S/O to francopoli. Noticed the account was disabled. Don't know if it's taboo to mention if the user's been inactivated? Wishing you well. Had to dig through #moralemenagerie to triple check whether it was really inactive or not.
Either way, was thinking of you, your own photos, and stories of giving strangers a view of the moon through your own set up as out-reach when I was setting this up last night. Took my these photos with my iPhone like a doofus, but doing the best I can with what I got. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Accompanying music (archive.org is a goldmine for recorded in-concert audio)
kingmudsy's pubski reminded me how much I missed stargazing on parking garage tops. Here's to quiet nights, mudsy.
Gear: hand-me-down Tasco Model No. 6TE-5 from my pop.
Yeah, they don't make this anymore. So, replacement parts for those missing are hard to come by. Using a Sunpak 61in camera tripod for the mount.
The sight-finder (lil' scope pictured center right) is missing it's fixture to the main body. I've got an idea for jerry-rigging the doo-hickey. Just haven't found the right material in the right store yet. Until then, elbow grease is enough for the moon. Planets and stars will be quite a bit less painful once that fix is made, though.
The Setting
I'm currently in (basically) a college town, which means there isn't much light pollution outside the 'city'. Coming to this town, I learned a new word: greenway.
These places are amazing for star-gazing. On a clear, moonless night, I saw more stars here than in the Israeli desert (though I'm 90% confident that was due to proximity to a settlement or two.... so, let's ignore this set of parenthesis to keep the magic alive).
The Night
Last night, the sky was a wispy, cloudy twinge. While clouds were just thin enough for the moon to shine clear through, the clarity wasn't optimal when trying to focus the telescope.
[Bonus Edit] cleaned up & zoomed in version of photo above.
But the wispy clouds DID make it easier to photograph the halo in the sky. This halo effect is visible to the naked eye on a clear night. Happy the clouds helped out this round. Not sure if it's possible to take a picture of it under clear conditions with a phone's camera.
Just to show how bright the moon was, this picture demonstrates how well lit the night was: you can make out the tree-line, yellow ground, the sky, and how damn brilliant the moon would shine in your eye if you peeked into the telescope.
EDITS: Minor additions and formatting. Then an edit to say I made edits. Finally, inserted the cleaned up moon photo after waking up.