Winter still refuses to relinquish its grip on the Park City area. 6-8″ of snow fell again yesterday (4/24/08). Skies did clear for the approaching weekend, though and the forecast is calling for mostly clear skies for the next few days at least. I woke a bit earlier than hoped for… (5ish)… and decided to take advantage of some nice early morning views. I managed to checkout the giant planet, Jupiter… which was sitting high in the southeast. I snapped a couple of prime focus pics, but I didn’t get these focused sharp enough to be worth anything. The moon was sitting due south when I came out… and slightly to the west as I focused the camera on it. For all my complaining about how bright the moon can be, it is one sweet astro-photography target. Focusing on the moon is a non-issue as you can so clearly see the details in your camera’s view finder.

Details on the lunar surface are clear and crisp. The lunar terminator can be seen running along the edge of Mare Serenitatis, lighting up the far edge of Crater Posidonius. Visibility along the terminator is especially detailed because of the stark contrast.