So I had a spare evening and thought I would put it to use by taking my skywatcher Explorer 200p and HEQ5 mount out again with my 1100D Canon with the aim of getting some good snaps/video's of the moon and Jupiter.

Once out however i realised that despite my meticulous planning following the astronomy shed video's on mount/scope setup, i couldn't polar align. The reason was that i couldn't see the reticule against the backdrop of polaris!!! has any one else had this problem and am i being a complete noooob here?

For the second session running i failed at polar alignment, i think next time out i will have to try and find an experience astronomer to buddy up on a session with me...(offers anyone?)...

Also, balancing was an issue as when i had my DSLR attached the standard HEQ5 counter weights couldn't handle it, i think i will need to invest in a longer counter weight bar (as i don't want to push my set-up beyond the weight limit)...

In any case i thought i would have a go at seeing what i could get un guided and it turns out i got quite a good snippet of Jupiter and the 4 moons (

) . Albeit the video looks grossly overexposed as is way too bright, this was captured with a Canon 1100d, does anyone know what settings to play with to get the bets image?

Moving on from Jupiter i took some snaps of the moon and i tried Orion; my pictures look a bit amateur (well i am an amateur i suppose so what did i expect ey) but they are alot better than my first time out (i.e. my first time was an epic fail)...

My favourite snap of the session was actually of the SUN! Used a Sigma 70-300mm lense on Macro setting @ 300mm.

Anyways, the realities of stargazings requisite skillset is beginning to dawn on me however my enthusiasm is only going up so I look forward to many more sessions to come and hopefully one day i can produce a Damian Peach(esk) photo of Jupiter!

P.S. if anyone around the Ipswich/Suffolk area is interested in being my astronomy buddy for a session or few to help me get started then get in touch!

Thanks for reading!