Ianladd

Looks like your up and running without the compass. I usually turn it off on my iphone. After a while it gets to be a pain when you actually want to focus on one thing in the sky..

Agreed on Saturn. I love how you guys are all excited by this stuff. I remember bouncing into the house babbling about Saturns rings when I saw it. My wife wasn't so excited.. lol

yeah, you're right. I think its this one. http://www.firstlightoptics.com/evostar/skywatcher-evostar-102-eq3-2.html Still. Not a bad price for a fairly recent scope.

http://www.preloved.co.uk/adverts/show/112513140/skywatcher.html Hi all, I spotted this on Preloved. Yeah.. Looking at possible purchases and not quite having the money yet. BAD IDEA. If I'm not mistaken the above scope looks like a 150 Refractor on a very nice Eq5 Mount. Either that or Skywatcher have really started to make their budget range look good. Well, whatever.. I can't pay right now, and one of you may get a super bargain. Regards, Ian.

Someone mentioned double stars as a good thing to be pursuing if you live in London. Damn right.. I live in Ealing, and although I have managed to see the odd fainter object, even the brightest galaxies like Andromeda are a tough call under these light polluted skies. Last night with the moon out I popped the scope out on the patio to cool down whilst i made a cup of tea and had a scoot through my copy of Sky and Telescopes 'Pocket Sky Atlas' to see where some likely double star candidates might be: Meisa in Orion was just about doable with a barlowed 10mm (although focusing seems problematic

Ranmore Common. Perfect! It's just round the corner from Tanners Hatch Youth Hostel which I've been meaning to visit for a good while.. Either way a two hour round trip looks reasonable enough even for a late set off if the weather's clear. Thanks again for the help guys

Thanks for the reply Olly. The telescope used was the RCOS 12.5" Richey-Chretien. Im guessing that although itelescope.net provides easy and affordable access to high end technology, the downside is for a beginner it's like learning to drive in a supercar rather than a 1 litre Fiesta. I'll crack on with trying to find a way to process the image effectively (I'll check out some more stacking software options and possibly order me some reading materials!) Thanks again for your help folks! Ian.

by the way.. the removed word wasn't four letters.. way to make me look foul mouthed forum settings!

Peter, Where would you suggest in the Guildford/Dorking area? We have family close to Guilford.. I'm thinking drop the Wife and little one off for the night and [removed word] off for some astronomy! Ian.

Would this be possible in Photoshop? Also, I have some of the Red Green and Blue Subs that I need to look at. Would it be possible to use them as a mask to replace the white bloom data in the image? Apologies.. I'm a bit of a noob at this.

Thanks for the advice! I'll keep cracking away at it.. I'm sure i'll find a load more with a healthy dose of perseverance. Also I'm hoping to book a camping trip in Wales this summer so hopefully will get some clear skies in a dark sky site then! Until that happens, is there any other places that you would recommend within an hours drive of Ealing? Now I've finally passed the driving test it's possible to get somewhere pretty easily (If the wife gives me time off from her and our little one that is!) Thanks, Ianladd

Hi all, I have been using itelescope.net to learn about astrophotography. Obviously I'm quite the beginner here, but on the T9 camera in Siding Springs the telescope information suggests that stars will bloom on exposures above 120 sec. I set it to take 3 frames each of luminance, Red, Green, Blue, Ha and Oiii at 90 sec each, but was still left with some pretty drastic blooming on one star in particular. Here is a luminance layer which i have stretched in Photoshop to bring out the details.. Im VERY pleased that the nebulosity of the clouds has shown up so well, but the white stripe has annoy

This is absolutely the inspiration I have been looking for. I have just bought a copy of 'Sky and Telescopes Pocket Sky Atlas' (No more relying on iPhone batteries to find anything in the sky!) And was wondering how much of the Messier list might be possible from Ealing (Lammas Park seems to be a tiny dark sky pocket) I notice you have a Skywatcher 150mm Dob. I'm currently using the 130mm Heritage Dob. I'm guessing it wont quite manage as much, but.. Do you think a fair few will be doable from a 5" scope?

Nice post! I just bought a Heritage 130p and got my first view of Saturn's rings the other night.. packed up when some cloud cover came in and half an hour later noticed that the sky was clear again. Back out with the scope, eyepiece in and red dot finder guided into place.. Nothing, couldn't see a thing! Yep.. the giant lens cap was still on. Don't feel about the moon filter!

Kai was pretty much on the button with the Gas/Oil comment.. But it will be Helium 3 mining that gets us back up there, we just need to figure out nuclear fusion first. Once that happens then hello to a whole new space race!