ScouseSpaceCadet

I'd say hang on until late August to mid October. The nights will still be warmish or very bearably chilly. Also longer and darker than mid summer. Book your trip around a favourable phase. i.e. new moon, or a few days either side when the moon rises very early in the day and sets early evening. https://moonphases.co.uk/moon-calendar, If you fancy a trek, Kielder Campsite in Northumberland is the darkest camp site in England, however it's very remote and unless you like walking or trail cycling there's not much else to do. Forget anything and you're scuppered! https://kieldercampsite.co.uk/ The midges are incredibly sociable but they're less of a (literal) pain from mid September onward. Not far behind, the Yorkshire Dales has great skies plenty of campsites to choose from and fewer partying midges. In Wales just about anywhere in Snowdonia, Brecon or Elan. Further south I've no clue but the likes of the South Downs, Exmoor and Dartmoor are dark sky areas. The site below is useful: https://gostargazing.co.uk/regions/country/england/ If not wild camping, the trick is to look for campsites that do no allow large groups, preferably tents only (or very few van/touring pitches), few pitches overall and decent sized pitches. Those considerations minimise the risk of light nuisances from other campers. I tend to go through https://www.pitchup.com/ taking into consideration the criteria above and match up the area with: www.lightpollutionmap.info (choosing World Atlas 2015 in the drop down menu)

Patrick Moore - On the Moon A fab read. Table of contents: * The Eagle Has Landed; * Myth and Legend; * The Moon and the Solar System; * The Origin of the Moon; * The Movements of the Moon; * The Moon and the Earth; * Observers of the Moon; * Features of the Moon; * The Craters of the Moon; * The Past and Future Moon; * The Lunar Atmosphere; * The Structure of the Moon; * Eclipses of the Moon; * The Way to the Moon; * Apollo; * The Search for Ice; * Life in the Moon?; * The Lunar Base.

Time and darker skies are what you need. Time to practice hunting down and tracking objects. Time to discover what magnifications work best depending on the object you wish to view and the seeing conditions. Time to become practiced at mirror collimation. Finally time will carry you along to longer and darker nights when all the above is mastered and DSOs start to pop. Many will be smudges still but think about how far those photons hitting your eye have travelled... In the meantime, enjoy the moon phases and if you are able to get out really early, marvel at the brighter planets.

The pistol grip is recommended. I mount the grip either on an AZGTi tripod and extension pillar or the preferred method, a Manfrotto monopod for more freedom of movement. 20x80s may be a bit much for the monopod though? My 15x70s are 1.7kg and feel just right.

From World of Books: A purchase inspired by members here, Exploring the Night Sky with Binoculars. It's in good condition but does have that 'old book' smell. Luckily I don't read with my nose. In the centre were some old A4 sky map prints a previous owner left behind from July 2002... Astronomy for Older Eyes - not a book I've seen before, but as I'm catching up to many of you the book caught my (feeling very old!) eye... The best bit was the price... WoB is a fantastic shop...

Jeremy if you missed a scooter, the glasses probably weren't much good anyway... or was it dark and you stepped out of a club's 80s night wearing sunglasses? 😎

An interesting solution! I'm a recent varifocal convert and luckily the new glasses are super light weight, so they don't slip or or fall off my head when pushed out the way at the eyepiece like previous pairs. I have been trying for ages to find flip up frames after reminding myself one of our members @cotterless45 uses a pair. Internet searches have been previously fruitless, but I've managed to find some pairs on Aliexpress. So I may pop into Specsavers with a picture and see what happens.

Unexpected clear skies tonight at approx. 2330 encouraged me to get out with the Opticron 15x70s. Not one to shy away from near futile tasks I had a try for C/2017 K2 PANSTARRS. Of course I couldn't see it despite having the position dead on. M92 and M13 were not even visible in the urban twilight. 🙄 Anyway, the weather was nice so I managed a good hour out casually touring the favourably placed Lyra, Cygnus and Vulpecula. The highlight being the Coathanger.

If I hadn't already booked my annual leave for July, that would have been a nice day out. A stroll along the prom, a cone of chips for lunch and 13billion+ year old galaxies for tea... Oh well.. have a good day if you go. 👍

Unfortunately I tended to use an old simless Samsung S6 for telescope control and the OS is not compatible with SS7 Pro ☹️

First impressions are positive. The app runs great on my Android 10 Moto G8+. SkyCast is a feature I'm looking forward to trying... Remotely synchronising in real time an observing session with another person could be fun (if it works well).

I've not long received the 7 Pro for android notification. Clicking on the in app link, then discovering the new version costs £24.49 after 50% discount was a shock... and I still bought it... 🙄

If you want to know what is hurtling around the earth, the $4.99 Orbitrack app for Android or Iphone will entertain...

Quite possibly the fastest ever RM 2nd class delivery... Thank you @Captain Scarlet

If you're interested in indigenous & ancient peoples' interpretation of the sky, Liverpool AS hosted a smashing guest speaker earlier this year; Prof. Karim Jaffer RASC.

As I was reading that something flew into me eye, honestly! 😉

The Peaks camp was the first time camping for years. Another pastime astronomy rekindled... Now I'm quite the regular despite my aging out of shape bod and creaking bones. There's nowt quite like the smell of slightly damp burnt sausages in the mornings! 😀

My kids share a cruel sense of humour...

I had one of these for two years. Much better than bundled eyepieces.

Very few people under 50 will know who Will Hay is... 😉 Only us oldies who caught the Saturday morning matinees starring the likes of Laurel & Hardy, Harold Lloyd, Flash Gordon and Will Hay will have a clue. 😆

Being one of those who had their name sent to Mars on Perseverence I found the programme interesting on catch up later in the evening. Although very early this morning I woke up on the couch stiff all over after conking out around 70 minutes in and had to watch the remainder today... 🙄

I used a Skymax 102 for travel although not flights. The scope, a zoom ep, 30mm plossl, finder and diagonal fitted into a standard dslr camera bag. The mount and tripod in other luggage. However I found 10x50 binoculars were being used more so I sold the Skymax and forked out on 15x70s, a monopod and trigger grip. The whole lot is easy to pack and maybe weighs umm 3.5kg? Under dark skies there's a plethora of objects to see. The binocs are great for extended nebula and open clusters especially. Far less faff than a scope and tripod.

A fantastic, thoroughly engaging and thought provoking interview. The time flew over.

Nice Doug. I had a look around Schiller but decided to really survey and familiarise myself with Mare Humorum. All proper like! 😆🧐 Why the focal reducer?

For the last couple of months life and rare cloud free skies have clashed, so the kit hasn't seen the light. However, last night despite the 20mph gusts the Skymax 127 felt the breeze for an hour or so lunar observing. I even took out a lunar atlas! Focusing on Mare Humorum, seeing was wobbly so high powers were out, but sticking to a maximum of 166x with an Altair FF 9mm, the Gassendi rilles were easily discernable. A pleasant hour despite the wind.