A Very, Very Young Moon Observed From UF Campus. This waxing crescent moon, less than one day old (20.6 hours) was both visually spotted and photographed from the University of Florida Campus in Gainesville, Florida on 1989 April 6. Moon was only 3.53 degrees high. (Sunset: 7:51 p.m. EDT.) Observing a Moon this young is difficult and infrequent. Moon was first spotted in a small telescope (60 mm, f/5 refractor) at 8:08 p.m. EDT when 20h35m old (illumination 1.3%). The crescent was visually observed 5 min. later by both Howard Cohen and his wife, Marian.

Location: Looking west over S.W. 34th Street from the N.E. corner of Hull Road and Bledsoe Drive on a small hill just south of the old Cobalt-60 radiation facility (now site of S.W. Recreational Center, lat. +29°38'18", long. -82°22'08", altitude abt. 110 ft.). Earthshine faintly illuminates the night side of the Moon. Notice only about a 133 degree arc seen. An airplane contrail appears just below the crescent with horizon clouds below. Photo Details: Canon EF SLR Film Camera, 300 mm f/5 lens, Kodachrome 64 slide film at ISO 64 (processed by Kodak). Exposure 4 sec at f/5. this image taken at 8:28.8 p.m. EDT (Moon's age 20h 59m).

A Young Waxing Crescent Seems to Balance on Top of a Tower's Red Light. Photo taken in conjunction with the Islamic Calendar for Makkah Project that is attempting to refine predictions for the visibility of early crescents. This young crescent setting in the west over a farmer's field was only 1.2 days old (illumination 1.7%) when photographed (2010 December 6, 06:15 p.m. EST.) Location: S.W. 75th Street just south of S.W. 85th Avenue, Gainesville, Florida. Photo Details: Canon DSLR EOS 5D Mark II, Lens Canon 100-400 mm, f/4.5-5.6, Ultrasonic IS with UV Filter at 400 mm, Exp. 0.7 sec at f/8, ISO equiv. 800.

Thin Waxing Crescents Can Be Difficult to See. Horizon haze and low western clouds can easily hide the Moon in dimming evening twilight. Patience and luck required. Photo again taken in conjunction with the Islamic Calendar for Makkah Project. This young 1.5 days old crescent (illumination 3.6%) was finally seen shinning through horizon haze and clouds. Photographed 2011 September 28 at 06:15 p.m. EST (or 23:43 UT). Location: S.W. 75th Street just south of S.W. 85th Avenue, Gainesville, Florida. Photo Details: Canon DSLR EOS 5D Mark II, Lens Canon 100-400 mm, f/4.5-5.6, Ultrasonic IS with UV Filter at 350 mm, Exp. 1/6 sec at f/6.3, ISO equiv. 800.

Can You Spot This Young Waxing Crescent? Haze and a low western cloud bank made it almost impossible. However, this 1d 11h old crescent (illumination 3.1%) peaked out for a few seconds above the cloud bank and then was not seen again (2012 October 16, 6:53 p.m. EDT). Can you find the thin crescent in this photo, not quite 1.5 days old? Enlarge photo and look for this Moon one-third of the way across from left side and 1/10 of the way down from top and just above clouds. Still can't see it? Then see this enlarged section. It's really here shining faintly through a hazy sky! Photo taken in conjunction with the Islamic Calendar for Makkah Project. Location: S.W. 75th Street just south of S.W. 85th Avenue, Gainesville, Florida. Photo Details: Canon DSLR EOS 5D Mark II, Lens Canon 100-400 mm, f/4.5-5.6, Ultrasonic IS with UV Filter at 100 mm, Exp. 1/350 sec at f/8, ISO equiv. 800.

Even Small Telescopes Can Reveal Details on the Moon. This is a 5.5 day old Moon (38% Illumination), still a waxing crescent but almost at first quarter. It was photographed with only a 5-inch (127 mm), f/5.2 refracting telescope under rather poor seeing conditions during an Alachua Astronomy Club star party at Dudley Farm Historic Park, 2012 October 2 (abt. 9:00 p.m. EST or 01:00 UT). The image was also shown on a TV screen for easy viewing. Copies of this image were then sent to several visitors along with a labeled version. Location: Dudley Farm Historic Park, Newberry, Florida.

Photo Details: Canon DSLR EOS 5D II mounted on a Tele Vue 127 mm, f/5.2 APO refractor with Tele Vue 4x Powermate for an effective f/21 focal ratio. Two exposures combined to produce this image: 1/90 and 1/125 sec (ISO equiv. 1600).

What Can You See With a Very Small Telescope? Lots of detail on a First Quarter Moon. This photo of a 6.9 day old Moon (52% Illumination and virtually at first quarter) was snapped by the author's grandson (Elliott) with only a 3-inch (76 mm) telescope (2012 Sept. 22, 7:47 p.m. EDT). Also see detailed blowup in next picture. Visually even more can be seen. Photo taken during an Alachua Astronomy Club, Inc. star party.

Location: Newberry Star Park, Newberry, Florida. Photo Details: Canon DSLR EOS 5D II mounted on a Tele Vue 76 mm, f/6.3 APO refractor with Tele Vue 4x Powermate for an effective f/25 focal ratio. Exposure 1/30 sec (ISO equiv. 1250).

Enlarged Section of Above Photo. Detailed blowup of previous photo of First Quarter Moon taken with a small (76mm or 3-in.) telescope. The 6.9 day old Moon shows rich detail even when viewed with a small telescope (3-inch or 76 mm). Photo taken 2012 Sept. 22, 7:47 p.m. EDT). Location: Newberry Star Park, Newberry, Florida.

Photo Details: Canon DSLR EOS 5D II mounted on a Tele Vue 76 mm, f/6.3 APO refractor with Tele Vue 4x Powermate for an effective f/25 focal ratio. Exposure 1/30 sec (ISO equiv. 1250).

Quarter Moon from Hidden Oaks Elementary School. Children from this Gainesville, Florida school viewed this First Quarter Moon (age 7.5 days, illumination 59%). This is what they saw using, again, just a small (76 mm) telescope. Image was shown on a laptop computer with 17-in. screen. Date/Time: 2015 January 27, 8:18 p.m. EST. Also see detailed blowups in next two pictures.

Photo Details: Canon DSLR EOS 5D II mounted on a Tele Vue 76 mm, f/6.3 APO refractor with Televue 4x Powermate for an effective f/25 focal ratio. Exposure 1/180 sec (ISO equiv. 1600).

Enlarged Sections of Above Photo. Digital enhancement on the laptop allowed Hidden Oaks Elementary students to see enlarged sections of the north and south limbs of the Moon. The views amazed students, teachers and parents although the seeing was mediocre. Showing the moon on the laptop screen enabled young children to view the Moon since young children often have difficulty seeing through a telescope's eyepiece.

This school star party was just one of many outreach programs of the Alachua Astronomy Club, Inc.

Photo Details:

Date/Time: 2015 January 27, 8:18 p.m. EST. Canon DSLR EOS 5D II mounted on a Televue 76 mm, f/6.3 APO refractor with Televue 4x Powermate for an effective f/25 focal ratio. Exposure 1/180 sec (ISO equiv. 1600). Pictures enlarged and trimmed from the original (see above).

Another Quarter Moon from Hidden Oaks Elementary School. About nine months after the Hidden Oaks Star Party (above), children from this Gainesville, Florida school again viewed this First Quarter Moon (age 8.0 days, illumination 51%). The Moon was in a near-perfect phase to show many of her aspects. The lunar phase was almost exactly first quarter, an ideal phase that shows many fascinating details of the lunar surface.

A 3-inch refractor with a camera sent the Moon’s image to a laptop screen. This should have made it easy to point out the myriad and spectacular features on the quarter moon.

Unfortunately passing clouds caused the Moon to come in and out making it difficult and frustrating to show many lunar features. The event concluded at 8:30 p.m. EDT, just as skies cleared showing the Moon shining in a clear sky.

Before leaving, I took a few quick snapshots of the Moon with the camera and telescope as a memento of what could have been seen. Although the photos were again taken with only a 3-inch scope, the pictures show many features that one can typically see on a first quarter moon even with a small telescope. See the labeled version.

Date/Time: 2015 October 20, 8:38 p.m. EDT (UT Oct. 21, 00:38).

Photo Details: Canon DSLR EOS 5D II mounted on a Televue 76 mm, f/6.3 APO refractor with Televue 4x Powermate for an effective f/25 focal ratio. Composite of four exposures at ISO equiv. 800. Photo trimmed and processed in Corel Paintshop Pro.

Can you see Rupes Recta, "The Straight Wall"? This 75 mile (120 km) long cliff is one of the Moon's spectacular features. When casting a shadow this remarkable feature is not difficult to spot. This approximate 1,000 ft high (300 m) cliff may even rise at some parts to about 1,500 ft (450 m) above the basins western floor. (The cliff is not very sheer but probably rises at an angle of 20 degrees or more.) Unfortunately in this photo the terminator cuts through Rupes Recta but sharp eyes can glimpse its shadow. Do you see it?

See photo on left (click to enlarge), an enlargement of the above photo.

A Nearly Full Moon Peaks Out. The Alachua Astronomy Club held a star party at the Williston Elementary School. Clouds frustrated observing though holes allowed occasional views. Unfortunately, the eastern sky did not clear enough to view Moon until about 9:00 p.m. after most had left. However, those who stayed had a fair view of Moon on my laptop. Of course with a nearly full moon (age 13.6 d, 98% illumination) the view was "blah" compared to a less full moon. Still several students were excited seeing how a camera could capture and image Moon. This is what they saw. Photo Details: Location/Date: Williston Elementary School, Williston, Florida, 2015 April 2, 9:17 p.m. EDT. Canon EOS 5D II on Televue 76, f/6.3 refractor with 4x Televue Powermate giving effective focal length of 1,920 mm. Exposure 1/500, f/25 (ISO 1600). Image trimmed from original.

Waxing Three-Day Crescent. Taken from grounds of the Rosemary Hill Observatory, Bronson, Florida during an Alachua Astronomy Club star party. For details and larger images click photo or here.

This Crescent Moon picture is also on the RHO Picture Pages.

Photo Date: 2015 Feb. 21.

The Moon from Hickory Ranch at Paynes Prairie Approximately 2,000 visitors came to this star party hosted by Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park, Friends of Paynes Prairie and the Alachua Astronomy Club, Inc. on this chilly January evening. A 40-inch TV displayed this view of the waxing crescent moon (age 4.4 days, illumination 26%). Seeing the Moon on this large screen "wowed" guests and enabled features to be easily pointed out and explained. The also allowed for group viewing especially with the large attendance. Photo taken 2015 January 24 6:35 p.m. EST). Location: Photo Details: Canon DSLR EOS 5D II mounted on a Televue 127 mm, f/5.2 APO refractor with Televue 4x Powermate for an effective f/21 focal ratio. Exp. 1/250 sec (ISO equiv. 2000) at equiv. f/21. Seeing mediocre.

This 8.2 day Old Moon is Almost Exactly at First Quarter. Illumination is 51%. Compare this image to the gibbous moons in following pictures. Notice how the detailed structures visible at first quarter virtually disappear due to lack of shadows as the Moon moves toward full phase. Photo taken 2011 March 12, 8:31 p.m. EST (12:31 UT) at an Alachua Astronomy Club Star Party a members ranch. Location: Lisa Eager Ranch, Williston, Florida. Photo Details: Canon DSLR EOS 5D II mounted on a Televue 127 mm, f/5.2 APO refractor with Televue 4x Powermate for an effective f/21 focal ratio. Exp. 1/60 sec (ISO equiv. 800) at equiv. f/21.

A Waxing Gibbous Moon. This 12.2 day old Moon (90% Illumination) may look full to inexperience observers but is still in its waxing gibbous phase. Photographed again with only a 3-inch (76 mm), f/6.3 refracting telescope, this Moon has both very bright highlands and dark low land areas so correctly exposing both light and dark areas is difficult. However, combining three differently exposed images with some digital processing helps bring out both regions. (2009 September 30, abt. 10:10 p.m. EDT (02:10 UT). Location: Gainesville, Florida. Photo Details: Canon DSLR EOS 5D II mounted on a Televue 76 mm, f/6.3 APO refractor with Televue 4x Powermate for an effective f/25 focal ratio.. Three images exposed at 1/90, 1/180, 1/350 sec (ISO equiv. 800).

A Waxing Crescent and Venus Peek Out. Close encounters between crescent moons and Venus are common but some encounters are closer than others. Clouds moved in as this pair began to set separated by only 1.8 degrees. (Do you know why Venus cannot appear near the Moon when in other phases than crescent?) Date: 2013 September 8, 8:54 p.m. EDT (00:51 UT Sept. 9). Location: Gainesville, Florida. Photo Details: Canon DSLR EOS 5D Mark II, Lens Canon 28-135 mm, f/3.5-5.6, Ultrasonic IS UM at 135 mm, Exp. 3 sec at f/5.6, ISO equiv. 6400.

A Nearly Full Harvest Moon. The Harvest Moon is the Full Moon closest to the September equinox. In 2013 the Harvest Moon was full Thursday morning, 2013 Sept. 19, about 7:12 a.m. EDT (11:12 UT) or about half way between Wednesday and Thursday evenings for people in the eastern USA.

Although most people in the USA celebrated the Harvest Moon on September 18, the Moon was actually full on the 19th!

A low eastern cloud bank prevented photographing this Moon rising (next picture). So, this photo was taken later in the evening. Astute observers can notice the Moon is now slightly past full (illumination 99.4%). The terminator is obvious on the western or left edge. Modern photographic equipment can do wonders. This picture was not taken with a telescope but a 35mm SLR and a 400 mm telephoto lens. Photo Date: 2013 September 19, 11:31 p.m. EDT (03:31 UT Sept. 20).

Location: Gainesville, Florida. Photo Details: Canon DSLR EOS 5D Mark II, Lens Canon 100-400 mm, f/4.5-5.6, Ultrasonic IS with UV Filter at 400 mm, Exp. 1/1000 sec at f/11, ISO equiv. 800. Picture severely cropped from original frame since image size at 400 mm focal length is still rather small (14% of the original frame's height).

A Full Moon on Eclipse Morning 2014 October 8. Early this morning the Full Moon went into total eclipse. (Lunar eclipses are only possible during the full phase.) Photo taken nine minutes after the penumbal eclipse phase began. At this early stage of the eclipse, no penumbral darkening is yet obvious. See Lunar Eclipse Page for eclipse moon photos.

Location: Gainesville, Florida. Location: Gainesville, Florida. Photo Details: October 8, 2014, 08:25 UT, Tele Vue 76 mm APO Refractor, Focal Length 480 mm, Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Exp. 1/4000 sec at f/6.3, ISO 800. Image trimmed from original.

Moon Peaks Out. A low eastern cloud bank prevented photographing this Harvest Full Moon rising. However, the Moon seems to peak out from behind the low cloud cover 23 minutes after moonrise. Later in the evening, skies cleared revealing its nearly full phase (previous photo).

Photo Date: 2013 September 19, 7:57 p.m. EDT (11:57 UT).
Location: Gainesville, Florida.
Photo Details: Canon DSLR EOS 5D Mark II, Lens Canon 100-400 mm, f/4.5-5.6, Ultrasonic IS with UV Filter at 250 mm.
Exposure 0.3 sec at f/6.7, ISO equiv. 1600.

First Quarter Moon Greets Visitors Over a hundred visitors came to the Alachua Astronomy Club's (AAC) International Observe the Moon Night (InOMN) at their Newberry Star Park, Saturday Night, 2013 Oct. 12. Seeing conditions were mediocre but the Moon thrilled visitors, especially those who viewed the Moon on a 40 in. LCD TV produced with a 127 mm refractor and a DSLR camera. First Quarter photo is only fair but is a good reminder of the successful event. The Alpine Valley and Straight Wall were clearly visible. Many visitors also were thrilled to see their first lunar occultation, the disappearance of Beta Capricorni (see photo below). Photo Date: 2013 October 12, abt. 9:57 p.m. EDT, Location: Newberry Star Park, Easton Newberry Sports Complex, Newberry, Florida. Photo Details: Tele Vue NP 127mm APO, f/5.2 with Televue 4x Powermate giving effective f/21. Canon EOS 5D Mark II. Five exposures stacked from 1/30 to 1/500 sec. ISO equiv. 1600.

The Moon Passes Over the Bright Star Regulus. An occultation occurs when a celestial body passes over another celestial object. An example is a solar eclipse when the Moon moves between the Earth and the Sun in a solar eclipse. The Moon can also pass over a star causing a stellar occultation. The graphic animation simulates the Moon passing over the bright star Regulus (mag. +1.4) in Leo as would have been observed from Gainesville, Florida on 2007 July 19. The star disappears behind the darker, night side of the Moon and later reappears from the bright, daytime limb. (Animation by H.L. Cohen)

Long Nights Moon Rising Both Native Americans and Europeans settling in the Americas have traditions for naming each month's full moons. December's full moon is no exception and though commonly called Winter's Moon, Cold Moon, Moon Before Yule, Christmas Moon and Long Nights Moon Rising, many other names prevail. Some examples would include the following names:

Wolf Moon or Old Moon (Algonquin), Cooking or Peach Moon (Choctaw), Moon of the Terrible (Dakota Sioux), Ice Moon (Ildefonso), Moon of the Frost in the Teepee (Lakota Sioux), Frost-Fish Moon (Micmac), Big Cold Moon (Mohawk), Cold Meal Moon (Natchez), Hunger Moon (Osage), Ice Moon (San Juan), Goose Moon (Tlingit), Bitter Moon (Chinese), Strawberry Moon, Honey Moon and Rose Moon. (The last three are Southern Hemisphere names.)

This photo shows a near full moon rising over a house decorated for Christmas four days before the 2013 December solstice (2013 Dec. 21 12:11 p.m. EST (17:11 UT). Call this Moon what you will. Photo Date: 2013 December 17, 6:39 p.m. EST (11:39 UT). Location: Gainesville, Florida. Photo Details: Canon DSLR EOS 5D Mark II, Lens Canon 100-400 mm, f/4.5-5.6, Ultrasonic IS with UV Filter at 400 mm, Exp. 1.5 sec at f/5.6, ISO equiv. 1600.

Orion:The Fourteenth Zodiacal Constellation Although the ecliptic does not pass through Orion, the Moon's orbital inclination to the ecliptic can sometimes allow the Moon to move through constellations not in the traditional zodiac. Here we see the near full moon (greatly overexposed) just leaving the extreme northern section of Orion and entering Gemini on the evening of 2013 December 17.

Coincidently, the was also the smallest full moon of 2013. (The 2014 January full moon is the smallest of 2014.)

Click image to see larger version including constellation markings. Photo Date: 2013 December 17, 10:26 p.m. EST (03:26 UT). Location: Gainesville, Florida. Photo Details: Canon EF 20-35mm USM, f/3.5-4.5 Lens at 28.0mm, 15s @ f/6.7 (ISO Equiv. 1600).

International Observe the Moon Night 2015 Clouds and rain hid the sky and the Moon during part of the evening. The Moon kept coming in and out from behind passing clouds. (Garbage bags covered the equipment when rain fell!) Seeing was so bad that focusing was a challenge. Hence the image of the waxing crescent is soft and lacks detail. The low altitude of the Moon also contributed to the poor view.

Click image to see larger version including a labeled version. Waxing Crescent Moon, Age 6d19h, Illumination 37% Photo Date: 2015 Sept. 19, 9:43 p.m. EDT (Sept. 20, 01:43 UT). Location: Newberry Star Park, Newberry, Florida. Photo Details: Instrument Televue APO 127mm, f/5.2, w/4x Amplifier w/Canon EOS 5D II. Exposure 1/180s (ISO 1600). Seeing Very Poor (Scattered Clouds), Altitude Moon 21°

A 9.0 Day Old Waxing Gibbous Moon. This 9.0 day old Moon (73% Illumination) is in its gibbous phase—a phase of the Moon between quarter and full. (Gibbous means bulging or convex and refers to the bulging day-night line or terminator.) This Moon has both very bright highlands and dark low land areas so correctly exposing both light and dark areas is difficult. However, post processing can help as was done here. Photo taken at the 2010 Kanapaha Moonlight Walk that includes a public star party that can draw over one thousand visitors. (Photo taken 2010 May 22, 10:10 p.m. EDT or 02:10 UT). Location: Kanapaha Botanical Gardens, Gainesville, Florida. Photo Details: Canon DSLR EOS 5D II mounted on a Televue 127 mm, f/5.2 APO refractor with Televue 4x Powermate for an effective f/21 focal ratio. Exp. 1/125 sec (ISO equiv. 200).

Near Waxing Quarter Moon at 2016 Kanapaha Gardens Moonlight Walk Beautiful skies and a high, 8-day old Moon greeted visitors at the annual Kanapaha Gardens Moonlight Walk, 2016 May 14. Goal: Allow groups to easily view a live image of 8-day-old Moon on a large TV screen. A digital SLR camera attached to a 127 mm refractor on a driven equatorial mount produced a large image of the entire lunar disk on a 40-inch LCD television. Groups could simultaneously view Moon without need or difficulty of using an eyepiece. Pointing to selected lunar features also easily accomplished. Digitally enhancing the image simulated moderately high magnification views of selected regions.

Photo shows the lunar image including three enlarged areas from frame that were also selected for viewing. Can you identify the three lunar regions and associated features? Click top image to see larger version or lower image for labeled version (open in new windows).

Photo Details: Waxing Moon, Age 8.3d, Illumination 64%. Photo Date: 2016 May 14, 11:02 p.m. EDT (May 15, 03:02 UT). Location: Kanapaha Botanical Gardens, Gainesville, Florida. Photo Details: Instrument Televue APO 127mm, f/5.2, w/4x Amplifier w/Canon EOS 5D II. Exposure 1/90s, f/21 effective (ISO 800).

A Waxing Gibbous Moon Greeted Visitors at the 2017 Kanapaha Gardens Moonlight Walk. A Canon DSLR camera attached to the telescope with a 4x multiplier produced a large image of the Gibbous Moon on a 40-in. TV screen. This setup not only allowed the huge crowds to view the Moon simultaneously and comfortably but also made identification of lunar features easy while encouraging many questions. People also lingered for much longer times than if lined up to take quick peaks through an eyepiece. Although skies were very clear, seeing conditions were unfortunately poor and softened the lunar image. Still visitors could view many lunar surface details on the TV screen and the TV image made it easy to show and explain astronomical seeing!

Finally, the attached camera also made it simple to take a few quick photos of the Moon (see photo on left). These photos could then be immediately displayed on the TV screen for others to see. In fact, some people could capture their own images of the Moon on their smart phones by photographing the screen.

Photo Details: Waxing Moon, Age 10.5d, Illumination 87%. Photo Date: 2017 May 6, 10:03 p.m. EDT (May 7, 02:03 UT), Altitude 60°. Location: Kanapaha Botanical Gardens, Gainesville, Florida. Photo Details: Instrument Televue APO 127mm, f/5.2, w/4x Amplifier w/Canon EOS 5D II. Exposure 1/500s, f/21 effective (ISO 800).

A 65% Nine-Day Old Waxing Gibbous Moon, 2018 January 16. Clear skies greeted visitors for this event that brought about 2,300 people to the museum for this annual event. Again a Canon DSLR camera attached to the telescope with a 4x multiplier produced a large image of the Gibbous Moon on a 40-in. TV screen.

This was a similar setup used for the 2016 and 2017 Kanapaha Moonlight Walks (above). So, again this allowed the huge crowds to view the Moon simultaneously and comfortably but also made identification of lunar features easy while encouraging many questions.

The bottom photo shows museum guests viewing the TV screen with a live image of the Moon produced by a telescope (left background in photo). The picture illustrates the use of this distinctive mode of presentation. This procedure allows many visitors to observe the Moon in real time despite age or disabilities including people who have difficulty looking through an eyepiece.

This method also easily permits the astronomer to lecture about the Moon to an entire group standing by the telescope while both pointing out lunar features and answering questions.

At the end of the observing session, the attached camera was used to take a few quick photos of the Moon (see photos on left) though the Moon was now low—altitude 25 deg. The photos are not only a good reminder of what guests viewed but also are very realistic of the TV images. (Seeing was moderately good.)

Photo Details: Waxing Moon, Age 9.5d (1-1/2d past First Quarter), Illumination 65%. 2018 November 16, 11:12 p.m. EST (Nov. 17, 04:12 UT), Altitude 25°. Location: Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville, Florida. Photo Details: Instrument Televue APO 127mm, f/5.2, w/4x Amplifier w/Canon EOS 5D II. Exposure 1/30s, f/21 effective (ISO 640). (Pictures open in new windows.)

Waxing Crescent Moon with a 90 mm Scope Photo taken with only a 90 mm (3.54-in.) telescope and a 1250 mm focal length. This telescope, a vintage Meade ETX90-EC, f/13.8 Gregory Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope has good optics but a poor mount. The optical section was removed from its mount for these pictures and placed on tripod. Unfortunately, vibration made focusing difficult.

Still, this photo shows the excellent detail that this 90 mm scope can deliver. Also See enlarged section. Age Moon: 4.9 days. Illumination: 22%. Click photos for larger images.

Also see next photos taken about one week later when Moon nearly Full.

Location: Gainesville, Florida

Date/Time: 2020 April 27, 8:50 p.m. EDT (Apr. 28, 00:50 UT)

Telescope: Meade ETX90-EC, D = 90 mm, FL = 1250 mm, fixed mount

Camera: Canon EOS 5D II

Exposure: 1/30s, f/13.8, ISO 400

Waxing Gibbous Moon with a 90 mm Scope Like above, photo taken with only a 90 mm (3.54-in.) telescope and a 1250 mm focal length when Moon in Gibbous Phase. This telescope, a vintage Meade ETX90-EC, f/13.8 Gregory Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope has good optics but a poor mount. The optical section was removed from its mount for these pictures and placed on tripod. Unfortunately, vibration made focusing difficult.

Again, this photo shows the excellent detail that this 90 mm scope can deliver. Also See enlarged sections. Age Moon: 12.1 days. Illumination: 92%. Click photos for larger images.

Also see previous photos taken about one week earlier when Moon a Waxing Crescent.

Location: Gainesville, Florida

Date/Time: 2020 May 5, 11:33 p.m. EDT (May 6, 03:33 UT)

Telescope: Meade ETX90-EC, D = 90 mm, FL = 1250 mm, fixed mount

Camera: Canon EOS 5D II

Exposure: 1/250s, f/13.8, ISO 800

Close Pass of Moon and Jupiter. It's not often to see magnified views of the Moon and Jupiter in one frame. But on the evening of 2019 October 3 this happened. A five-day-old waxing crescent moon came within about three moon diameters of each object's center as seen from Gainesville, Florida making an attractive pair. (Limb to limb separation about 2.6 moon diameters or 1.4 degrees.)

Photo shows a 33% illuminated lunar disk above and to left of Jupiter's 35 arc sec wide disk (about 2% of the lunar diameter). Two exposures, one for Moon and one for Jupiter (mag. -2.0) were combined to show both the Moon and Jupiter's fainter Galilean satellites. From left to right: Ganymede, then Jupiter, next Io, Europa and finally Callisto.

Camera & Lens: Canon EOS 5D II with Canon Lens 100-400 mm f/4.5-5.6 at 400 mm and a Canon 1.4x Extender for an effective focal length of 560 mm. Fixed mount.
Exposures: f/13 using ISO 800. Moon 1/90 sec at 7:42:19 pm EDT (23:42:19 UT), Jupiter 0.7 sec at 7:43:31 pm EDT (23:43:31 UT). Processing with Corel Paint Shop. Image slightly cropped.