badhex

No worries! To be honest, I wouldn't want to be presumptuous about lifts or anything like that, I'm thinking more like splitting a taxi fare if anyone goes back into Hythe direction for example. Thanks for the help anyway!

I suggest the 1974 analogue synth version by Isao Tomita:

Yep, so the northern level alignment starts with two-star alignment directly after the levelling part of the routine. After that you should be reasonably accurate, and each time you slew thereafter you're adding improvements to the pointing model anyway, as it asks you to manually centre after slewing. Essentially you are always aligning. The more accurate you are with your north level and then subsequent two star alignment will determine the accuracy of the first slew, and the minor correction of each slew (if any) will determine the further accuracy of the next slew and so on.

Thanks Steve!

Cheers Steve, I admit I only did quick search but was presented with the Facebook links from various sources so I assumed they were the main online presence! I'll take a look. I don't drive currently so Alkham might not be that easy for me unfortunately, seems like there are no buses at the weekend! Do you happen to know of any other SEKAS members who might be nearer to Hythe? Might be worth checking how others travel (though I assume by car).

Hello all, I wondered if there are any fellow SGLers in Hythe or the surrounding area, particularly visual observers who might fancy the occasional informal observing meetup? I did look into contacting SEKAS but their public outreach Facebook page is by request only(! Seems an odd choice for a public outreach page) and thus far my request to join has gone unanswered.

Most of my observing career has been from Bortle 7 or 8, with only brief stints like holidays etc with better conditions, and have still observed hundreds of objects. I would recommend finding somewhere which minimises any local LP and allows you to observe undisturbed without random lights ruining your dark adaptation, which will still make a big difference even in the worst light polluted skies. A big hood might help with this so your none-observing eye is also protected from stray light. If you have an easily transportable scope, try to have a location further afield which you can go to for better sky conditions, but I also think it's important to have somewhere nearby e.g. your garden where you can observe on a whim, even if the skies themselves aren't great. I would also recommend as above starting with showpiece objects - planets, double stars, bright clusters, and bright planetary nebulae. There will be plenty from those categories which will be visible in your skies. Once you've started to get the feel for the brighter objects you can start to look for more challenging objects. I would finally recommend patience at the eyepiece. There is a lot to be said for simply staying with an object for a while, particularly planets and clusters, where you will start to resolve more detail in the object over time. It's not unknown for planetary observers to spend much or all of a session just with one object.

Incredible!👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Out of interest, which allsky cam did you take this with?

Visiting parents in Duckmanton, Derbyshire. Just got a message from a mate about the aurora and popped outside:

41mm Pan for me. Looks quite silly in a ZS73!

Is that a 31mm Nagler in your focuser or are you just pleased to see me?

Well, the physics don't lie I suppose - I'm yet to find someone who has claimed to have resolved Enceladus with anything smaller than around 5-6" as far as I can remember, but I'm sure it must be possible - I have faith!

Indeed! I suspect aperture, seeing and relative position of the rings and other moons are what will make the difference. I'll have to take a look at the Brian Cox, thanks for the heads up!

Glad I'm not the only one struggling to pick our icy friend out! I've unfortunately not had much chance to observe Saturn this year but have still not been successful with Enceladus. I have also tried holding Saturn outside the FOV but this far to no avail. What scope are you using? I am yet to observe from my new location with the TS102 which is arguably my "best" planetary scope.

I can tell you from experience that the converting a 50ED for visual use has its challenges! I went through this process a couple of years ago but due to my astro hiatus I've never really tested it properly and got everything set up perfectly. I'll spend a bit of time later this year fiddling and reporting back. It's probably a better move to go for something like the 50mm with a built in focuser as per the previous posts if you want to avoid the faff, but if you did go down the 50ED route your best bet might be a TV plossl due to the position of the focal plane, as you've already identified. I go into a bit more detail in the below thread if you fancy reading: https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/400295-another-ultra-light-travel-kit-project/