Gfamily

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.

I have a Skywatcher tripod that didn't come with a cradle, so I added a loop of wire (loosened screws on the back of the handset shell, insert loop with knotted ends, and tighten again). This then mounts on a hook made of thicker garden wire at the top of each tripod leg NB - wire ends are double insulated to ensure no unwelcome short circuits

I've given a couple of talks that seemed to go down well. "How we didn't get to the Moon" is one I enjoy giving*, and a couple of recent ones have been about the 1919 Eclipse that allowed Eddington to prove General Relativity, and "Edmond Halley, not just the comet man" is my most recent one. * don't worry, I'm not one of those.

Steve Barrett of Liverpool University is an excellent speaker, and has been welcomed back several times by the Mid Cheshire and North Wales Astro groups. His last Mid Cheshire talk was done online and went very well. His talks are listed on his web page. https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/~sdb/Talks/

The scope will mount on a camera tripod, which is likely to give you a more stable view, but if you don't have one, using on a table with the legs shortened will help a bit. As I recall from buying one for my nephews, it comes with a 45degree diagonal, and this has the advantage of not reversing the image. However, at high altitudes, it isn't as easy to use as a 90 degree diagonal, so you might consider getting one of those early on. In terms of targets, keeping to lower magnifications will give you plenty of things to look at. Clusters like the Pleiades and some of the Messier objects around the Milky Way near Orion can be rewarding at lower powers. A guide such as 'Turn Left at Orion" is good as it has achievable targets for binoculars and small scopes, with suggestions for all the astronomical seasons

However, what is energy? Energy is 'something' that represents a translation from one frame of reference to another. This might be between frames moving at different relative speeds, or frames that are at different positions in a field of force. Having "different energy conversion between mass and photons changing in different directions" can be perfectly consistent with this. There's a presumption of isotropy, and no evidence against it, but it can't be ruled out.

On 15th, the asteroid Vesta will be pretty much half way between the triplet and Denebola - the bright star at the 'tail' of Leo.

In terms of head torches, the best one I've found is this from Energizer - a big advantage is that it has two buttons - one for red beam and one for white beam. https://www.batterystation.co.uk/brands/energizer-batteries.html?_bc_fsnf=1&Product+Type=Head+Lights

I'm not sure of any way of reducing the size of the icons to fit more onto the screen. Alternative approaches I can suggest are : remove plugins that add buttons you don't use (not ideal) use keyboard shortcuts for the icons you can't see (Ctrl + zero for Telescope connection)

Be aware that buying from Europe has now become more complicated, and is likely to add significant cost to the list price. As far as I can determine, there's 4% duty payable on Optical instrument imports and VAT payable as well. Shipping companies will apply a handling charge on top. It does look as though AstroShop are continuing to offer to sell into UK, but many European retailers are declining to ship to here.

I've heard people suggest that rather than getting the SW wedge, go for the Williams Optics one instead. I appreciate that it's considerably more expensive, but it is reputedly much more capable. I haven't tried using my AZ GTi in equatorial mode (and if I did, I would initially use my existing SW Wedge), so this is simply reporting what others have suggested. HTH

Just to be clear - the mount creates its own wifi hotspot, and this is what you connect to with your phone/tablet when controlling the mount.

I just switch on the mount, and cycle the WiFi on my phone/tablet. The synscan appears in the list and I select that rather than the home WiFi. Then I can connect the app to the mount. (I've no idea why others would turn off their home WiFi.) Re-reading the earlier posts, it looks as though some people have had problems because the mount and their home WiFi were using the same channels. As they have said, a temporary work-around would be to switch off their home WiFi, a longer lasting fix would be to go into the router settings and change the channel being used.

You can disable the NR on the A5000 by using Continuous Bracketing (0.3 EV) Mode. None of the bracketing modes uses NR, and continuous bracketing allows the use of Bulb exposures.

If you've not read it, Chaos by James Gleick is an excellent primer for this area.

Another consideration is the mass of the rings themselves, as any particles that are out of the plane will be subject to a gravitational force towards the plane of the rings, which will maximise their speed as they pass through the rings. However, I think the more significant factor is that although individual particles each have their own peculiar motion at the outset; as a system, the rings have a net angular momentum - which defines a plane and an axis. The system's total angular momentum is conserved over time, and at the same time, the inelastic collisions between particles will eventually remove the peculiar components of the motion out of the plane.