Gfamily

The UK is currently benefitting from being away from the main Jetstream, so you're getting very clear views (clouds permitting) - despite the ecliptic being at relatively low altitude. We're currently in France, so our views of the planets are atrocious. https://www.netweather.tv/charts-and-data/jetstream

I went to a talk about work being done by the University of Sheffield at the Zaatari refugee camp in Lebanon, and one of the comments was that there's nothing that a farmer needs that can't be made with a welding kit and an angle grinder.

I've not guided, but I'm pretty sure a friend with the SA used a 6x30 finder scope with an ASI 120 as the guide camera. Mounted it on the counterweight bar and used it for 10 minute exposures using a 440mm scope and dSLR

Moon imaged using a 32mm eyepiece and phone camera adapter It fits

Steve Tonkin is one of the acknowledged experts on binoculars in the UK His Binocular Sky website is one of the best places to get information about binoculars (and his monthly newsletter will give you advice on how to use them). One of his recommendations for 'reasonably priced' binoculars is the Opticron Adventurer 10x50 WP (WP indicating that they should be resistent to dew getting inside) Review here http://binocularsky.com/reviews/Opticron_Adventurer_T_WP_10x50.pdf

I don't know if it's illegal to give the lamp post a good wobble (works better with metal ones than concrete ones). They are usually fitted with cut off devices to cut live power from the base in the event of a traffic accident, so it's not doing anything that isn't part of the design requirements. As I say, I don't know if it's illegal.

I've put a link to this thread on our club Facebook page, and created a PDF of your list that people can download/print off. Hope you're ok with that.

@SteveWolves beat me to it by a fraction. A Philips Planisphere is the place to start. Make sure you get one for your latitude range, and I'd say avoid the 'glow in the dark' ones. They don't have as much detail, and the 'glow' is likely to be too bright at the start of a session, and not visible by the end. If it's still visible, you've not been out long enough 😀 They have the brighter stars named, and they will help you distinguish your Caph from your Sadr. To track your progress, get a notebook and make notes of what you've done each time, maybe aim to concentrate on a constellation or two, and sketch them, and make notes on your impressions. If looking at planets, see what else is around them, Jupiter takes 12 years or so to go around the Zodiac, so it'll be different from season to season. But keep an eye out for anything that takes your fancy, and note it down.

For focusing, set your camera to Manual Focus, then set the focus ring to the infinity symbol. Next, mount your camera on a tripod, or equivalent, set the 'short' shutter setting (it doesn't need to be 10 seconds) and set the iso to a really high setting and take a 5 second exposure of the sky including some bright stars. Look at the shot just taken, and use the image zoom to have a closer look at the bright stars near the centre. If they are tiny, you're ok, but if they show as small circles, mske a small adjustment in one direction and repeat. Compare the size of the star, if larger, go the other way, if smaller, try a little more and take another shot until it's as small as you can get. When done, without touching the focus ring, set the iso back to a lower level like 800

Hi Matt I can't give a definitive answer about the problem with using a Barlow, but one of the things that a Barlow does its to move the focal plane further out, so it's possible that (for the PDS scope) the Barlow moves the focal plane too far out for the focuser to be usable with an eyepiece. You may have more luck with a higher power eyepiece (though less need to use one with a Barlow of course!)

There's an OpenStax textbook on Astronomy, chapters 21 and 22 cover the evolution of stars at undergraduate level. https://openstax.org/details/books/astronomy OpenStax is an initiative to make open access textbooks across a range of subjects

Start by trying it out during the day, using live view. That should allow you to work out whether the problem is with the scope, the camera, the focus or something else.

If you missed the talk, it's on YouTube https://youtu.be/xjh3AmfnuAA

You're more likely to have to rack the focuser in than out if you are using a dSLR. If you can't get focus with it fully racked in, as @PeterCPC has suggested, a Barlow may allow you to get focus. As Derek has also suggested, experimenting during the day will be a lot easier.

I'm wondering whether there a market for a lightweight but ornamental birdbath design that would sit in top of a pier in the middle of the lawn by day, but be replaced by an EQ mount at night. I'm sure we'd be happy to give the pier a suitably rustic paint job.

Ok, what you've found isn't a classic planisphere, but I don't know where you would find one. You can get inflatable sky globes, and I guess you could use it in the same way As for planispheres, they're generally available, in the UK often coming with a guide to the night sky. They vary by the latitude range, so make sure you get the one that's best for you. I like the Philips ones, but my advice would be to avoid the 'glow in the dark' ones as they don't have much detail, and you're better off using a red-light torch to read them anyway.

For £20 that's a bargain. Have you looked at Jupiter and Saturn? It's surprising what you can see with 20x. The benefit of low magnification is a relatively wide field of view, which will be great for looking at open clusters. I'd suggest continuing to consider getting a Dobsonian scope, there will be more you can see that will complement what you can see with your bargain scope. Rather than looking at getting a new eyepiece as such, you might consider getting a 2x Barlow lens, that will effectively give you a 12.5 mm eyepiece view with your existing one. It can be used with other eyepieces as well, so it's an affordable easy of giving you a wider variety of magnifications.

I can second that feeling of the familiar constellations disappearing under too many extra stars. I think a physical 2-disc planisphere is the best tool for finding your way around the night sky. It's an all in one view that puts the constellations in relation to each other, but also gives a graphic view of how the night sky changes from hour to hour and from month to month. With regard to the 'too many stars' problem - sometimes it's the initial alignment that's the problem - where's North etc. For the present, Jupiter is the brightest thing in the evening sky and will show you roughly South at about 10:30 pm.

I found it useful to create my own finder and star hopper charts in word and Cartes de Ciel for a few targets. These start with an easily findable star close to your target and then take a closer look to give you an idea of what you would expect to see in the finder and then in the main scope eyepiece. It's useful in that you can work out your own path from the bright star to the target. An example for M57 attached below I agree heartily with the recommendations for "Turn Left at Orion", but can I also suggest you make space on your shelves for the "Illustrated Guide to Astronomical Wonders" (Google Books link) - which takes the same idea, and goes an extra step - so not everything will be easy to find, but it will take you a lot further. It has some excellent information about how to enjoy astronomy as well.

One of the speakers at this weekend's virtual Solarsphere Festival is Mary McIntyre, who will be talking at 5pm tomorrow afternoon about Astronomy Sketching & Artwork. Her talk will be on Zoom and YouTube. Zoom - https://zoom.us/j/99755193755 Meeting ID: 997 5519 3755 YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfj5H8zpWX1N8e6x-I3ss6A I'm not sure if it'll cover what you're looking for, but it may give you extra ideas on top. Full details of the Solarsphere timetable can be found here. https://www.solarsphere.events/ We'd be there if it wasn't for this blooming Virus!

That was my first thought, but I couldn't quite place it. My home town. Moved away to uni in the late 70s.

I'd say that's Wales rather than California! Cynon valley?

Forgot to say, if you use the excellent GoStargazing website, it has a map of suggested star gazing locations that might be of use. https://gostargazing.co.uk/ Also, you may have a local Astronomy Society and they may be able to help with suggestions, though under the current conditions they probably won't be having organised outings to viewing sites. http://www.astronomyclubs.co.uk/Clubs/Default.aspx?CountyId=35

I use the light pollution map to scan for places with dark skies. In checking this I'll also look for places where there aren't towns in particular directions, so if I was wanting to look at clusters in Cassiopeia or the Andromeda galaxy I'd want to avoid a location with a town to the East. Then, I'd use Google Street View to go along the back roads to see if there are any lay-bys or field openings that look as though they would be suitable places that you can get properly off the road and have space to set up the scope. Street View will also show you whether there are trees and nearby houses, both to be avoided - or at least be aware of. https://www.lightpollutionmap.info

Barlows can be useful because they allow you to use longer focal length eyepieces and keep the benefits of a larger eye lens and very often a bit more eye relief. A Barlow with a t-thread can also be useful when imaging planets using a dSLR or mirrorless camera.