Mall Astrophotography

May 12, 2000

We were up in Maine on vacation and I had a chance to take some shots of the Moon. I haven't tried lunar imaging before, so this is a first stab. It's a little tricky because, unlike in planetary work where turbulence pretty much just causes the tiny target to shift around, in lunar images the whole frame is the target, and you find out that it's really not just moving around, but is 'warping.'

The air was pretty turbulent that night, and I don't feel like I got anywhere the resolution that I routinely get for planetray shots. Maybe I'll do better on a stiller night.

Anyway, here is a shot of a mountainous region including the crater Eratosthenes:

Lunar shot 1

And here is another of a region which includes the famous "Straight Wall":

lunar shot 2