Stargazer33

Wind getting up here with increasing gusts. It was raining earlier but has all but stopped at the moment. Good luck to everyone; keep safe!

I've used a couple of layers of self-amalgamating tape on my particularly nasty Celestron CGEM mount knobs.

YouTube has lots of really informative videos on astro image processing in a number of programs including Photoshop.

Good luck to everyone who is lucky enough to have an observatory. Batten down the hatches and let's hope Ciara isn't as bad as forecast.

Signed. Brighton & Hove Albion also have a massive training ground built 10 - 12 miles away on the edge of a village called Lancing. The development, which is about to have a large extension is built on a flood plain and right up to the back gardens of dozens of homes. The training grounds floodlights illuminate the sky for miles around. Since the development, the gardens of the homes have started flooding; which they have never done before. The council in there wisdom are also in the process of agreeing to a development of 600 new dwellings and an IKEA store on another part of the flood plain!

Back in December of 2018 I bought a Startech 7 port powered USB hub, which I fitted to my new on 'scope DIY power hub. After a long break from imaging I am finally getting back into the swing of things after watching a few YouTube video tutorials on the various programs that I use. Anyway, the other night I was simulating an imaging session to test out the various options only to discover that four of the seven usb ports weren't working. I looked up Startech's website and found that they have an online returns form. I duely filled in the form, including a copy of the receipt from an online retailer and sent it off. The next day I received an email to say that my request for a replacement under warranty was approved and shortly after another email to say the replacement had been shipped! To be honest I thought they would say that it had been too long since the purchase, so I was very pleasantly surprised to receive a positive response and so quickly too. What excellent customer service. Well done Startech!

CO had it cloudy 'till 1-2 tomorrow morning and Met Office radar had a band of cloud moving down right over us all night, so didn't bother setting up. Just took a peek outside as I was locking up and it's a crystal clear sky!

Very nice. Lovely subtle colours. I don't think I've seen this target showing so much depth before.

I used these on my power distribution box. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GX12-2-2-Pin-Plug-and-Socket-12mm-Screw-Type-Panel-Connector-Aviation/192556123261?hash=item2cd53d447d:g:T0cAAOSwdfZbEVIa:rk:5:pf:1&frcectupt=true

You can use anything of the right diameter as a drift and gently tap out the pin. A precision screwdriver for example.

I'd be very happy with either version!

That's a great start Terry! It's much better than my first images and my take on M42 which came later. Looks like you have a good signal to noise ratio (snr). Have a look at the YouTube video on applying a false luminance layer. It's shown in Photoshop, but gimp is so similar I'm sure it can be used for that too.

Hi, the Moon is a good target to cut your teeth on. It's nice and big and easy to focus on. Plus there is so much to look at that it will keep you entertained for ages. Have a look along the terminator - the division between day and night on the Moon. Be aware that at high magnification, it will quickly move in the eyepiece if you aren't tracking. Remember the lower the number on the eyepiece the higher the magnification. Also a x2 Barlow lens halves the eyepiece number. So a 20mm eyepiece becomes a 10mm eyepiece with a x2 Barlow; a 30mm eyepiece becomes a 10mm eyepiece with a x3 Barlow etc. Enjoy your Christmas present. I'm sure you will have lots of 'wow' moments.

Nice & clear here at the moment. Unfortunately, as always seems to be the case when it's clear, we are going out tonight! . Sequence dance lesson, then the class is going for a curry after! Sods law anyone!

Ooh! The pinky fudge one. My favourite. Oh, nice image too!