Lunar
The Moon (33% Illumination)
The Moon photographed by amateur astrophotographer Pete Lawrence: Earth's only natural satellite, 240,000 miles away and 4.51 billion years old.
Target details
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite and one of the largest moons in the Solar System. It orbits about 240,000 miles away on average – just over one light-second. It formed around 4.51 billion years ago, not long after Earth, most likely from debris thrown out when a Mars-sized body called Theia crashed into the young Earth. The Moon always keeps the same face towards us, and that near side is a patchwork of dark volcanic plains, the maria, between bright ancient highlands and sharp impact craters.
Capture details
Data captured 30th March, 2020.
200x 0.1sec through Ha filter.
Equipment details
Skywatcher Quattro 200 CF
NEQ6 Pro
Atik 460EX Mono
Processing details
This image was processed in Registax, Pixinsight & Lightroom.
Alignment & Stacking completed in Registax, best 30% of images, exported as 32bit FIT.
Stacked image imported into Lightroom.
Histogram Transformation - To stretch the image, it was a bit too bright.
Deconvolution - To sharpen, with range mask to protect background.
LocalHistogramTransformation - To add contrast, with range mask to protect background.
Export as JPEG and import into Lightroom.
Cropped image to 1:1 aspect ratio.
Reduce Shadows (-100)
Export final JPEG for upload.
Quick facts
- What is The Moon?
- The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite and one of the largest moons in the Solar System. It orbits about 240,000 miles away on average – just over one light-second.
- When was this photo taken?
- 30 March 2020
- What equipment was used?
- Skywatcher Quattro 200 CF, NEQ6 Pro, Atik 460EX Mono
- Where was it taken from?
- Lisburn, Northern Ireland.