shiroboshi

I find the Manfrotto 190 series (CF or aluminium) one of the best travel tripods, but at £100 w/o a head, it may be considered a bit on the expensive side.... I think Velbon does do a coupe of small/value versions with an integrated video head (the smaller sherpa series?), which you may consider suitable for using it only on a few times a year. My main beef with those is the plastic screws in the one I had in mine a few years ago. You may also find that Calumet do their own alternatives to Manfrotto tripods and I think there is one with an integrated head. Not the lightest builds but fairly r

While we are on the topic of Shuttle videos, has anyone seen Adam Rutherfords "All Missions" video? I actually still can't watch through it without tearing up... o.O <iframe width="1280" height="720" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/II7QBLt36xo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Here is the Youtube link, if you have trouble with the embedded version. Marc

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome Marc

I seem to recall that this was first put this way by Lawrence Krauss and/or Carl Sagan? I think Sagan popularised it and Krauss refined it (or the other way 'round)?

Right, where to start.... I last did astronomy at school (Germany, to A-level standard) and took Astro 101 in Uni as an elective. Also did some observing with charts, etc in my early teens. Have felt a hankering after some exposure into it again recently and have been on the prowl for some kit since. During the process I discovered that there are people doing "widefield imaging" with relatively simple kit and have taken the plunge and ordered an Astrotrac unit. This is surprisingly compatible with the photography gear I lug about Looking to but a basic telescope in the next few weeks (130p or