Stargazing
Moon
Here are some photos of the near-full Moon taken from Iowa City on 7 October 2006 using a Kodak V530 camera. Click on the pictures for a larger version.
These were taken using an afocal imaging method. I made a camera mount by attaching a small tabletop camera tripod to the eyepiece shaft with a metal hose clamp (available at a hardware store). Check out this picture to see what it looks like attached to the telescope. The camera is attached to the tripod and lined up with the eyepiece on the telescope. This works well if you have a small camera and a tabletop tripod.
Saturn
Below is my first attempt at astrophotography. It's Saturn at opposition (almost) on 2006 Jan 25. The image was captured using a modified Quickcam and a 4.5" Newtonian reflector, and it was cropped and scaled with The GIMP. You can see the overall shape of the planet and the rings in the picture. Thanks to Cheyenne for adjusting the Quickcam settings while I kept the constantly moving Saturn in view.
There's also a movie of Saturn.
Current Moon phase
(courtesy of USNO):
Sun/Moon Rise/Set times (for Eastern Iowa):
