More help needed please : )

[new_etx_user]

First off, what should I use to clean dew off the lens of my telescope?? I daren't touch it in case I scratch it.

Second thing, I have just been looking at M42 or maybe 43, and it only seems to be black and white, do I need some kind of filter to see the colours?

And finally whats the easiest galaxy to locate without the use of the autostar (cant get it working yet).

Preferably near an easily recognisable star...

As far as the Auto align I don't see what I'm doing wrong, place the telesope control panel facing west, turn the telescope counterclockwise until hard stop then lock, which faces the scope southwest, Then autoalign.

But when the scope is 'finding north' it is facing south

Thanks in advance.

[dark knight]

there is a 12v hot air blower (hairdryer) available, as are dew bands which stop dew forming. if you mean after use, just leave the OTA in warm room with the covers off, but not too warm a room.Not sure of etx, but check things like date input format, celestrons goto use mm/dd/yr format for example. Also ensure any input location data is correct including if required which hemisphere you are in. I presume the mount is alt/az and not equatorial. Is there an index marker on the moving part of the fork which needs to align to a mark on the non moving part of the fork arm? Go through the instruction manual again, as a small detail missed can ruin any attempts to star align.

[EA2007]

In ascending order to your questions:

1) Most scopes gain condensation, you just need to figure out the scopes 'cool down' time and leave the cover off for an adequate amount of time.

2) This is a common mis-interpretation for someone looking through a scope, practically every object barring planets, the moon and stars appear in mono (black and white / grey)....you may notice though that viewing the Orion Nebula (M42) through a small refractor shows a slight green tinge and that in a short widefield exposure via a tripod mounted camera that Orion's belt (the are where M42 resides) is red/pruple.

3)There are a few easy galaxies to find via 'local' stars. Probably the easiest is M51; the whirlpool galaxy, just find the last star in the arc of Ursa Majors 'plough' (imagining that the plough is lying horizontal here) and from this head directly south. A slight move of the scope should show a small spirally faint object.

Otherwise your after going for M31, its size is the main factor in finding it. I suggest downloading a star atlas rather that letting me give you dodgy directions!

[dark knight]

M31 Andromeda galaxy, 3.4 magnitude, is a spiral galaxy about 2.3 million light years away and probably the easiest to see from earth.