ThomasLondon

It is a fairly big blob close to the North horizon, and the only one with a tail. Last night even my kids found it with naked eye, even in the outskirts of London (well, they saw where the telescope was pointing).

Take SkySafari, check the position of the comet relative to Ursa Major and the pole star, at about 11PM find a spot with reasonably free view to the North horizon, and if you even find some small binoculars it's actually hard to miss.

I recently used a swab for cleaning a dslr sensor and the respective fluid, worked great without removing the mirror.

Best 

Tom

Hi,

I would like a bit of TLC for my Celestron Nexstar 9.25 Evolution - cleaning it properly, some dust on the corrector, ensuring it's collimated correctly, and I am also not quite sure whether the Vixen bar at the side might be lose - it seems to move a bit when adjusting the scope. Does anybody know who can do this - preferably in the London area, given it's not a device you just put into a little box and post it somewhere - and what it is likely to cost? Any advice?

All the Best

Tom

I have the pro version - but Point and Track does not seem to work for me, it follows the sun in az, but not in alt. Maybe I am making a mistake? 

If anything is grayed out or does not react - most functions d not work unless your last telescope movement was up and right. Did you try that?

Best

Thomas

On 02/05/2019 at 16:57, BinocularSky said:

How do you adjust it [the solar finder] so that it's parallel to the OTA optical axis?

You do not adjust non-adjustable solar finders. You point the telescope to the sun, then you mark the position of the sun on the screen with a sharpie (plastic finder) or a pencil (SolFinder). 

The only adjustable ones I know are Televue SolSearchers.

I love my AZ GTi - but it has one really annoying habit: If I roughly point it to the object I want to observe, switch it on and start alignment, it slews to the point it thinks the object is... what nonsense! Is there any way I can tell the mount that the telescope is already pointing the right direction? I would find that much more natural to point the telescope to the star, instead of having to point it North first. The app would just need one more button "Start alignment in direction of first object" (or sth similar). 

Am I doing anything wrong, or is this just the way the app is working?

Best

Thomas

Pragmatically: Wait for some time for a 2nd hand one to come up here or on Astrobuysell - they are 50 - 75 pounds. Looks unlikely that the parts and work are cheaper.

I just had a marvelous early morning view of the new active region. You can see a fairly high plasma bridge near the sunspot. If weather permits in London, may become an interesting weekend...