Moon 34% with Apollo 11 & 17

Only -1°C and much warmer then yesterday night :)
The moon is now 3° north-east from Mars and 34% illuminated. Some high clouds are visible but this is good enough to make some pictures. This is also the right moment to observe Mare Tranquillitatis with south and north of it the landings of the first and last Apollo mission.

M42 Orion Nebula

Almost -5°C and my Nikon battery is empty, so it was time to quit my observation for this evening. Below is a picture of the Orion Nebula M42 taken with TAL200K and Nikon D60.

Sunspot AR2615

Clear sky and bright sun, showing sunspot AR2615. Picture taken with Nikon D60 on TAL200K and Baader sunfilter for 1/640s ISO200. Editing using CS4.

Moon 16% with names of Craters

Always interesting to find out the names of the craters. During this first quarter we can find the craters of some famous early explorers.

Moon 16% with airplane.

Again a lucky shot when airplane shows up in front of the moon :)

Moon 16% Waxing Crescent

Already -2°C and cold. The moon is low above south-west horizon. Picture taken in direct focus on TAL200K and edited using CS4.

Herschel 400 Presentation A.S.H Polaris

Attending presentation on Herschel 400 by Tom Corstjens which took place at A.S.H Polaris in Herentals. Tom provided with passion insight on how to organize for visual observations of Messier and Herschel 400. A good overview was given but most interested are the drawings and sketches he makes of every observation. A key learning I took away is to take time to observe and keep looking at the object. The longer you look at the object the more you will see :)