Gfamily

Hi and welcome. You're fortunate to have a few local astro societies if you want to meet up with like minded people. I don't know anyone from Chester AS, but they're quite local to you. If you're able to get over to near Old Colwyn, the North Wales AS meet for observing at the Community Centre at Llanelian on the second Tuesday of the month - i.e. tomorrow. If it's not clear, they'll have a short talk or two instead. They also have a talk meeting at Llanrhos Old School (nearer Deganwy) on the fourth Wednesday of the month. They're a really friendly group, and I try and go to most of their 4th Wednesday meetings.

Solarsphere (Astronomy festival at Builth Wells) is 14th - 17th August next year. http://www.solarsphere.events/LatestNews.html

We have a signed copy that we bought at this year's Solarsphere. And one of our club members has his image of M81 in it.

It's awesome isn't it. What I would say is that it's worth seeing it in a variety of locations, as your response to it can vary depending on what room its in. Here it was in a church in Llandudno

Late response, I know - it's been a busy week, but here's the page I saw in the download. If the actual offer is better, that's great.

My version downloaded this morning is saying "£16.50 every 6 issues", so a bargain, but not quite as much of one

Have you all seen the error on page 4 of the download? Repeated on page 55 of the new one?

It's been a busy day!

Mid Cheshire have their meeting on the last Friday of the week; so feel free to visit us too. we're at the Forest Explorers cabin behind the Cafe and Bike place in Delamere Forest. If it's clear, we are likely to observe afterwards, but otherwise why not join us at the pub nearby. https://www.midcheshireastro.co.uk/

Images of the Meade Schmidt Newt scopes (from online reviews) suggest they come with an extension tube, but the OP's photo doesn't show one. To the OP - can you get back to the previous owner and see if they have the extension tube put away somewhere?

Discovered by an amateur astronomer apparently. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanocallaghan/2019/09/11/a-second-interstellar-object-has-almost-certainly-been-found-in-our-solar-system/#544c6ddb7b99

I like the idea of star hoping; hoping it's clear, hoping the alignment is good, hoping hoping hoping.

But on the other hand, the rings are very well presented. Swings and roundabouts ...

Cigarette lighter adapters are fine, but they often work loose over time, which is annoying as it means your need to realign when you reconnect. An oft recommended alternative is the DIN connector which has a much more positive 'click' into place. Finding them can be a pain though, so try boating electrics suppliers.

The trouble with extended objects under LP is that they just lose definition. Here's a mock up of how M13 looked two weeks apart from (1) a dark sky site in Wales and (2) my back garden under an urban sky

If George Lucas had put it in a film, you'd want to be in that solar system.

If you buy an atlas (which I would recommend), and you want Telrad circles, a small piece of clear plastic with them drawn on (to the appropriate scale) can be a good idea. An alternative might be to prepare your own finder charts using software such as Cartes de Ciel. Here's one I prepared some time ago - using circles for my finder and some of my eyepieces. One thing that is useful about creating your own is that you can develop your own star hops. Finally; Google Books has a Preview version of Turn Left at Orion; worth having a look to see if its something you might use. An alternative to TLAO which you might consider is the Illustrated Guide to Astronomical Wonders, which covers the constellations visible from the northern hemisphere

If you've not already done it, rebooting your device may help. My phone often misses showing my home WiFi; restarting the phone fixes it.

The 2017 eclipse was in the same Saros Cycle as 'our' 1999 eclipse - the 2017 starting point was 120 degrees west of the earlier one, because the Saros Cycle is 18 years, 11 days, 8 hours long, and the 8 hours means the earth has turned by that much extra.

We were on the campsite above Sennen Cove in Cornwall. Totally cloudy above, but the effect of seeing twilight around 360 degrees of the horizon was memorable. The day before was glorious though, spent on the beach at the cove, with various family members. The Perseids gave a good display one night, but I can't recall whether it was before or after the eclipse

Some that I like are Syzygy Naked Astronomy The Jodcast Seldom Sirius And a short series specific to the Apollo 11 landing 13 minutes to the Moon

It's listed on the GoStargazing website, so observing from there should be feasible. One downside might be lights from passing cars. https://gostargazing.co.uk/events/locations/surprise-view-peak-district/ The same website will let you know when and where local astronomy clubs meet.

Our first visit last year was one of our highlights of 2018. Such a great event. The weather doesn't look great this year though, so if you're in a tent bring spare pegs and guys.

Anyone else going? See you in the top field.

On a phone/tablet, DSO Planner is a nice piece of software. There's a range of versions from free to about £16, with bigger catalogues and telescope control as you move up. Observing lists can be created, and notes made as targets are observed, including the taking of audio notes so you don't have to take your eye from the eyepiece.