The ASI662MC has small 2.9 micron pixels which give excellent resolution, especially in a long scope such as the CC. The 10th Jan was the stablest and most transparent evenig we have had for weeks if not months and the Moon was really high at over 65° in altitude. The 12th was lkess clear but still gave a really good view of the full Moon.

Saturn disappeared at 04h27 and reappeared at 05h20 BST. Amazingly the blanket of thin swirling cloud lifted 10 minutes before the point of ingress. The night was very windy however and the atmosphere was extremely wobbly precluding any chance of capturing surface details on Saturn. The difference in brightness between Saturn and the Moon necessitated creating a composite image to show both bodies visually.

Sketched with white and black charcoal on black paper at the eyepiece over 30 mins between 20h and 21h UT. Again, the sketch was started before the fall of darkness which makes the initial outlining of the main elements on the paper somewhat easier. It was a dramatic sight in the low, slanting light at the Terminator. The terraces on the the crater walls were visible at times though no detail on the surface of the central plain was evident in the conditions.

Sketched with white and black charcoal on black paper at the eyepiece over 30 mins between 20h and 21h UT, so the sketch was in fact started before the fall of darkness. Archimedes lies exactly on the illuminated side of the terminator.

Photographed with the Moon at first quarter at precisely the day/time that this transient effect is visible. I was looking along the terminator and attempting to identify some of the prominent craters when all of a sudden this jumped out at me. I swear that if I had tried to find it it would have taken hours! The effect is actually only visible for approx four hours or so on one day a month when the Moon is at first quarter (lunar day 6.9). The next date it is visible is the 17th March by my…

Lucky imaging: best 25% frames from 10000 video frames.

The huge crater Copernicus displays clear ejecta rays and lines of mini craters caused by the scattering of debris from the meteor impact that created it many millions of years ago.

I thought it was worth trying sketching again considering the diabolical weather. This is done with white charcoal pencil on black cartridge paper (and so isn’t reversed in the scan). This I found actually much easier than sketching in pencil. It shows the craters Orontius, Saussure, Huggins, Nasireddin and Miller and is drawn from a photo taken at 21h15 on 28th April this year.

Lucky imaging: mosiac of 9 images using best 25% or 50% frames from 500 video frames.

Lucky imaging: best 25% frames from 2000 video frames. Mosaic of two images