Our Moon, the only body in space visited by man is the first target for many novice astronomers and remains a favourite for advanced observers and astro imagers with its ever changing appearance. Phenomena such as lunar and solar eclipses add to the appeal of our natural sattelite, here are two fine images taken from Kent in the UK.
How the images were taken
Taken using the Meade DSI II colour CCD camera coupled to a Meade LX200ACF 10" and processed with the Meade Autostar Suite software these two images show how deep sky imagers are more than capable of producing high resolution solar system images.The Moon can be captured with virtually any telescope and camera, from modest webcams and compact digital cameras to advanced CCD imagers.
M81 & M82 in Ursa Major
This striking pair of Galaxies are visible in telescopes from around 100mm and are in the constellation of Ursa Major or the "Big Dipper" in the Northern sky. M81 shows a distinct spiral structure where M82 is very much an edge on galaxy showing dust lanes. Although they appear close to each other in the night sky they are actually seperated by 150,000 light years.
This image was taken from Kent in the UK using a Revelation 80mm Apo piggybacked on a Meade LX200ACF 10" and Canon 20D Digital SLR Camera. The image is a result of several stacked long exposures processed with Adobe Photoshop.
