Section showing a few prominent features, such as Tycho
Again I missed the super moon on the exact date, but I was able to get out the first possible day which was 2 days, 9-10-2014 to get some photos. Fun fact about this photo, a light cloud had settled in right in between me and the moon. . .seriously it did that and sat there but I still got this photo. (Shakes fist at the sky)
When looking at the moon you will see this area in the south west quadrant. the most noticeable and distinguishable feature is the Impact crater Tycho. Tycho is a relatively young crater, with an estimated age of 108 million years (Ma), based on analysis of samples of the crater ray recovered during the Apollo 17 mission. This age suggests that the impactor may have been a member of the Baptistina family of asteroids, but as the composition of the impactor is unknown this is currently conjecture. However, simulation studies give a 70 percent probability that the crater was created by a fragment from the same break-up that created asteroid 298 Baptistina;[1] which was previously believed to be responsible for the formation of Chicxulub Crater and the extinction of the dinosaurs. However, that possibility was potentially ruled out by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer in 2011.
Notable features such as: Tycho, Mare Humorum, Mare Nubium, Pitatus, Apollo 12 & Apollo 14 landing locations
Notable facts about the features noted:
Tycho:
Diameter: 86.21KM/ 53.57 Miles – Depth: 4.8 KM/ 2.983 Miles
The rays spread out over 1,500 kilometers/932.06 miles
Piatus:
Diameter: 97KM/ 60.273 Miles – Depth: .9KM/ 0.55 Miles
Bullialdus:
Diameter: 61KM/ 37.9036 Miles – Depth: 3.5KM/ 2.175 Miles
I have been interested in space and physics for many years. As a kid I was bought a telescope, a $50 Kmart Special. Albeit it was a cheep bad telescope, I was 8 at the time and you never buy a Porsche for your kid’s first car. The same rule applies here. It was just a bit more stronger than a pair of binoculars, I looked at the moon when ever I had the chance. But since I didn’t know how to use it for anything else and no one seemed interested I lost interest. Now fast forward 30 years later. About to hit my birthday, I debated on what I wanted. I decided on a new telescope. But was going to use it? Was I going to get bored and lose interest?
I settled on a Celestron 6SE. I chose this because it was in the price range that put a serious telescope in my hands and if I did lose interest I wouldn’t be out too much money. The day I bought it I started tracking my package. I waited excitedly checking every 15 minutes to see where it was. The day it showed up. . .I was more excited than a kid on Christmas morning. I had it all set up before my wife showed up from work. and read the instructions. It helped tha the set up was fast. . .
That night I took it out with my wife. we had Burgers on the grill and a clear Nevada night and a 3/4 moon. the first object I turned it to after getting it aligned to two stars was Jupiter. It made some noise as the gears wound and then it stopped. I looked at my wife, our two dogs running around the back yard. and this was it. The moment to see if the money I had paid was worth it. I peered into the eyepiece, and turned the focus.
While I have gotten better at taking photos, this was the first time I was able to capture a planet and the moons.
“Well?” my wife asked. I just stood up straight and looked at the planet in the sky with my unaided eye. I turned to her and said “wow. . .just wow.” I pointed at the eyepiece and let her look. She was rather impressed. There it was a big planet, I could barely make out the two bands but I could see 4 tiny pin pricks of the Galilean Moons. suspended there by absolutely pure black nothing. we took turns for over an hour and then turned it to the moon. riveted at the craters and shadows of the mountains that showed the details.
The crater Tycho on the moon on 4/20/2013
on our second viewing, something magical happened. . . while viewing the moon she wanted to take a picture. She put her I-Phone up to the eyepiece and held it steady, once she took the picture it changed for ever for me. . .
This is our very first photo of the moon, it was an I-Phone held up to the 25mm eyepiece.
But then we needed to edit the photo to get the detail out. . .it’s too washed out. Down the rabbit hole I went chasing the white rabbit. . .or the white moon. Thus my quest for ever better photos was born.
But why? What was my goal? I was going to go on an adventure. . .with 40,000 objects in the Telescope’s database for tracking. . .I had a long journey of interesting things to go. I wanted to take friends and family on the journey with me.
Fast forward over a year later I have vastly improved, but only shared this on face book. While visiting the Kennedy space center, I was captivated by being able to walk the sacred grounds, seeing and touching the shuttle. seeing the Saturn 5 rocket, toughing a moon rock. I own a few pieces of meteors. many people said I should do a blog or a website, but until the moment We were being pushed out because the center closed. We asked how to upgrade to year passes. We walked in and the very nice lady who worked at the customer service had forgot to lock the door, but decided to help us.
I rambled on on how much it meant to be there and that she was helping us. I got the “yeah yeah I’m sure.” fortunately I had a few pictures I have done on my phone. I showed her and the mood changed. She saw I really meant what we were saying. We got our year passes and found out all the cool things we get to do I did the happy dance. .. no I’m not uploading a video of it. I asked her one last favor. . to take a picture to capture that moment.
So a few weeks later After much consideration and planning I figured how to do this. I want people to dream again, I want people to reach for tomorrow and be reignited by the passion of reaching farther than we have before. I want to help those who have been interested in taking photos as good as what you see in the magazines. I have had to learn through trial and error, a few hard knocks and many frustrating nights on fruitless hunts or bad pictures. I’m going to save you the frustration and make my pain mean something. Who knows what we will find together. I want to take this beyond facebook to a larger audience.
The Plan
I’m going to link all my social media sites together, I am using Twitter to keep my finger on the pulse, while using Flickr as a photo album. . .the cloud will survive as long as we don’t get drilled by a massive solar flair. . . . My blog here will have photo’s and guides. Some of the photos are derived from recording video, I will post those on Youtube. You will be able to download the video and produce photos of your own. I will be putting up equipment reviews as well as resources I use and find valuable. I hope to be your one stop place wher eif you even had an interest as a kid, or ever looked up and saw that band of the milky way and thought, I wonder what it looks like. . . not only will you start looking like my friends, but to take it one step farther, for you to not only look, but show your kids.
Strap in, buck up and be prepared we got a lot to cover and a short time to cover it. . .good thing I took notes.
Six Alberts Astronomy & Astrophotography 