LukeSkywatcher

What is the running joke about Jeremy and handles?. I obviously missed something.

That's actually really good advice. I'd never of thought about it like that. I do have a dew heater, but will buy a small travel hair dryer. Good old Damien Peach.

M31 is often a naked eye object from my location. Conditions have to be perfect though.

I always bring a pair of 10x50 bins when I travel. I was in Marakesh when I was 21, but was in a time of my life when astronomy wasn't that important to me. I was more interested in other heavenly pursuits.

I was going to suggest 4Se, but tripod and mount are a big weighty.

My neighbour had the trees at the end of his garden "pruned" last week. I thought it a great idea as it would give me a better view of my western/southwest view. How wrong was I. Now I'm staring at 20ft tall flood lights in the football pitches behind. This week he has erected a wooden fence between our gardens. It's 6ft 4 tall. It's visible above my 6ft 2 metal fence. Flood lights still visible. Not content with this, he is now constructing an 8-10ft tall wooden structure the whole way across his garden. It's possibly a home garden office or annex. Hopefully it will block out the light from afore mentioned lights. I still have to stare at it though. It may even block out sunlight from my garden, which I'm not happy about.

I have a Celestron 8Se, a Skywatcher Heritage 130P, a Bresser ARxs 102. One is for trousers, one is for shirts and one is for jackets. My bedroom floor is immaculate.

This brought back the memory of the 1st time I saw Saturn back in 2007. Exactly how I remember it.

It reminds me of an episode of Fr. Ted

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the Baader 8-24 zoom come with both 1.25 and 2" adapter?. Mine did.

Maybe it's the angle of the photo, but the collimation looks to be a good bit off.

Dad dancing. Head,arms,legs flapping all over the place.

Self-employment is great at facilitating astronomy. I wouldn't dare tell the boss to go to bed at 2-3am.

That's another thing to factor in when transporting a scope on a bike (I assume a motorcycle). Tripods and mounts are not the easiest of things to transport unless in a car etc.

P.s.- PLEASE don't consider anything like this: Celestron 70mm Travelscope. Yes, it comes in a nice backpack. The scope is just OK. The tripod is absolutely a no go. You'll throw it in the bin. Lesson learned by myself.

Very honest reply there. The main question is do you want to be a visual observer or an astrophotography?. Astrophotography is about the most expensive road to take. It's more about the mount than the scope. Visual is more about the scope than the mount.

It's probably been said already (I didn't read all the comments). A small short tube refractor would be great. They rarely lose collimation, sturdy little things etc etc. I have a Bresser ARxs 102. Granted I don't take it for a bike ride. The Skywatcher Heritage 130P or 150 are also great travellers. The collimation on them is tight. I've had a 130P since 2009 (I think), and never needed to collimate it. My Bresser 102 (stock photo). Mine has no tube rings for attaching. Its a Dovetail mounting. My Skywatcher Heritage 130P (Stock photo).

For me personally (being a wheelchair user), until a few yrs ago, the biggest aperture scope I had and able to manage was a Heritage 130P. Brilliant scope, but I wanted MORE. I did research, and asked people what would be best for me. The conclusion was a Celestron 8se. I love the scope. I'm purely visual, so it ticks that box. It's light and easy to set up. It ticks that box. It's not overly expensive. That's another box ticked. My point IS, that even a modest jump in aperture (in my case 130mm-200mm) was a giant leap for me with regards to observing. I now have an 8" scope that I can single handedly carry outside and set up on my own, without having to rely on anyone for help. I'm not suggesting that you buy an 8se (although it's a good choice). I bought something that works for me. My 1st scope was a 90mm refractor on an EQ mount. I found it difficult to use, so it was only used a handful of times. The best scope is one you will use often.

I was in Copenhagen in 2015 (during the day). It was anything but cloudy. 30C+ in July.

That certainly makes up for it. I'm hoping to go and see the NLs for my 50th in 2024.

Our neighbours yesterday had all their trees removed between our back garden and theirs. This means that for the first time in 8 yrs, I have an unobstructed view west from my garden. The added bonus is all of the overhanging branches are gone, which makes our garden look bigger.

My only astro regret was giving away my Tal 2x Barlow to someone in Texas, for free Best Barlow ever.

What totally took me by surprise was the composition of the asteroid. I had always thought of asteroids as a single solid body, with impact craters etc. The images yesterday, proved me so wrong.

If I can't remember, it's too many. I really only use about 4, which covers everything. Typically an 8mm,15mm and a 30mm. I also use a 8-24mm zoom.

I wonder did it cost Google $300,000,000 to create that.