Let's Photograph the Moon with a Telescope

Taking a photograph of the full moon with a telescope is a hugely rewarding experience. However, you don't need fancy equipment to photograph the moon, you can just use your smart phone! This is what makes the moon a perfect astrophotography target, it's accessible to anyone!

In this video I give an overview of my process of imaging the moon using my Sky-Watcher Evostar 72ED DS-Pro and Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer.

**The equipment I use**

Checkout my other Star Adventurer videos here:

[Manifestum]

Thanks for showing how to focus on the object when it's on the DSLR screen. I missed the screen zoom function and it was really hard to get clear image. Now I know my mistake)

[martee]

Thanks for the video! I have a Sky-Watcher 72ED as well but I’m having focusing issues. I have a T-Ring adapter on my Fujifilm XT3 attached to the 72ED but it’s just a big blur. No matter how much I play around with the grey knobs on the 72ED I can’t seem to get it to focus. Am I missing something?

*Update* Figured out i didn’t have enough back focus. I stopped by my local store and picked up an extension used between the camera and the lens and I’m able to get a clear picture now.

[bkstudio]

Keep uploading. Putting stuff like this is hard work but, I personally find this very helpful so I know others are too! I love the result you got and I never considered stacking moon photos, everyone else says "single shot of moon" Won my subscription!

[bazpearce]

That EQ 130 is a storming 1st scope. Still have mine (£130). Jury rigged a skywatcher R.A. tracking motor onto it. Stuck a Phillips SPC900 in the focuser and off i went.

[andynonya]

I received my Star Adventure kit a little over a week ago, just in time for Spring weather to decide to let Winter have another go, snow and all 🤦‍♂️ I’ve been enjoying your videos a lot and feel like I’m going to have enough knowledge to be at minimum somewhat successful once I finally do have a chance to put it to use. Thank you for sharing all your experiences, I’ve learned a lot from your videos and know for sure I’ll be avoiding issues that likely would have been very frustrating to overcome if I hadn’t seen your videos.

[matthewjoyce]

Golden Boi stole the show! Loving the content mate! Smashing that thunbs up button!

[michaeldavis]

Thank you Nick for another helpful video. I've been shooting the moon this week too because we haven't had clear skies and the moon was really the only object I could shoot quickly during a brief moment of clear skies. I have 2 questions: 1. do you need to polar align to shoot the moon? I wouldn't think so but you mentioned it during your video. 2. I've never considered stacking my moon images but clearly it must have a dramatic effect because your shot was fabulous. How many exposures did you take for your moon stack? Thanks again!

[jeffmorris]

You said ISO 100 and 1/30 shutter? Also, sorry if I missed it but is there a simple stacking software I can use for moon photos?

[willnotbetracked]

Hi Nick. I watched one of your star adventurer videos a while back where you said you can't use the illuminator with the L bracket on? When I had my Adventurer it came with a black plastic tube thingy which conveniently fitted into the L bracket slot and I just fitted the polar illuminator into that - job

[darrenbarber]

Hi great video you said about 200 images sounds a lot is this the ideal amount ?
I have a mirror less lumix camera and a 100 to 400 zoom so full frame equivalent 200-800 any advice on Aperture settings and mechanical or electronic shutter ?
Cheers Darren

[toms]

Why shoot 1/320th if using a tracker? Obviously it’s track the moon in the frame but is it not accurate enough for a longer exposure?

[SpaceFactsWax]

Thank you for uploading. I had the opportunity to witness a rocket launch in 2018. Incredible experience. I posted a pretty fun video of the trip to my channel.

[TheUrbanAstronomer]

Great video and the image came out very well.

[Alcivv]

The comet neowise got me interested in space

[sosorude]

i use the same setup. How did you find balancing with that setup? add any extra weight? thx

[SuperKevinFS]

on your DLSR what file type do u use. Deeps SKY is RAW what would you suggest for the moon. Thank u

[janesmith]

Thank you for posting this video. I recently bought the star adventure pro package
and I’m having an issue. The black clutch ring, when tightened, does not hold my camera in place. It’s still swings back-and-forth very loosely. What am I doing wrong?

[mirko]

Does the sky watcher follow the moon movements and you shoot ?

[mkl]

Thanks for the video. I'm currently stacking my images fro this night (99% moon) and while waiting for PIPP zu finish I'm watching your video. I use a Star Adventurer too, but with a 42 year old russian lens (MTO 1000A Maksutov with 1100mm focal length). When pointing the Star Adventurer to a taget you can also loose the clutch in the declination axis to turn your lens / telescope so you don't have to turn the knob to death to make a 180° turn :-). Just use the knob for the fine tuning. You can also use the buttons ("<" and ">") on the body of the Star Adventurer to fine tune the RA axis with out the need to loose the clutch again. I found this very helpful to frame the moon in my camera (APS-C) because it barely fits in the frame with that focal length and it is not easy to handle a 3kg lens with a camera attached if both clutches are loose :-).

[Astrofrank]

It is not really dangerous to look at the full moon through a telescope, but also not pleasant, similar to leaving an ophthalmologist with dilated pupils.