Collimation (I think)

[groaninjock]

Only my second night out with the scope, so I'm still not entirely sure what I'm doing!

Tried to focus in on Jupiter, but when I found it in the eyepiece, I could see a black cross in the middle of the view. I'm assuming this is the reflection or shadow of one of the mirror mounts or something like that, and will be gone if I collimate the scope properly?

[Islander]

It sounds like you weren't actually in focus - what you saw was an image of the secondary mirror and the spider support. When you get the scope in perfect focus, that will disappear and you'll see the planet sharp and clear.

[groaninjock]

Just collimated my scope for the first time - took me two hours but I got there in the end.

Pity it looks like it's going to be a cloudy night