mark7331

Very nice find. I've seen Uranus though not too clearly. I will try again as soon as the sky gets it's act together. As far as waking the neighbour - he's going to teach astronomy next year so I think it's my duty to wake him for any important find! I wonder if his wife would agree?

Hi Michael, welcome to SGL. Clear cut symptoms and the only treatment is clear sky. It might be a good idea to post a question about cleaning your 120 in the equipment help section. There's usually someone who's in the know here Mark

Hi and welcome to SGL Sam. I wish you clear skies Mark

Hi SpaceCadet and welcome to SGL from me.

It doesn't matter which way up the scope starts. You simply put the scope in it's home position i.e. horizontal with the knob pointing up or down, then fire it up and start alignment. It's the action of aligning that makes the scope point in the right direction. Get the date/time wrong or the wrong lat & long and you can easily make the scope point in the wrong direction. Get the level wrong and won't track properly. It just takes a bit of practice and clear nights Mark

I'll second that. The Green Witch cover is very good.

Well done CC - you've made me smile - thanks for sharing! And well done melibum too! But that's what it's all about - a rush of excitement and not being able to take your eyes away from the EP. Very cool. Keep us posted on your progress with the rest of the list. Mark

Hi Daniel, welcome to SGL. Enjoy your new scope

Cloudy and thundery in the south east but looks better tomorrow (depending on which forecast you believe). Have a good one if have clear skies

As everyone has said - power tank, date, level and three decent stars as far apart as you can manage. With my 6SE I realised after a while that the scope wasn't level after I put it on the tripod even though I'd levelled it before. So I bought an Ambubble level (FLO sell them see link) - You put the ambubble between the tripod and 6SE and level after screwing it all together. Finding and tracking objects became a great deal more reliable, as long as you follow the advice given by the guys above (power, date etc). Hope this helps. Mark Misc’ - Ambubble levelling bubble

Welcome to SGL Steve. Guilty as charged.

Welcome to SGL Loni. Good luck picking your first scope.

Fantastic. Would love to be able to get near that good. Mark

Great images as usual Franck. Can you tell us what you are using as a guider? Mark

Truly amazing. There's real beauty in these pictures. Mark

I think you did a fantastic job. Looks really good. I've looked up the NASA effort and they've done just about the same and they have a slightly higher budget . Good one. http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/www.esa.int/mdi_igr.jpg

Set up last night as the forecasts said "clear skies". Just as I'd finished polar alignment all the cloud in the world appeared.

Well spotted Blinky. That's really cool!

I've had a look in AstroArt - it's a red blob with what could be a hot pixel top left. I've attached a blown up version.

Hi Kay and welcome aboard! I hope your skies go back to being clear soon. It looks like the skies will be clear over me tonight (second night in a few days!) so I'll be under the stars with any luck. Let us know what scope you go for! Clear skies! Mark

Hi Noakesy Welcome to SGL!

Hi Paul. welcome to SGL.

Glad to hear you had a good time with the 200! And great that you got to grips with the EQ5. What a relief, after weeks of poor skies, to get just a little break in the clouds.

It's been ok in the south east - a little cloudy but I've managed to bag an hour of 5 min subs and my mate next door has just seen his first 3 messier objects!

I agree totally. Check the forecasts but, as you say, "keep your eye on the sky". Even ten minutes observing between clouds can be rewarding. I also image but when I'm waiting for subs I get a pair of small binoculars (must get some decent ones) and have a good look around - it's just as much fun and you can follow up on another imaging run to check out what you've seen.