peterbolson

Another vote for Illustrated Guide to Astronomical Wonders by Robert Bruce Thompson & Barbara Fritchman Thompson. As others have said the state of wear & tear tells all !

I thought it was too chatty, boring & irrelevant to what I love ie stargazing. It wouldn't have got me interested in astronomy. We had clear skys here, the first for 3 weeks, so I switched it off half way through & went outside with my scope & had a wonderful evening searching for star clusters.

I submit records to the SPA's Cloudwatch, which has produced some interesting statistics for the last few years : http://www.cloudwatchonline.co.uk/page86.html I'm sure Terry Holmes would be interested to have some new observers in order to improve the national coverage. Peter

What do you think - triple conjunction between Jupiter & Saturn, comet or nova ( or even Uranus ) ? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20730828 Happy Christmas to everyone Peter

Another way, which I've started to use with success, is a small cheap digital voice recorder. I also use Skysafari to make out observing lists. I find notebooks & paper get damp & I can never see well to write or I drop my pen & can't find it ! But having said that I do still need to make sketches of multiple star systems when I'm recording separation & positional angles so I have to keep a notepad handy for this.

I have a Skywatcher 250PX DOB. I can easily carry it out of the house into the garden in a couple of minutes & it's ready to use. On occasion I've taken it back into the house ,eg if it starts to rain ,& taken it out again later. That's what I call grab'n'go without any compromise on size ! I just love it

I've just bought one of these. Not tried in out with the scope yet but it seems really well made & comfortable & easy to adjust. Quite a bargain, so thanks for the idea Monty.

Stunning programme. Beautifully complemented one of my favourite books, John Gribbin's "Stardust".

You can download it for free from ebookee.org. I''ve never used this site but it's said to be safe. But I still don't really fancy trying it unless someone else has a go first !

My Weather Pro app says it will be clear here Friday evening & night. But it said that for the last 2 nights & the foggy foggy dew still managed to ruin hunting for DSOs.

I'm having second thoughts about the low profile adaptor. It only protrudes 2mm above the 2" ep holder which means that my ep would move 56mm towards the scope. This would be too much as I think I only a few extra mm ( I need to check this more accurately ) and it would mean that I have the draw tube almost fully out most of the time. I think the Antares 1.25" to 2" ep adaptor with filter thread looks a better bet as it protrudes 10mm above the ep holder.

Hi John I can't find it ! What 'filter' is it under ? I spoke to the chap at scopes'n'skies & he said that the reason why some people have a problem & others don't is that it depends on how far the mirror is set up the tube when it is collimated. Apparently 1mm difference here make 2mm difference at the lens end. So I could do what Fred suggested. Peter

Hi Damo Looks good. I reckon that could be the answer. I'll give them a ring Thanks Peter

Hi John - no I'm not ! I've had my 8" for a few years so I've not been caught out by that one !

I have just changed my SW 200P for a 250PX. I had no problems focussing with the 200P but with the 200PX I'm unable to rack the draw tube in far enough to get it in focus. The problem is worse with the higher magnifications. All my other eps focus OK although even they have to be racked in almost to the limit. I think the problem must be that the 2" and 1.25" adaptors supplied with the SW250 are just a few mm too long ( they are 58mm deep ). Both scopes have a focal length of 1200mm so presumably because of the greater diameter of the tube of the 250PX the focal point is nearer the scope ( doe