the colour balance was normalized to eliminate the strong blue bias of the original image. Although some detail is lost along the eastern limb, the enhanced colours in the mares and along the terminator make for a fascinating image.	Camera: Canon EOS 300D, 1/430 sec, ISO 200, f/6.3, WB:daylight, Canon EF 400mm L series telephoto, circular polarizing filter. Image Processing: Neat Image: default auto profile. Corel PhotoPaint: 3072x2048 image cropped to 786x811. Colour balance auto normalized and adaptive unsharp applied.
	2005.07.24 8:30am PDT	The Moon & aircraft in morning daylight Perhaps this image isn't quite as dramatic as my Lunar Eclipse & Occultation Aircraft image, however this is my first published image using my new Canon EF 400mm L series telephoto lens. The resolution of details on the aircraft is outstanding, and the low contrast lunar features are captured just the way it appeared on the western morning sky.	Camera: Canon EOS 300D, 1/2500 sec, ISO 200, f/8, WB:daylight, Canon EF 400mm L series telephoto. Image Processing: Corel PhotoPaint: 3072x2048 image cropped to 1130x1173. Moderate contrast stretch and adaptive unsharp applied.
	2004.11.19 6:37pm PST	First Quarter Moon This image is also taken with my new Tele Vue 76 apochromatic telescope.	Camera: Canon EOS 300D, 1/200 sec, ISO 800, WB:daylight. Scope: Tele Vue 76 3" apochromatic refractor, f/6.3, variable camera adapter + 2.5x Powermate + 2 rings - handheld. f/15.75, efl=1450. Image Processing: ImagesPlus: convert 48 bit raw to 24 bit RGB, moderate contrast stretch. Corel PhotoPaint: 3076x2048 image cropped and resampled to 750x705 size, moderate adaptive unsharp filter applied.
	2004.12.18 8:57pm PST	The "X" Feature - first quarter Moon The "X" Feature was discussed in a letter to Skynews (Canadian magazine) written by David Chapman from RASC Halifax, NS, Canada. The image in the magazine was taken August 22, 2004, and a forecast was published that it would be visible again on Dec 18, 2004. Sure enough it was! The crater closest to the "X" to the right and down is Werner, which is 71km across.	Camera: Canon EOS 300D, 1/320 sec, ISO 800, WB:daylight. Scope: Tele Vue 76 3" apochromatic refractor, f/6.3, variable camera adapter + 2.5x Powermate + 2 rings - handheld. f/15.75, efl=1450. Image Processing: ImagesPlus: convert 48 bit raw to 24 bit RGB, moderate contrast stretch and gamma adjusted to favour terminator. Corel PhotoPaint: 3072x2048 image rotated. 178x248 closeup image cropped out. Whole Moon image cropped and resampled to 576x800 size. Neat Image: moderate noise reduction applied. PhotoPaint: Composite image created.
	2004.11.16 5:38pm PST	Moon - 4 days old This thin crescent Moon image is one day older than the image below. This image is also taken with my new Tele Vue 76 apochromatic telescope. It is interesting to compare this image with the one taken on 2004.07.20 using my Meade LX-90, although that image was taken in poor seeing conditions.	Camera: Canon EOS 300D, 1/250 sec, ISO 800, WB:daylight. Scope: Tele Vue 76 3" apochromatic refractor, f/6.3, prime focus. Image Processing: ImagesPlus: convert 48 bit raw to 24 bit RGB, moderate contrast stretch, background darkened. Corel PhotoPaint: 3076x2048 image cropped to 875x819 size, moderate adaptive unsharp filter applied.
	2004.11.15 5:32pm PST	3 day old Moon & Earthshine Earthshine is readily apparent in this image of a thin crescent Moon. This image is my first taken with my new Tele Vue 76 apochromatic telescope, and represents my best effort to date for imaging earthshine.	Camera: Canon EOS 300D, 1 sec, ISO 800, WB:daylight. Scope: Tele Vue 76 3" apochromatic refractor, f/6.3, prime focus. Image Processing: Corel PhotoPaint: original 2048x1360 jpg image cropped to 749x621 size. No other processing done.
	2004.10.27 6:03pm to 10:00pm PDT Location: Mt. Tolmie, Victoria, BC, Canada	Lunar Eclipse - start to finish This composite image features the Dash-8 aircraft crossing the eclipsed moon, but also shows the progress of the eclipse from Moon rise over Mount Baker to when the partial eclipse ended.	Camera: Canon EOS 300D, from 1/200 sec to 2 sec, ISO 400, WB:daylight. Scope: LX-90 8" SCT, f/6.3, prime focus. Image Processing:Canon File Viewer: convert original Raw files to 48 bit TIF. Corel PhotoPaint: moderate sharpen, images cropped & reduced in size and moderate contrast stretch and adaptive unsharp.
2004 Astro-Photography Award RASC Victoria Centre As featured on Spaceweather.com and space.com Order an 8"x10" custom print of this photo	2004.10.27 6:45pm PDT Location: Mt. Tolmie, Victoria, BC, Canada	Lunar Eclipse & Occultation by Aircraft What are the odds of an aircraft passing in front of an eclipsed Moon? Here a Dash-8 turboprop aircraft flying from Seattle to Victoria crosses the partially-eclipsed Moon. Photo taken after umbral contact and before the total eclipse began. Moon light can be seen shining through the cabin windows, and also the turboprop exhaust is apparent as it distorts the lunar image behind the aircraft.	Camera: Canon EOS 300D, 1/80 sec, ISO 400, WB:daylight. Scope: LX-90 8" SCT, f/6.3, prime focus. Image Processing:Canon File Viewer: convert original Raw files to 48 bit TIF. Corel PhotoPaint: moderate sharpen, original 3072x2048 image cropped & reduced to 800x678 size.
	2004.10.27 6:02pm PDT Location: Mt. Tolmie, Victoria, BC, Canada	Lunar Eclipse rises over Mount Baker The Lunar Eclipse was already underway when the Moon rose here on the west coast of Canada. The Moon is rising over Mount Baker in Washington State, USA, which is due east from our vantage point here in Victoria, BC, Canada.	Camera: Canon EOS 300D, 1/250 sec, ISO 400, WB:daylight. Scope: LX-90 8" SCT, f/6.3, prime focus. Image Processing:Canon File Viewer: convert original Raw files to 48 bit TIF. Corel PhotoPaint: moderate contrast stretch, original 3072x2048 image cropped & reduced to 738x625 size (1st image), and 800x580 (2nd image).
	2004.10.26 8:55pm PDT	Full Moon - 98% phase This image of the Moon shows the distinctive colour variations in the Mares or Seas - a result of several lava flows in the Moon's distant past when it was volcanic. This image (and others) are practice for the Lunar Eclipse tomorrow night.	Camera: Canon EOS 300D, 1/2000 sec, ISO 400, WB:daylight. Scope: LX-90 8" SCT, f/6.3, prime focus. Image Processing:ImagesPlus: original Raw files processed and 2x2 average binned to reduce size of image. Corel PhotoPaint: Unsharp mask (radius-5), moderate contrast stretch, original 3072x2048 image cropped & reduced to 919x916 size.
	2004.07.20 10:25pm PDT	Moon - waxing crescent, 11% phase Mare Crisium is the well defined Mare in the centre position, with Mare Fecunditatis below it - less well defined. Atlasis the small but easy to see crater near the top of the terminator. Colour fringing is caused by the poor seeing conditions, and low altitude of the Moon.	Camera: Canon EOS 300D, 1/30 sec, ISO 800, WB:daylight. Scope: LX-90 8" SCT, f/6.3, prime focus. Image Processing: Corel PhotoPaint: Unsharp mask (radius-5), moderate contrast stretch, original 3072x2048 image cropped & reduced to 750x710 size.
No labels Stars & planets labeled *As featured on Jan 9/04 - SpaceWeather.com*	2004.01.05 12:32am PST	Moon Halo This is the first time I've captured this often-observed phenomena, when ice crystals act like jewels in the atmosphere, creating a halo around a bright, near full phase Moon. Due to the identical interfacial angles of the ice crystals, the halos (lunar or solar) all have a radius of 22° or 44° edge-to-edge in the photo. This photo was taken on an especially cold January night for Victoria. The temperature was -5°C (23°F). Saturn is visible at the 10 o'clock position, Capella at 2 o'clock, Betelgeuse at 8:30, and Aldebaran at 6 o'clock - all inside the ring. The three Orion belt stars are just visible outside the ring at the 7:30 position - to the right of the trees. Below the Moon is an aberration caused by internal reflections of the camera lens caused by the overexposed Moon. More info about halos: Atmospheric Optics	Camera: Canon EOS 300D, 2 sec, ISO 800, Canon 18-55 EF-S zoom, fl-18mm, f/5.6, WB:daylight. Image Processing: Corel PhotoPaint - original 3072x2048 image size reduced to 800x533, moderate contrast stretch to enhance the halo.
	2003.12.29 9:29pm PST	Moon - Day 14 Mare Nectaris is the big dark area. Theophilus is the crater in the top right corner. This pair of images illustrate how the seeing changes so dramatically from one moment to the next. Both images are taken within a few seconds of each other, and yet the lower image exhibits a huge gain in image clarity as compared with the image above due to a momentarily stable atmosphere.	Camera: Meade LPI Imager, 0.062 sec, Gain 100, Offset 43 Scope: LX-90 8" SCT, f/10, 2" diagonal. Image Processing: AutoStar Suite - single images, Edge Enhancement - Medium. Min Quality 80%. Corel PhotoPaint - auto enhance. The Autostar Suite's Edge Enhancement was tried out on these images. There is little improvement over the image taken below without Edge Enhancement applied.
	2003.12.29 9:27pm PST	Moon - Day 14 Mare Nectaris is the big dark area. Theophilus is the crater in the top right corner. This image illustrates the amazing resolving power of the LPI imager, despite the sensor only having 640x480 pixels.	Camera: Meade LPI Imager, 0.062 sec, Gain 100, Offset 43 Scope: LX-90 8" SCT, f/10, 2" diagonal. Image Processing: AutoStar Suite - single images. Min Quality 80%. Corel PhotoPaint - auto enhance.
	2003.12.29 9:23pm PST	Moon - Day 14 These two images of the same southern area of the Moon illustrate how the seeing changes so dramatically from one moment to the next. Both images are taken within a few seconds of each other, and yet the lower image exhibits a huge gain in image clarity as compared with the image above due to a momentarily stable atmosphere.	Camera: Meade LPI Imager, 0.062 sec, Gain 100, Offset 43 Scope: LX-90 8" SCT, f/10, 2" diagonal. Image Processing: AutoStar Suite - single images. Min Quality 80%. Corel PhotoPaint - auto enhance.
	2003.11.03 7:57pm PST	Moon - Day 22 Mare Serenitatis is the big dark area just above centre, with Mare Tranquillitatis about the same size directly below. Mare Crisium is smaller and off to the right. Copernicus is the largest crater near the N-S mid point of the terminator. Mar Imbrium is above Copernicus, and Archimedes is the large crater near the top edge of the Mare. Location: 3046 Jackson St., Victoria Some might consider the lower embossed image to be over processed, however I like it because the striations in the lunar surface are greatly enhanced by the embossing.	Camera: Canon EOS 300D, 1/50 sec, ISO 100. Scope: LX-90 8" SCT, f/6.3, prime focus. Image Processing: Corel PhotoPaint: Unsharp mask (radius-5), original 3072x2048 image cropped & reduced to 700x811 size, brightness reduced & contrast increased. Lower image lightly embossed.
	2003.08.04 9:48pm PDT	Moon - Day 14 Mare Imbrium is the big dark area. Plato is the largest crater above the Mare. Vallis Alpes is the straight line of mountains visible near the terminator to the right of Plato. Cassini is the funny looking crater with a crater inside it below Vallis Alpes.	Camera: Nikon Coolpix 4500, 1/38 sec, f/4.2, 23mm, ISO 400, 3x optical zoom Scope: LX-90 8" SCT, f/10, a-focal, 12.4mm Plossl eyepiece Image Processing: Corel PhotoPaint: 1px Gaussian Blur, adaptive unsharpen, original 2272x1704 image reduced by 35%, desaturated.
	2003.06.05 10:20pm PDT	Moon - Day 5 Theophilus crater - top right crater in group of three large craters near centre of image. Mare Nectaris - flat "sea", bottom right corner of image Location: 3046 Jackson St., Victoria	Camera: Nikon Coolpix 4500, 1/11 sec, f/4.8, 29mm, ISO 400, max 4x optical zoom Scope: LX-90 8" SCT, f/10, a-focal, 12.4mm Plossl eyepiece Image Processing: Corel PhotoPaint: auto enhance, adaptive unsharpen, original 2272x1704 image reduce by 35%, desaturated.
	2002.09.18 10:10pm	Moon - Only 3 days away from a full moon (Day 12). The great crater of Tyco with white, spoke-like rays is obvious in the lower right of the sphere. This was my first opportunity to try out the DigiSnap 2000 electronic shutter release. The focus is noticably sharper, as compared with the image below, mainly due to not having to touch the scope to trip the camera shutter. Location: Summit, Victoria	Camera: Nikon Coolpix 4500 1/37 sec f/4.9 30mm, ISO 100. Auto Exposure -1.0EV. Scope: A-focal through a 9mm eyepiece on the ETX-60 60mm refractor. Image Processing: Corel Photopaint: 2272x1520 image cropped and re-sampled to 794x506 pixels. Converted to 16 bit gray scale, sharpened and equalized.
	2002.08.26 10:59pm	Moon - The waning gibbous moon (day 19), low in the eastern sky. This was my first opportunity to try out my new Scopetronix Digi-T adapter, which now allows me to use my Nikon Coolpix 950 digital camera "afocal" with my ETX-60 telescope. Next time out I'll work on achieving better focus, but this isn't a bad first try. Location: Summit, Victoria	Camera: 1/6 sec f4 20mm - Nikon Coolpix 950 at ISO 80 800x600 Scope: A-focal through a 9mm eyepiece on the ETX-60 60mm refractor. Image Processing: sharpened and equalized, and the amber hue enhanced a bit.
	1996-09-15	Lunar eclipse 1996 A series of 5 frames, showing the eclipse all the way from the red ball stage (mostly obscured), through to 75% emergence. Location: 3046 Jackson St, Victoria	Camera: 35mm Fujichrome 100, Minolta XD-11 SLR, 200mm telephoto. A range of exposure times were used, depending on the stage of the eclipse.