The research continues into astrophotography. Ultimately I know I will be purchasing a telescope to push deeper into the sky, but before I do that, I'm reading what I can so I have some skills necessary to take some quality photos. To that end, I've discovered a little gem for sale that should make stacking images much more pain-free. This little gem http://www.henrys.com/70762-PIXEL-TW-282-E3-W-L-SHUTTER-CANON-EOS.aspx jumped out at me while I was on a date with Google. Rather than standing next to my trusty Manfroto with a tiny remote in my hand counting my images and the seconds of exposure as they happen, this baby should do the work for me. Love it.
In the meantime, here's a picture of the moon I took a few months back on my crappy Best Buy tripod (otherwise known as Shakey - May it rest in peace). If we ever have a cloud-free evening, I'm looking forward to shooting again on a good tripod with my new 500mm lens.