PeterW

Good thing no-one has mentioned binoculars.... 😉 Peter

It IS visible from London, but only with a little optical intensification and heavy filtration, otherwise your assessment of the London situation is correct 😞 Peter

Gary Hawkins east coast binoculars repair http://binocular-repair.co.uk peter

My youngest found m31 in some old 7x50 with a bit of help, had them on a monopod to help take some of the weight. Peter

They’re all quite low surface brightness so don’t feel too bad. If you have good skies they might become easier. Try for M31 and M81, which are easier to spot. I’ll leave it to others to comment on 70:80mm bins, but you’ll need a way to keep them still to make best use of them. good luck peter

5:2mm exit pupil, should be good at night, what’s the apparent field of view? Peter

What size is best to print the LAC at?? peter

I think the Cambridge atlas came from Alan Chu home made photo atlas project.... http://www.alanchuhk.com I printed out a few copies in years gone by. Peter

The sky and telescope field map of the moon which are smaller scale Rukl, but folded so you get a whole quadrant at a a time. Available in normal and mirror image for refractor users. My main grumble about Rukl is the size of the fields, making knowing where you are tricky. I also have 21st century moon atlas from Charles wood which uses lunar orbiter data stitched for constant sun angle which is quite nice. Great to see Rukl back in print.. the second hand prices have been stupid. peter

My 7x50 are over 10degrees, but the stars go rather mushy if you look too far from the centre.... ;-( Peter

7x50 are bright but tend to have a narrower field of view, rare to find a wide angle one. Peter

Phone+fat fingers+auto error= strange text. BinocularSky, the source of information for two-eyed viewing. Most humble apologies! peter

Use BinocularSlys monopod and trigger npl head, with campmseag you can reach near the zenith, cheap and effective, but cover the metal with something so your hands don’t freeze. Depends what you want to look at, a lower power wide field can also be good 7x35 for instance. peter

You must have some fairly good skies? peter

Good to see something that won’t result in accidental blindings! One thing you might want to do (if observing with others) is to add a “front shield” (eg small black lined conical tube) so you don’t zap people around you when you look around. Peter

FLOs ClearOutside app gives an indication of whether it’s likely to be dewy. Still, cool, humid nights are the worst. Long extension tubes, dew bands, warmth, dew zapper/hairdryer... sometimes there’s not much you can do. I had a very clear session once, only problem was it was very windy... only thing we could do was to use binoculars in the lee of a building. peter

@Highburymark any good? Might get one myself. Peter

Needed more wrapping paper @Stu!! I just took delivery of a big box of “delicate electronic equipmwnt” from APM... a pair of 24mm UFF. Rather over packed, but I am sure to have a need for a good box for posting stuff! peter

Thanks! The Rosetta, lowers, monkeyhead and jellyfish are all round there and worth a peek. Peter

Hardcore! Some great finds. We were out in -2C on Friday and were beginning to suffer, dew bands did their job for most of the session. Great to hear that the Cairngorms host such dark skies (though the climate isn’t exactly perfect for observing all the time). My boots (rated to -40 were beginning to let me know that the ground wasn’t exactly warm),surprisingly even though I kept losing one glove my hands were fine (no breeze, which would have blown the dew away). I’d be interested in long down coat or good glove recommendations... areas to improve if I’m going to survive another cold one. The Cocoon is just an even round blob.. nothing to write home about. Interesting to do averted vision on the Horsehead from two different directions… one way the back of the head was easier, the other way the notch was. Orion with all its billowing detail was the best sight by far. Peter

Don’t worry, good to hear you managed to see some good detail in Orion, darker skies will show more of the wispiness. It’s about the time of year people start trying to see the Horsehead... saw it last week, Orion was very wispy too. Peter

Tripods have the issue of not being so easily to get under to look to higher altitudes... I use a manfrotto 290 with a 500ah head, good for heavier bins. peter

Dew strips should lessen the need... unless it’s a really bad night. I would avoid mains dryers... once saw a large flash from a friend using one.... the dew had got into places it should’ve have... 12V is less dangerous. I have just ordered some eyepiece dew strips (never thought I’d say that)... but last week that’s what ended my observing session... could only grab brief views before I had to wipe the eyepiece again. Peter

I can report that these strips work just fine, was out for a few hours last night with frost and ground fog (clear outside had a red dew alert). Tripod and stuff all covered in a thin layer of front at the end. One eyepiece fogging finally put pay to my session... so I need to ask Santa for a set of eyepiece dew strips!! PEter

For non Astro use Sionyx have released a cheaper version of their Aurora, probably about £400. Reckoned to be sort of gen2 level, so for moderately light polluted areas should work well, though not for the most dark (Astro) situations. peter