Lunar Images with the
Orion 10" f/3.9 Newtonian Astrograph
February 20, 2016
Uploaded 2/24/16

South is up in this image, more info below.
 
Perhaps
            the best way to test out the resolution of a new scope is during
            the full moon period, when you can try your hand at high magnification
            lunar close ups. While the 10 inch was purchased specifically
            for imaging faint comets and deep space nebula with its fast
            optics, it performed very well on the moon and jupiter, and despite
            the very unstable seeing which produced high frequency jiggling
            across the entire image, the stacking software Autostakkert was
            able to extract the few good moments as seen here. Resolution
            is near half an arcsecond for this set. (The same night I was
            able to image surface details on Ganymede with the same setup!)

Click on the small images on the left for a full size 1290 x 960 image!

 

            


            
Left: Three
            part composite of the limb of the moon which I was imaging. The
            right side here is right on the verge of shadow and offered excellent
            contrasts and shadow details in what for me is normally a seldom
            photogrphed region.


            


            
Left: The
            unusual elevated formation just right of center is "Rumker".
            Such a low profile is best seen like this right near the terminator
            with low lighting.


            
The diameter
            of this formation is 70km.



            


            
Left: The
            brilliant big detailed crater in the middle is "Aristarchus"
            with the huge Schroters valley just under it.


            


            
Left: Just
            to the right of the crater Reiner above center is the very strange
            white area called "Reiner Gamma". It is a mystery as
            to how it formed, I have heard two dominant theories - one is
            that it is a comet impact site. Second, it was a site of elevated
            dust from static electricity. We must go there to be certain.


            


            
Left: With
            Reiner Gamma near the bottom. We have on the limb the two large
            craters in the rising sun Cavalerius and Hevelius


            


            
Left: Wargentin
            - between the two huge flat bottomed basin - Schickard and Phocylides
            we find a crater filled to the brim with lava. That is Wargentin!


            


            
Left: Panning
            to the north limb, a region of burried craters with a plaster
            of paris look


            


            
Left: I
            shot this south polar region on the moon because of the hug mountain
            I saw on the limb on the left side here. Look how Malapert Mountain
            stick above the limb and shows superb detail on its flanks. The
            huge crater on the lower right is Clavius.


            


            
Left: Highly
            cropped close up of Malapert Mountain. The patterning here is
            processing artifacts.


            


            
Left: Messier
            A and B - two rayed craters from a double impact at a grazing
            angle. While not on the limb, I normally cant see the moon from
            the observatory when they are - when the thin crescent moon is
            hanging low in the western sky.

Processing:
            50/1200 best frames, alignment in Autostakkert, RL Deconvolution
            in Pix Insight, Levels and Contrast Masking In Photoshop CS2,
Instrument:  Orion (GSO) 10" f/3.9 with 5x Barlow
Platform:  Astrophysics AP1200
CCD Camera:  Image Source DMK 51AU03.AS
Filter:  Orion IR Pass
Exposure:  1/30 sec  12fps
Location:  Payson, Arizona
Elevation:  5150 ft.
Sky:  Seeing 3/5, Transparency 7/10
Outside Temperature:  35F