Kimboman

Hi Went out fairly early to view the Moon,it soon got dark with a good clear sky. The Moon then crashed into some local trees so I then viewed the following Messier objects M36,M37.M38,M44,M52,M53,M67and M103. At the time of writing this it is still a great clear sky but I will stay in now as my body has thawed out

SUPERB thanks for sharing it with us

Hi I have two Manfrotto tripods with 128 rc heads these are very stable and so easy to move around I sometime use a Manfrotto ball head this also gives excellent manoverabllity

Hi I have had 3 hours of binocular observing with my Celestron 15x70s ,first off had some great views of the 4 day old moon and there was a star visible above it and I thought it might be 51tau??. I then had a really enjoyable time looking at the bee hive cluster and the rest of the time viewing the constellation of Cassiopeia this is a superb area to scan with binoculars all infall well pleased. Looking forward to viewing the moon at first quarter soon if the weather holds

HI Adele welcome from a fellow Nottinghamian, binoculars are a good starting point 7x50,10x50 also useful for daytime use There are good local astronomy clubs in the area and if they are not to far away these are a great source of information and you would be made very welcome. enjoy this great pastime

Hi sorry to read about your misfortune . I damaged one of my tripods and went to a model shop and chose a Reville paint for £2 it was a perfect match

Hi fantastic image thanks

Fantastic thanks for sharing

Hi re dew shield ,last year I purchased a black gym mat from Ikea for £2.50 and made two for my6se and two for my etx90 and two for my 50 mm finder. One tube of glue Ihave had great service from these and they are still going strong

Hi nice photos that flare would do wonders for my leki bill

Hi when out with my equipment I wanted something simple but effective to place my kit on. I looked at camping tables but could not decide on one ,so I designed my own to fit my spare manfrotto tripod utilising their standard plate. I have also used it as partial street lamp shade

Hi great article half the fun I find is making things work out better nice touch with the screw to set the phone holder. I found that my binocular clamp worked loose and stated to spin so I drilled and tapped it the the mount plateYou have a good set up enjoy your hobby

Hi thanks I tried to use a triple mount bracket at the usual red dot position but the scope didn't, like it to heavy Went for this idea and it works great

Hi set up my celstron in anticipation of a clear period to view the young moon. I managed a couple of hours then the wooly things arrived

HIi i have a fuller scopes 6inch reflector, I made a stand off cover for the mirror and this helped to keep off most grunge I still have a copy of the fuller scopes catalogue and there is a paragraph that covers the cleaning of the mirror which I have followed on the very rare occasion when it needed a clean. ie immerse the mirror in Luke warm water which has had pure soap flakes dissolved in it, leave to soak for a while then rinse off under tap repeat this and swab the surface with a lint free cloth. remove the mirror and rinse in chemist distilled water stand the mirror on edge and let the water run off any drops of water that remain can be picked off with blotting paper this worked for me this was written in the 60s just like to add that my mirror is 1.25 thick and only 6inches in diameter so it stands on its own with no problems this may help

hi Epic Crom I spent many hours looking at Centuras for my back garden in Perth what super skies you have.

I spent some time looking at these ares last night when it was super clear here, it clouded over at 20.30. It was also super windy but I was tucked around a corner of my house. m42 and m44 were great another couple of hours enjoyable viewing

I agree with Brown Dwarf, a bino viewer they are amazing and change left over for the chair

I had a similar scope in my early days ,looks like we could have a Tasco revival thanks for the memories

interesting reading ,when I (now an old codger) first acquired the astronomy bug any equipment was very expensive this was 60 years ago. I too like Nigella purchased a 6inch newtonium from fuller scopes which was about 12times my weekly wage,I along with a few likeminded enthusiasts made most of our equipment. We purchased ex wd lenses and mounted them into tubes I still have and use these eyepieces no hobby is cheap but back then the range of equipment was not available as is now the case. My favourite tripod is a wood and brass ex theodolite one solid as a rock . But as the song goes (things can only get better)

Superb I would love a print of this for my wall excellent

Hi all I went out tonight at around 5pm and set up on the moon . soon as it was dark spent 2 and a half hours on the moon and had a few views of the Orion nebula it was clear until 8.45 pm really enjoyed the nights viewing and it wasn't cold. I used my Celestron 6se and my Meade etx90

Nice photos I have recently purchased a phone holder for my phone ,will need a lot of practice to match those well done

Hi Nigeboy great images get those pubs open as soon as `Boris says go

It must be the right time for uk manufacturers to emerge and take advantage of the demand for astro equipment. The time may be right to sell my house and buy as much astro equipment as I can lay my hands on, anyone got a spare room??