International Observe the Moon Night Sep 22nd

Just me in the backyard this time but had a beautiful evening with the best seeing I have had for ages

farm9.staticflickr.com/8039/8011418029_0a9d864bea_o.jpg

Well done everyone , the forecast was iffy so it was great to have a moon to share.
Deise photos are really cool on their Facebook Page www.facebook.com/groups/deiseastronomy/
Backyard is grand glad you got a look John
Shannonside yes the low moon meant an early almost daylight start, guess the IOMN people are like
most global moon viewings only interested in the first quarter moon as its dramatic.

Keith your culinary skills sound like they were well tested
To answer your questions
No did not get your text , not to worry.

What I was dealing with is a school club , young children and their parents
They would not be used to dealing with the public , plus they are only getting used to these telescopes and the moon.
I am also on a roll over, most of my older boys have moved on to secondary school, so I have a whole bunch of new faces.
So I kept it low key, did not advertise it at all. Hundreds of people would have been to much for the group on this
occasion. It was good to just have a few people stop for a look and ask who we were in that hour or so.
'Will we be there again '? was a frequent question and Yes is the answer

My aim is to motivate the children to learn some basic moon facts , so when a member of the public asks them
a question they can answer it.

I wanted to try out that 10 inch dob but its big so it ended up where I got parking
Would rather have been closer to the Boat House but we would have been more visible then

Yes there were lots of people out walking but not all stopped as some seemed to assume we were a group doing our
own thing because of the kids I guess.

Next time we will be closer to the Boat House and will I hope have more telescopes and more interaction for the boys.

Deirdre Kelleghan
Vice Chair IFAS

johnomahony wrote: Just me in the backyard this time but had a beautiful evening with the best seeing I have had for ages

John - that is a fine moon image. Its so crisp and sharp and nicely framed too. I spent a good 10 minutes poring over it. Did you do any serious processing? Or just quick 'n dirty?

dmcdona wrote:

johnomahony wrote: Just me in the backyard this time but had a beautiful evening with the best seeing I have had for ages

John - that is a fine moon image. Its so crisp and sharp and nicely framed too. I spent a good 10 minutes poring over it. Did you do any serious processing? Or just quick 'n dirty?

Thanks Dave

There is a very slight drop in highlights and a tiny bit of sharpening in PS Elements. Hardly noticeable from the original RAW shot. The seeing was exceptional for about 20 minutes after sunset. Here is a shot taken at the same time at F10 without the reducer. Again,its a single frame at ISO100.

farm9.staticflickr.com/8445/8011786629_d215839147_k.jpg

In Midlands Astronomy Club, we rendez-vous'd with Galway Astronomy Club members for a get-together late Saturday afternoon at Clonkill Observatory outside Mullingar, hosted by John Nooney. The GAC crowd were on a day trip to Dunsink and stopped by on their way back to Galway. Mac members stayed till almost 10:30pm, chatting and observing. All in all, a nice evening was had by those who attended, which at one point was around 30 bodies crammed into John's meeting room!

Btw, John is very accommodating, and any club who is looking for a passionate day/night out at an amateur astronomer's own hand built and errected observatory (well, 3 observatories!), should pay a visit to Clonkill.

Seanie.