BEGINNER'S LUCK

      The weather was permitting on Thursday morning so I gave it a go with my awkward binocular-camera setup to take a picture of Venus's waxing crescent. I don't know what magical combination of shutter speed and random focus managed to capture the planet, but I got it.

       I edited the image in post to remove as much of rainbow glare as possible. My binoculars were designed for looking at birds in daylight, not observing stars at night let alone trying to angle a point-and-shoot digital camera just right through the eyepiece to snap a picture of a planet. The lenses were not exactly ground to exacting standards so the chromatic aberration is ridiculous. I got lucky that the atmosphere wasn't yet turbulent.

a cropped version of the original image shows the rainbow effect of my shitty optics

      However, I got what I was trying to do. I tried again the next day in brighter lighting but I couldn't manage. The atmosphere was turbulent in the light of dawn and I couldn't get an image that was even a little bit focused. Beginner's luck. I've decided to quit while I'm ahead. I'll try again with the moon when it's at a better viewing angle since I can't muster much more than 30° pinning the binoculars in the window. It's a bigger and brighter target so I'm thinking it'll be easier than Venus.

      It might be time for an SLR digital camera. I need control over the focus, the ability to add a telescopic lens, and one suitable for nighttime photography. The ability to remove the infrared filter would be a bonus too.

ADDENDUM: I made an attempt at photographing the moon this way. I'll call it a success. I wanna capture it now in a lesser phase to better show the craters and mountains. In this level of lighting, the rayed crater Tycho is clearly visible as are a couple of craters along the terminator.