The waning gibbous Moon shows the Tycho crater to the top and the prominent dark Maria of Ocean of Storms (Oceanus Procellarum) and Sea Of Rains (Mare Imbrium). You can also see the bright ray craters of Copernicus, Kepler & Aristarchus at this illumination phase of 19days old.
 
Images taken with Seestar S50 telescope, twenty images captured then stacked in RegiStax6 and processed in PS.
 
NOTE: I really think this little smart telescope does a great job of taking images of the Moon :-)

​Woohoo!
After all the shocking weather with Cyclone Alfred we managed to have a beautiful clear evening for the partial lunar eclipse here on the Gold Coast in QLD Australia on the evening of the 14th March 2025.
 
I’ve viewed many lunar eclipses but this is the first time I’ve seen one in eclipse as it rises in the eastern sky, I wasn’t sure where it was going to come up and I got so excited when I saw it above the rooftops of the houses :-D
 
I couldn’t use my telescope because the eclipsed Moon was so low in the sky, so I used my trustee Canon 70D with Tamron 18-400mm lens with 2x teleconverter making a focal length of 1280mm.
​Camera setup was on a static camera tripod.
 
Ten to fifteen images were captured of each phase then stacked in RegiStak6 and processed in PS.

Had to be quick this evening to take some pictures of the Moon because of all the cloud, I grabbed my little Seestar S50 and within 5 minutes it had found the Moon and I was off and running taking pictures…it’s an awesome little telescope for the Sun & Moon when your trying to out smart the weather. I’m so happy with it :-)
 
Last night (12th February) was full Moon and it was raining, this is the Moon tonight at 15 days old, which is classified as a waning gibbous, you can see a tiny portion in shadow to the top. (This is the view we see from the southern hemisphere, with south to the top and north to the bottom)
 
If you tweak the saturation in Photoshop you can bring out the coloured hues that are from the different minerals embedded in the regolith on the surface of the Moon.

​(This is not added; it’s really there) don’t overdo the saturation or it doesn’t look natural!
 
The bluish colours are from areas high in titanium, and the darker orange/brown areas are rich in iron and other oxides. The bright white reflective areas around the ejecta craters I believe are from aluminium and other bright minerals like magnesium, calcium and silicon.
 
Images were taken with a Seestar S50 telescope, 25 images were stacked in Registak6 and processed in PS.

~ The Moon a la natural ~

There was a beautiful view of celestial objects in the western sky last night with brilliant Venus the waxing crescent Moon and Saturn all evenly spaced on the ecliptic.
 
Images were taken with a Canon 70D camera and Tamron 28-400mm lens on a tripod.
 
The close up of the moon was taken with the Seestar S50 telescope, 15 images were captured at 1x and stacked in RegiStax6, processed in PS.

We are heading towards the last full Moon of 2024 with this 11-day-old waxing gibbous Moon riding high in the northern sky here in Australia.
 
With just an adjustment in Hue/Saturation you can bring out the colours to show the different minerals on the lunar surface. Images were taken with a Seestar telescope, 25 images were stacked in RegiStax6 and processed in PS.
 
I’m really quite impressed with the detail on the lunar surface with this little smart Seestar S50 telescope, it’s so easy to set up, it’s an absolute joy to use :-D

~ The normal coloured Moon ~

~ Tiny one day old crescent Moon between the gum trees in western sky on the 4th October 2024 ~
  
We arrived at my Stardust Observatory on Friday the 4th October for a long weekend under the stars. It was new Moon yesterday the 3rd October and I was on the look out for the one day old tiny crescent Moon.
 
At 6.30pm I found it very low in the western sky near the treetops, I had to go right back into the field to capture it and I did…Yay!
 
The sky is very clear and steady and it looks like it’s going to be a stunning weekend, some members from our club SAS are out here too and I’ve taken a couple of photos of them all set up on the field.
Good luck everyone tonight I hope you all get some great images :-)
 
These images were taken with a Canon 70D camera plus a Tamron 18-400mm lens on a tripod, using ISO800 with 1.5-second exposures.

~ SAS members getting there telescopes ready for a night under the stars at Leyburn ~
 ~ 4th October 2024 ~
https://www.sas.org.au

~ Happy 55 years Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing ~

We are having some lovely clear weather at the moment and last night was just beautiful with the full Moon rising in the evening sky. I’ve taken these images with the little Seestar S50 telescope and it was just so east to set up :-)
 
With a bit of contrast in processing you can see the colours of the minerals on the Moon’s surface very clearly, with the brown colour being iron rich areas and blue areas being titanium rich especially around the Sea of Tranquillity.
 
I captured 20 images and stacked them in RegiStax6 and processed in PS.

To find out more about the minerals on the Moon go to the NASA link below, this is excellent for teachers, students and anybody who has an interest in the lunar surface.
https://ares.jsc.nasa.gov/interaction/lmdp/documents/58199main_exploring_the_moon.pdf

JPL Photo Journal - PIA00131: Moon - False Color Mosaic 
https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00131

Original Caption Released with Image:
This false-color mosaic was constructed from a series of 53 images taken through three spectral filters by Galileo's imaging system as the spacecraft flew over the northern regions of the Moon on December 7, 1992. The part of the Moon visible from Earth is on the left side in this view. The color mosaic shows compositional variations in parts of the Moon's northern hemisphere. Bright pinkish areas are highlands materials, such as those surrounding the oval lava-filled Crisium impact basin toward the bottom of the picture.

​Blue to orange shades indicate volcanic lava flows. To the left of Crisium, the dark blue Mare Tranquillitatis is richer in titanium than the green and orange maria above it. Thin mineral-rich soils associated with relatively recent impacts are represented by light blue colors; the youngest craters have prominent blue rays extending from them. The Galileo project, whose primary mission is the exploration of the Jupiter system in 1995-97, is managed for NASA's Office of Space Science and Applications by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Runaway Bay Library, Lae Drive, Runaway Bay, 4216.
27th June 2024 from 4pm – 5pm (6 to 12 year old)

Thank you to the librarians at the Runaway Bay Library for providing a safe and happy place for me to present our ‘Out of this World’ astronomy event.
 
The Stardust kids heard and learnt all about the exploration of our Solar System and how NASA is preparing with the Artemis mission for mankind to go back to the Moon.
 
We are not only just going back to the Moon for a visit but to set up a lunar base for future missions to explore the planet Mars…Wow, this is amazing stuff!
 
TO find out more about the Artemis mission and the future missions to Mars please go to the links below at:
https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/artemis/
https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/artemis/#Mars
 
My Astro Links page has many more links for you to discover the universe at:
https://www.mystardustobservatory.com/astro-links.html
​

~ Starry Starry Night with Savvy Seniors at Helensvale Library ~
21st June 2024 from 10.30 to 11.30 am
 
Helensvale Library
62 Sir John Overall Drive
Helensvale 4212
 
Presented by Noeleen Lowndes from the Southern Astronomical Society.

On Friday the 21st June, I had a lovely morning with the Savvy Seniors at the Helensvale Library giving them an Astronomy and Space presentation.
 
I’m pretty sure everyone will get their star charts and planetary Apps out over the next month and see what they can find in the night sky.
 
Thank you to Cathie the Helensvale librarian for inviting me to share my love of the night sky with your patrons :-)
 
To help you on your way in discovering the Cosmo please go to my Astro Links page at: https://www.mystardustobservatory.com/astro-links.html
 
FREE Star Charts at Sky Maps.com
*** Please check your latitude and download the current Sky Map ***
(e.g. I’m in the Southern Hemisphere so that is the star chart I download)
https://www.skymaps.com/downloads.html

The planetary Apps to find your way around the night sky are:
Sky Chart and Stellarium download both Apps for Free from the App store.
 
To find out more about this very friendly group of people
please see the details below with the link to the Gold Coast Libraries website.
 
https://www.goldcoast.qld.gov.au/libraries/Whats-on/Savvy-Seniors-858613695677
​NOTE: No need to book, just drop by on the third Friday of each month and enjoy!

​
Three Large Sunspot AR3712, AR3713 & AR3716
on surface of Sun on the 19th June 2024 

​The sun looked awesome late this afternoon with those three large sunspot groups on the surface of the Sun, AR3712 is looking huge!
Looking through the Lunt (Ha) solar telescope you could see solar activity around each sunspot area.
 
After taking pictures of the Sun I looked around and saw a beautiful waxing gibbous in the eastern sky and took a couple of images once it got dark.
 
The white light images of the Sun & Moon were taken with a small Orion 80mm refractor telescope and a Canon 700D camera plus 2x Barlow lens. The Ha images taken with a Lunt 60mm solar telescope and a Canon 700D camera with a 2x Barlow lens.