Astro Noodles

I'm thinking I can get a cheap camera tripod, put this on the top, and use a piece of matt painted plywood.

The latest refinement seems to be to have lights which stay on all night. 🤬 I was thinking of a cheap camera mount with some sort of clamp on the top which could hold a piece of card or plywood.

Several of my neighbours have been busy over the last week installing bright nuisance lights. Obviously this has degraded my local overall light pollution. but with careful positioning of my rig I can avoid direct interference. Based on experimentation yesterday, It's not too bad, but I have one light which causes me difficulty. What I would like to do Is have some sort of screen on a mount which I can position close to the scope to shield from direct light sources. I have looked at photography backdrop mounts but they are much bigger than I need. I really think I will need 2ft square maximum. Does anyone have any ideas?

I think it is good to plan ahead and have realistic goals. For me, it is to use the Raspberry Pi I acquired from a fellow member, and get my imaging rig automated with guiding, better focusing and to use APT. I am looking forward to comparing my results on a year-on-year basis. Also want to use my reflector a bit more and maybe to do some planetary imaging. The weather over the last year has been disappointing but has been made far worse for me by malfunctioning equipment, silly mistakes and inadequate kit. I think I have got most of the wrinkles out now, I understand my equipment much better and have routines for PA , focusing etc. So hopefully I will get better results.

A couple of hours on the California nebula with Askar 135.

Very wobbly here tonight. High humidity too, so transparency won't be that good.

£200 of Cheese and cheese related paraphernalia ordered. This had better work.😄 1.7 kg of Edam 4 cheese gift set with pickle Electric Fondue Book about cheese Amusing cheese logo t-shirt Slate cheese board with odd little knives. Cheese making Kit Artisan Cheese biscuits Fondue cheese kit.

Valenki boots. They can keep the feet of Cossacks warm ! I bought a pair for my mum a couple of years ago but they are too big. I'm hoping she will give them to me. 👍 Russian Felt Boots Valenki Gray (Men size) | RusClothing.com

It's a despicable trick, but it was her idea. 😂

I had better make sure that she doesn't stop at 1 leather jacket. I'll suggest she will need some nice shoes or boots to go with it, and maybe a new handbag.🤣

I still have to get her something. We have a tradition that we get something to read, something to wear, something to eat, and something to do. I have decided on a cheese theme this year for Lesley's presents. So it will be some cheese, a book about cheese, a t-shirt with a cheese related logo or slogan and something to do. Maybe a fondue or some of those little prongs for eating cheese with.

She's not really interested. 😟 I did get a nice pair of knitted fingerless gloves last year.

Better than that, there is no guilt or justification required. I can see a pleasant Saturday morning browsing FLO tomorrow.

So, this Christmas, we've decided to do something different. At Lesley's suggestion, we are buying our own Christmas presents. She has just bought herself a very expensive leather jacket. 😁 (Rubs hands in glee).

Managed to get a few hours on Wednesday. First clear night since October 1st.

A quick Pleiades from Wednesday. 80x 60sec with calibration ay ISO 800. I experienced problems with power, wind and dew. 😄

Welcome to SGL.

Cool. I would rather see a Supernova though. 😁 I went to watch a stage of the RAC rally once, but it was so foggy that I could only see their headlights.

What a spoilsport. 😄

It's ok though because Colm Smyth says it will be too far away to be a danger to earth. Phew! 🤣

Oh, I get it now - very clever. 🤣

I had to use an extendable pole for holding up the washing line to get the bins steady enough. 😄

I think you should skip ahead, episodes 4 and 5 are the best. 😄

Opticron Oregon 8x40. It is probably Ganymeade and Callisto to be honest but I can't split them. I'm quite thrilled though.😁