As this was the first clear night i've had decided to practise some star hopping and the Jupiter moon occultation.

Aligned and setup about 19:30 UTC left to cool for 1.5 hrs then to business!

tried the Jupiter moon occultation - got nice view of jupiter - equtorial bans nice and clear (20mm Meade 5000 + Barlow), but the seeing dint let me see the moon occultation.

So onto star hopping - Aldabaran was up so located it, then star hopped to Pleiades using star chart ( upside down - made it alot easier) achieved that - nice view of the Pleiades.

Decided to wait for Orion to rise as the transparency was very good and the seeing had improved. So inside to warm up and plan for Orion.

Out at about 02:00 UTC - orion up so decided to have a bash at M42 and M43. Found it a bit tricky till I scanned with bins and got my bearings. used the 20mm and eventually found M42 and M43. This was the highlight of the session for me, especially when I put the Barlow in - saw the 4 stars in the Trapezium and just watched the beauty of the nebula for a good 20 mins.

All in all an excellent session, learnt alot and know where to look now!