One Small Step Closer to the Ball of Cheese

I checked the weather forecast and to my delight found no "scattered thunderstorms". It was going to be clear skies and a bright full moon. I rounded up my telescope and camera gear and headed out to see the full moon clearer than I've ever seen it. It was magnificent! The big ball of cheese we take for granted that sits up there illuminating our night sky was filling up my lens.

I attached the regular 20mm lens and could see the whole moon within the field of view. Then I added the 3x Barlow lens and could see the craters up close and personal. I also tried out the 6.3mm and again got a clear view of the detailed war-like terrain on the face of the moon.

I saw the Tycho crater clearly with its streaks flying out like the spokes of a bicycle wheel. I saw most of the seas (the darker depressions on the surface) and many more craters recording the history of the battered sphere.

After viewing it through the lenses I decided to hook it up to my camera and snap some pix.

Here's what it looked like through the 20mm lens.



and here's how it looked through the Barlow lens:









It's magnificent how man has set foot on this natural satellite (God Bless Nasa - if you don't believe in the conspiracy :)). If you think its a conspiracy, watch the Myth-busters episode on proving whether the moon-landing was a hoax.

The moon's diameter is quarter the size of earths. Its mass is 1/81 of the earth's mass. The average distance between the earth and moon is 384403 km. Despite the distance my telescope has succeeded in showing me it like I've never seen before by my naked eye. Truly amazing.

[My telescope is a 127mm Celestron]