Moon – mosaic with the Baader Apo – September 25, 2026

I wanted to venture into a completely new area for a change and, more fundamentally, improve my lucky imaging skills.

I finally took the time to figure out how to get my QHY 5-III-462C running at its maximum frame rate. With the full sensor, I managed to reach 130 frames per second. I had never seen frame rates like that before — then again, I had never really bothered to optimize it.

I captured the images with FireCapture on my MacBook Air M1.

For controlling the mosaic, I simply used the hand controller of the WD-20P.

I’m absolutely happy with the result. Next time, I’ll move on to the VC200L Cassegrain.

High resolution on Astrobin:

Session details

Telescope	Baader Apo 95 CaF2 – Travel Companion
Corrector	Tele Vue Powermate 2.5x
Effective focal length	1450 mm
Camera	QHY 5-III-462C
Mount	WarpAstron WD-20P Berlebach UNI18 ASTRO
Date of capture	2026-09-25
Mosaic	20 panels · each 300 of 2,000 frames (15.0 %)
Frames in total	6,000 of 40,000 frames
Calibration frames	–
Sensitivity	GAIN 200
Capture setup	Macbook Air M1, Firecapture
Processing date	2026-09-27
Software stack	Affinity, AutoStakkert, PIPP, Registax
Location	Koblenz, Rheinland
Focal ratio	f/15,3