Dark Vader

I've only used mine on the moon so haven't really encountered glare like that. I'm a long way from expert in this. For what it's worth, here's what I would check: The eyepiece 'surround', for want of the correct term, seems quite bright. Could the glare be reflection from the lens coatings at the eyepiece end? How close is your phone camera lens from the eyepiece? Can you adjust the Z axis any more to bring the phone lens close to touching the eye cup? Have you tried using the camera zoom on 2x? Any or all of these could help cut down any stray light from the cam

I use an old plywood thing I that I used for shifting heavy guitar amps around a few years ago. My dob base sits nicely on it. A modern version could be of use, although I personally wouldn't trust a tripod on it. Check your measurements and look for something like this. https://www.gear4music.com/PA-DJ-and-Lighting/Universal-Equipment-Dolly-by-Gear4music/1MA1

A neighbour taking down 2 x house sized trees was what encouraged me to get a scope. Decent views from NE to SW now, houses and streetlights permitting.

Hope that helps... Ask away, part of what makes this the best forum is there's no such thing as a silly question and no matter how obscure the query, somebody with years of experience will know an answer to it.

I got an 8" Dob last August. I'm 6'5" and can report so far no issues (apart from operator error ) Get yourself an adjustable chair/ stool and a water butt stand and you've covered pretty much all height related viewing situations.

Couldn't resist... I'll get my coat...

Nice scopes, those. I'd probably be looking at something like this, with a comfortable camping or picnic chair. https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/4-person-table/_/R-p-6330 If you've already got a patio table, use that. I use a water butt stand for my 200p but that base is too big for a table and I'd need a ladder to see anything Andy

Spur of the moment was my first go on the moon. Seeing was very steady so I gave it a go and if I'm honest I got 1 half decent shot out of 20 or so. All you'll need for some really decent results is something like this. https://www.harrisontelescopes.co.uk/acatalog/celestron-nexyz.html I'm really just into visual but take the odd few lunar shots. Single shots on automatic with the shutter timer set to avoid any vibration. Not tried Solar yet. I might try some pics of Jupiter and Saturn when they are up at a reasonable time but that's the limit of my AP skills.

It's a start. It does look like your phone camera has auto focused on the edge of the eyepiece instead of what was in it. Was there any room to get the camera closer to the eyepiece? If that eyepiece has an eye cup, it might help folding it up and resting the phone camera against it, in the absence of a phone mount. It's a lovely colour though... Andy

Starting with the easiest, does your phone have a cover with a magnetic clip on? If so, it might be worth taking the cover off and trying again. I'd have thought that would have affected both apps though. Apologies if you already thought of that one. I'm a long way from being an expert in these things but its worth checking the "Time and Coordinates" section in the settings menu. Under "date and time", Is it set to "current time" and the "Automatic daylight saving time" box ticked? In "Location", the box "Standard time zone" set to 0.0 hours from GMT. If none of that make

The ISS passed over almost at Zenith around 2245, could that have been it?

I spend hours looking at things in the night sky without knowing what I am seeing I will just pop in a low powered eyepiece and pan around. Should I spot anything I'll hold my phone up to that area of the sky and try to identify it with Sky Safari. Then try and find it again next time out. Spent 18 months with binoculars doing just that. The planets are less affected by light pollution and in a couple of months Jupiter and Saturn will be up in the evening. Galaxies and nebulae will be trickier the worse the light pollution gets but you should still see plenty of stars, doubles, an

New 365 Astronomy Starguider branded O-lll filter just hit the doormat.

Anytime

Apologies if this isn't what you're aiming at here, but I've recently started taking photographs of the moon with a smartphone adapter and phone camera. It's a form of eyepiece projection and when I wasn't actually taking a photo, the moon was still visible on the screen. I had several people looking at the live image on the phone screen, including a neighbour who looked over the garden fence and was amazed by the view.