Quick Moongazing and iPhone Digiscoping

We had a nice clear view of a 95% waxing gibbous moon on Thursday evening (8/27/2015), and our friend Kenny said he wanted to check out my telescope. I usually jump all over those suggestions because I loving sharing this hobby! I told him to grab the binoculars first while I got my scope out of the office [side note: I think I'm going to start referring to our third bedroom office as my 'study' because it sounds super sophisticated and intellectual].

We looked through my Meade 285 refractor for a little bit with both my go-to Meade MA 25mm eyepiece, and my more powerful Orion 6mm Expanse eyepiece. I think Kenny was surprised with how quickly the moon appeared to move through the field of view, and I showed him how I had to adjust the scope to compensate since it doesn't have a motor drive. We saw craters along the terminator, and Kenny thought it would be so creepy if we saw lights flashing back at us.

I took a video of how hard it is to keep an iPhone centered over the eyepiece just right in order to look through the telescope. Yes, I do have an adapter that could have made my life easier, but I was trying to do it quick because we were being eaten alive by mosquitoes! I think I got 5 mosquito bites in the short time we were outside - thanks to our record-setting June rainfall.

Handheld through the 6mm eyepiece of my Meade 285 refractor

A video posted by Eric Teske (@ericteske) on Aug 27, 2015 at 8:54pm EDT