Mastodawn

arcturus May 31

Lovely! Is that where the expression once in a blue moon comes from?

@arcturus Thanks!🙏🏽 I literally learned about all this just yesterday. The current popular definition (which spread from a mistake in a 1946 magazine article!) is that it’s the second full moon in a month, which happens every 2-3 years. An older meaning from the Farmers Almanac is that it’s the third of four moons in a season. The “rare” meaning dates back even further, to 1821, and refers to the moon being VISUALLY blue due to rare occurrences like volcanic eruptions.

arcturus May 31

Oh what a history lesson. Thank you!

Awesome! Which focal length did you use for this?

@ausdem_rahmen Thank you! This was shot with an iPhone 15 at 2x zoom, attached to a 130mm-aperture reflector telescope with a 650mm focal length at f/5. Telescope eyepiece has a 25mm focal length with 26x magnification.

Oh wow. Did not see that coming :D
Sounds like a great setup

@ausdem_rahmen Thank you! I’m guessing you can get similar results with a really good camera and telephoto lens, but I went the telescope route instead 😅

I am impressed by the quality of the smartphone camera. Why did you choose the telescope route instead of camera equipment?

@ausdem_rahmen I just fell into it, really! I fell in love with serious stargazing and moon gazing a couple of years ago, and to me that meant getting a telescope for visual observation. When I decided to try my hand at astrophotography, I was already comfortable taking pictures with my phone, so the easiest thing to do was a phone-to-telescope setup. I do also have a DSLR that I’m learning how to use, so I may take some moon pics with it someday!