Ally8446

I'm speechless

Mrs Ally (aka SWMBO) has asked me what I'm expecting St Nick to bring next month. I've decided on something I can just pick up and pop into the back garden with for an impromptu half hour etc. My thoughts are either table top dob or binos (15x70, they may also require a tripod). I'm open to any and all suggestions. Budget would be south of £100 (not a lot). Can anyone help ? Ally

You managed a whole day.....I am impressed

I don't have all the lingo/jargon and have difficulty explaining myself most of the time but it's nice to know my basic reports are appreciated. Your reply has really made me smile. Thank you

I've seen it snow in June in Glasgow. ..and I'm not joking

'chuckles out loud'

I'd be absolutely delighted if I were to join you in Elan or Skye. Perhaps Elan 1st. I'll leave it up to you guys.

You live in Lossie.....small world indeed. You'd be more than welcome to give me a shout next time you're down this way, beer or not.

I may have a dob but it falls way short of 'The Dob Mob' size me thinks.

Thing is I'm actually a Glaswegian. I left when I was 18 to join up and travel the world. ...1st posting ? Lossiemouth Really left Scotland when I was 23 and have never lived there since. I'm now 47 and live in Mid Wales. Basically same weather, different location. However, given the chance, I'd relocate to where we've just been on holiday in a heartbeat.

Cheers Gav, it was absolutely stunning. The perfect place for our hobby.

A few weeks ago I discovered that @peter shah lived ridiculously close to me, roughly 15 minutes drive. After contacting him he kindly offered to have a look at my dob to attempt to diagnose my ongoing secondary collimation issue. This was solved in quick time and I put the issue squarely down to the fact that I'm an imbecile. I didn't actually have any opportunity to test it out for a few weeks. So thank you Peter for your time and patience, you are a gentleman. My wife and I have only just got back yesterday from NW Scotland (Bortle 2 skies). It being Scotland it rained for the most part and when it wasn't raining it was cloudy. Until last Thursday evening around 23:00 when I popped my head out of our lodge to investigate a strange noise (it was an owl btw), looked up and could not distinguish the location of ANY constellation. I've never seen so many stars, even without dark adapted eyes the MW was like BANG - HERE I AM. Amazing to say the least. As my scope had been set up since the Sunday all that was required was a quick collimation check (spot on) and in went my ES 24mm. Straight to the Western Veil aka Witches Broom. Popped in a UHC filter and peered into the Ep........ IT'S HUGE (the nebula not the ep). I moved a little to get 52 CYG out of the view so was mainly looking at the broom as opposed to the stick. I'm still 'learning' to see what I'm actually looking at, if that makes sense, moving between averted and direct vision. It was mesmerizing and beautifully wispy. I then switched to the Eastern side. After spending roughly 5 minutes I swear I could make out some structure, especially the thicker end. I'm open to correction cause it may have been my mind playing tricks. Next I wanted to try out M1. Although I've 'seen' it before in a previous scope, and i do use that term very loosely, I reckoned my 1/14th mirror might prove itself. I wasn't wrong. 1st thing that struck me was it was bigger than I expected it to be. After 5 or so minutes, again I think I was beginning to make out very slight filaments right on the edges, but could be wrong. At this point (approaching 01:00) I realized I was ill prepared for the cold. It was bitter. But something was looming above the trees in the east. A couple of firs separated M1 from my final quarry but The Hunter was now visible. This was also a first for me and my DL scope. I've looked at M42 more times than I can count but HOLY COW this was incredible, It was like looking at a butterfly with it's wings up as viewed from the side. There was a tinge of colour, maybe bluey green I thought. The Trapezium......well...you couldn't miss it. Four perfect pinpoints. One couldn't ask for more. Now when i said my final quarry.....at the time I meant it, dithering about in the dark. But Andromeda has always held a special place in my heart. I'VE NEVER SEEN DUST LANES IN M31 BEFORE.....they were dim dust lanes but they were definitely there. Obviously M32 & M110 were very hard to miss. All in all I had 2.5 hours before the cold and clouds rolling in (I was actually secretly grateful for the clouds as I was able to blame them for coming in early to a bemused Wife rather than whining.....it's too cold) BORTLE 2 SKIES......yes please, same time next year. ASTRONOMY ROCKS

I'm with you Shane. He was a remarkable man, as were the others. But Turing gets my vote.

Just a quick'un. Will any old rocket blower do the trick on a slightly dusty mirror or is there the Mother of all blowers out there that folks recommend ? Al

Happy to help