Pig

Looking good Gina, is it possible you can add an extra day for the weekend so we can have an extra day off work? ?

Or should I have said "Clever cogs" ?

Very nice indeed Gina ?Clever clogs or what .......

A picture would be nice Gina ? It sounds pretty awesome.

These are great images from the eyepiece, very well done ? I have often wondered if the Lunar x indicates where the pirates buried their treasure......!

Your most welcome..... ? If you need any assistance please feel free to ask.

And here's me thinking I was teaching you to suck eggs ? In that case do a single star alignment using a low power eyepiece, say a 32mm, your target will then be in your field of view. It's then a simple case of synicing the alignment by centering the target in the eyepiece. (Syncing is optional should you want greater accuracy)

Its good practice to align using a low power eyepiece and then using a high power eyepiece to fine tune, as you gain more experience and become familiar with your hand control software this process will not sound so daunting. Most of us have been here at some point ?

Great report Nat, I love the widefield views too ? They are very satisfying and are relaxing on the eye.

Just one little pointer, no pun intended. One does not have to perform a three star alignment to use your kit, and as it happens I have never had much success when trying ? on the rare occasion it has worked I have not found the accuracy to be notably better than that of a two star alignment.

It does seem an awful waste of a clear sky opportunity to be spending most of the night trying to align your scope ?

We do seem to have had more than our fair share of clouds over the past couple of years and it can be a tad frustrating. However, I feel the clouds do prevent this wonderful hobby from becoming tiresome as we appreciate the clear nights, and days, when they eventually come along.

Imagine how horrid it woul be to have wonderfully clear conditions on tap !!!!!

?

Nice one young lady, and a very enjoyable read.....the sniper scope made me laugh out loud ? 

After 10 years of road riding in the UK I have switched to single speed cross country cycling, this is mainly due to the increasing amount of abuse / hatred I experienced from car drivers.

They didn't seem to like being overtaken by a cycle in towns or having to wait 5 seconds before they could safely overtake on country lanes.

Having a gun pulled out my cycling buddy and myself, whilst riding through the country side, was the final straw.

The police never got back in contact with us despite an immediate call to them.

Great video, I must admit when solar observing and the sun disappears behind a cloud I often track a plane until the sun comes out again :-)

Very nice write up Andy, your comments on peoples favourite targets are very true and were my initial choices.

However, This soon changed and both the Sun and the Moon have been my favourite targets for a very long time. I too have often wondered why many folk spend a vast amount of time looking at targets many light years away when we have two beauties in what feels like touching distance at our disposal.

Shaun

Nice report Stu, congrats on the little one that will soon be here :-)

I am falling for the smaller scopes, they really do have some very big advantages

The Pronto is 2.8kg with the 1.25" Televue diagonal. What size is the Genesis ? 

Yes I understand from previous threads it is big galaxy, We have a local dark site (20 mins drive) which is milky way dark and Antarctic cold. Saturday is forecast good and if it turns out to be so I will take the Proto over with me and check it out.

I am going to have to invest in a midrange eyepiece between 17.3 and 31mm, I was hoping to get the Antares 2" x 1,7 barlow but after 7 weeks of waiting I cancelled the order.

Shaun.

I agree Stu,  if I want to look at M31 I will use the T31 Nagler and my 9.25 as it fills the whole eyepiece.

The Pronto is brilliant on stars, I am sure I split Sirius with last week, it was shimmering like crazy and I am not sure if it was the twinkling effect that fooled me.

I can be observing within 5 minutes with both setups if I am honest,  being able to grab and go with the Pronto is very handy to say the least.

It is supposed to be clear from 6pm here tonight Stu, If this turns out to be the case I will give your suggestions a try later. :-) 

I have viewed the Double Double and Almach :-) 

Nice realistic & informative report Stu.

Have you viewed Abireo in your TV's ? I f so how does they look ?

I am quite looking forward to viewing this blue and orange double star in the Pronto, that's if I can find it without the GoTo :-)

Shaun

LoL I have heard of that before, thank you for the reminder, I will make sure I use the filter.

I am really looking forward to taking delivery of the Herschel wedge, it doesn't help reading your experiences.  It is a bit like being at a restaurant waiting for your food to arrive when everyone around you is eating :-)

Shaun

Nice report Stu, very similar to the Pronto by the sounds of things, especially the description of the Double Cluster. I am very impressed with the views I get through it.

The Pleiades and the Orion Nebula are equally as spectacular and I cant wait to see the cluster in Hercules and the Wild duck cluster later this year.

Shaun

Space time I understand - not sure about space sound

Looks brill