Limerick Astronomy Club

I am still working on getting the focus just right. These were taken on Feb 12 with the Canon EOS 400D attached to the Meade LXR 200 -- 10" telescope. Any opinions on the focus?
What I like about this kind of shot is that it makes me imagine what it would be like if you were approaching the Moon in a spacecraft --- when you are just that distance when the Moon is so close that you can only see a portion of it through the spacecraft window.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2302/226 ... 79ec02.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2184/226 ... 738a4f.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2305/226 ... ba4e19.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2376/226 ... bd7c26.jpg

Nice shots Conn!
Which lens did you use on the camera?

Very nice Conn,
how did you taken them, did you use an eyepiece and camera lens ??

No lens or eyepiece. I remove the eyepiece holder and camera lens I have the adapters/t-ring etc to connect the camera directly to the back of the scope.
The ISS trails , Moon shots etc are giving me great experience/practice with the focussing. I still think I have not got it exactly right yet.

Dave, how does a 'focus reducer' work? For example, with the above arrangement I cannot get the whole Moon in the shot, so is a FR variable or fixed?

Well, what happens is you screw tghe focal reducer directly onto the back of the scope using the scts threads that are there, the t-ring then goes on that.
There are 2 types of focal reducers, a F6.3 and F3.3. The F3.3 is for narrow field ccd imaging so the one you want is the F6.3, like this one..
http://www.scopetronics.com/cel_reducer.htm
scroll down to the f6.3 reducer.
there is no gaurentee it will give you the full moon, I have one and you can give it a go first to see if it works.

Lovely shots Conn,
focus looks good to me.