3. Acquiring the Image Segments

1. Be careful not to leave any gaps; you want complete coverage! One way to be completely sure you have complete coverage is to construct a rough mosaic as you go. Also, if you have a mount capable of begin driven by a computer, note that some planetary programs, such as Software Bisque’s The Sky, have a mosaic tool to assist in acquiring mosaic segments.
2. Ensure that the camera does not rotate at all during the acquisition process. Any rotation will complicate the stitching process!
3. Use a filter. The Moon is quite bright. A Moon filter or some sort of neutral density filter is almost always required to prevent the images from saturating. The Orion Moon filter works well as do variable polarizing filters.
4. Line up your camera such that the x and y axis are parallel with the RA and Dec axis of your mount. It would seem natural to align the camera on the Moon's terminator, but you will find that it just complicates the acquisition process. Lining up the camera with the compass directions simplifies the process since movement in just one direction is all that is needed to acquire the next segment.
5. Work hard on good focus. You want a high-resolution image, right? If the temperature is changing rapidly you may need to refocus occasionally.
6. Check the collimation of your optics. If you are having a particularly hard time focusing, it could be that your optics are out of alignment.
7. Use the shortest exposure time possible. You are trying to catch a moment when the air is still. A shorter exposure time increases the chances of that happening.
8. Take your images when the Moon is high in the sky. You are shooting through less atmosphere and the seeing effects will be minimized.
9. Take multiple images of each segment. Depending on the seeing conditions you may want to take between 5 to 10 images (or more) of each segment. Having multiple images of each segment allows you to evaluate and select the crispest image.