Gfamily

I know a lot of people like Sky Safari, but I think it's worth also suggesting Stellarium. I have both - and although Sky Safari has a lot more information within it, I find that Stellarium is the one I always go to first. I think there are free versions of both (or at least, there are free versions on Android), so it might be worth getting each to see which you prefer

For value for money DIY dewshields, I reckon you can't do better than getting a sheet of Proplex* - and using sticky velcro pads to hold the edges together. £4.50 for a 1.2m x 2.4m sheet that will do a one-piece shield for anything up to about 35cm aperture. https://www.wickes.co.uk/Proplex-Black-Surface-Protection-Sheet-2400-x-1200-x-2mm/p/118670 *it's the twin wall sheeting put down to protect floors from scratches when builders are working indoors

Iridium satellites used to be frequent sources of 'flares', and being in Polar orbits, they were often see at high latitudes. However, many of the older satellites have been de-orbited, and they are being replaced with smaller antennae, so they don't produce the same effect as before.

The SVBony 7-21 is pretty reasonable and significantly lighter than the 8-24. The field of view is relatively narrow at the 21mm end - so you lose some of the usual benefits of the longer focal length eyepiece, but if you already have a 25mm or thereabouts, it can be a good way to get a range of powers available for a reasonable price. (assuming you have a 1.25" focuser of course)

Is this the specific Android 11 version downloaded from the Skywatcher website(1.19.x) , or the previous one (1.17.0) from the Play Store? If the former, other than checking the Eq / AltAz mode settings, I can't suggest anything I'm afraid.

Around 2nd week of May 2025. It might make a useful quiz question some time. (Maybe something about a Rover ('s Return) arriving at another star system.)

This is a modified image to show the difference between my view of M13 from the Astrocamp site in S Wales, and the view 2 weeks later from my edge of urban home. It's worth getting away if you can. Camping is a good way of getting to dark sites with little ones.

If you use the L bracket, you can still use the polar scope with the imaging equipment attached, so you can confirm the alignment is still good.

A friend was using a TS60 scope on his SA, but had to use a counterweight because he was using a dSLR. To allow him to do guiding he attached the guidescope to the counterweight bar.

What's your power supply? If it's getting intermittent results 'in the field' but consistently working an hour later indoors, it could be that your batteries are dropping voltage in the cold. As for the directions - I can't help, except to say that in EQ mode, the two directions will be RA and Declination rather than in Altitude and Azimuth, so the directions of the axes will vary depending on where in the sky you are.

Coming up this weekend a free, all age event run by the National Museum https://museum.wales/whatson/digital/11286/Amazing-Astronomy-/ Talks, "Show and Tell", selection from the exhibits, Kids Crafts. Spread the word

As Lee says, your last two movements when aligning have to be up and right ( or right and up). This ensures consistency in the final alignment. In practice it means you should aim to get the alignment star just below and to the left of the centre, and then do the tiniest nudge up and right to get it centred.

As wookie1965 has said, the answer is to download the SynscanInit v2.1 app. That gives you the correct values and (more importantly) gives you the correct format to enter.

Given that the centre of the galaxy is only about 6 degrees from the crossing point of the ecliptic and the galactic equator, I'd say we're pretty much either in the galactic Spring or Autumn. If we were looking at the comparable position of the Sun relative to the first point of Aries, it's equivalent to about 6 days after the Equinox.

If you do manage to get the app working , you can use Sky Safari Plus (or Stellarium Plus) alongside it to directly control the scope.

If your phone is using Android 11 there's a problem with the version available from Google Play (1.17.0) , but a compatible version is available from the Skywatcher website http://www.skywatcher.com/download/software/synscan-app/ However, as you say, Sky Safari has a 'tonight's best' option in the Search bar.

You might find it useful to download the SynScan App - although it's meant to be used to control Skywatcher telescopes via Wifi - it comes with a "tonight's best" function (under the "Utility" icon), and that gives a quick and easy list of objects, with rough position and magnitude. It lists DSOs, Planets and Double Stars separately - and as it knows your location it gives results that are specific to your observing. Can I also be another voice to suggest you seriously consider getting Turn Left at Orion - there's a Google Books preview under the link

My experience has been that my old phones don't get offered updates - so yours may not be offered 11 anyway. And downloading the APK direct from Skywatcher is always an option.

The Solar Furnace at Odeillo (Pyrénées-Orientales) is supposed to be located there in part because of the high annual sunshine, so it can't be all bad. Here's hoping for an unlock as soon as it is safe to do so...

A proper dark site for us is about 90 minutes away at Alwen Reservoir* in North Wales. But we have a house next to Astrofarm France which has much more reliable clear skies (and pretty dark ones too), so it's where we are far more likely to be able to do astronomy. *Pro tip: phone ahead to one of the chippies in Corwen, and if you can get there before 8pm, you can pick up your tea en-route.

This is how I repurposed my redundant RDF using a dummy Hot Shoe from ebay for about £1.99, and a simple L bracket that I hit with a hammer to turn into a ⊃ bracket.

If you download the SynScan App, you can go into emulation mode and see what is offered for first and second stars for the different alignment options. I don't know if it works in the same way on the handset, but I would hope its very similar. Certainly, using the app makes it much quicker to go through the options than using the handset.

Be warned that there's an issue with some Skywatcher Android app software, that means the current version won't work with Android 11, and because of an unnamed issue it will not update via Google Play Store. One of these is the the SynScan app used to manage the AzGTi If your phone is likely to update to Android 11, you will have to visit the Skywatcher website to get the apk to download and install on your phone. I believe this issue also affects the SAM Console software if you have a Star Adventurer. Similarly, that software is available on the website. http://www.skywatcher.com/download/software/

I've just looked back up the thread and seen that you're getting a Newtonian scope. So when I mentioned 'attaching a dSLR to your scope', a Barlow is very likely to be needed to be able to get it to focus. There are Newtonians that can be used with a SLR camera, but they need to be specially designed for it.

The advantage of a Barlow lens is that when used with an eyepiece it gives you the magnification twice or three times the 'power' with the same size eye lens (some eyepiece designs result in smaller and smaller eye lenses as the focal length decreases). The downside is that the optics aren't necessarily optimised when a lens is used with one. Generally, the image will be okay, but it would usually be possible to get a better image with a decent equivalent eyepiece. Another is that there is a temptation to use it to give too much magnification. I have a 2x Barlow that I use with my 32, 24 and 18mm eyepieces, so that I effectively have the use of 16, 12 and 9mm EPs as well. I wouldn't use it with my 10mm eyepiece, as it would be too much for my f/12 scope. There's a nice Celestron combined Barlow/t adapter that could be worth getting as you can also use it to attach a dSLR to your scope.