westmarch

Hi there, welcome to the forum. Bins are a great way to find your way around the sky and a tripod means you can spend some time on the detail of your finds. You could do a lot worse than checking out this excellent newsletter. John

I gave up on using a star atlas for the same reason. My solution was to use Sky Safari on my wife’s old tablet. I can expand or shrink the area concerned as necessary and use a home made music stand on an old photographic tripod. You could get a pair of readers and knock out the lens for your observing eye. If the frame is large enough it works. John

Francis, Good luck with build. Most EQ1 drivers have a variable speed control so there is a degree of tolerance. Do let us know how you get on. John

How times change. I remember asking my physics teacher what causes magnetism. Magnetism boy.....is a phenomenon. He also once explained the feebleness of gravity as a force thus: "Puny as you lot are, each of you is quite capable of opposing the total gravitational force of this whole planet. So lift your heads up and pay attention!" John

Hi there, Very ingenious and I hope you have clear skies to enjoy it. I think you are likely to get some oscillation in wind just due to the weight of your OTA and wooden frame. With your obvious talent for improvisation and carpentry, a dob mount should be well within reach and would give you a much more stable and durable mount. Moonshane’s template is an excellent example of what you could achieve. Love to hear how you get on. John

Fantastic report. Galloway on Saturday night was superb and like you, I was blown away by Ian’s (Uploader) 12 inch UHC view of the Western Veil. So much so that I was browsing UHC filters on the FLO website when I saw your post. BTW, I was the low tech guy with the hair dryer on my dob secondary and RACI - it kept it dew free until 2am when my toes froze. John

Thanks to all who organised the Galloway Star Party. Drumroamin is a gem of a campsite and the Saturday skies were epic. Hope the couple with the tent and no instructions got it packed before the rain set in. Many thanks to Ian (Uplooker) for showing me the difference a filter makes to the Veil Nebula and giving me something else to buy. Hope everyone got home safely. John

Apparently there is a Yorkshire Malt - it was on the local news tonight! Thankfully it is still in the cask and not available until next year! https://www.spiritofyorkshire.com It will have to be Dalwhinnie from me. John

That wouldn’t be Texas Street, Leeds would it? Bortle Scale 9.... at least!

Sadly, I can’t get there until Friday evening! Hopefully there will still be some forgotten corner under an oak tree or pylon for me to pitch up. John

The Yorkshire Moors have some good dark sky sites that are reasonable accessible from Leeds. As Stu says, long exposure astrophotography images are representations that no human eye can see; sadly they can make the real sky underwhelming for those new to astronomy. If you give your eyes a good half hour to become dark adapted in a dark site like the Moors, the magnitude and majesty of the night sky are an experience no photographer can capture. https://gostargazing.co.uk/events/locations/sutton-bank/ Drink in the solitude and experience eternity. John

I’m a Galloway newbie but looking forward to getting back home to dark skies. Is there a midgie report anyone? John

OU Moons course is being run again by FutureLearn on 18 February 2019. https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/moons I have found it to be one of the best free online courses for those interested in astronomy. John

Bob, go for it! Nothing ventured .... John

Hi and welcome to the forum. John