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Cosmic · Joined: 12 Jun 2008 Posts: 190 Location: Dunfermline

WOW!! What a great night tonight was 22 Sep. The Sky was unbelievably clear here although light pollution was terrible. I was going to post to see if anyone fancied the dark site tonight but opted for the back garden.
As mentioned, i recently dispensed with the LNT off my ETX 105 and added a right angle viewfinder instead and tonight was first night out with it. What a difference! I finally managed to get the Autostar correctly aligned and it was bang on the money all night. (Cazza i will show you at next star party how to do yours).

so here is a list of what I looked at tonight:
I started off with Jupiter. great views and banding clearly seen. I think i may have seen the red spot however can't be sure as it was low down and drifting in and out of focus. The moons were really unusal positions and i'm sure I saw 5 of them (can anyone confirm this is possible with ETX 105?

Next a guided tour courtesy of Autostar. M15,Dumbell nebula,Ring nebula(this was really something spectacular), Wild duck cluster, M92, M13, Whirlpool galaxy, Eagle nebula (but didn't look like hubble piccie hehehe)
and Andromeda galaxy. Open clusters in hercules and to finish off URANUS!. Uranus was a very small bluish disk but nice to tick it off my wish list.
Power cable came out a couple of times but i was aligned and back in business in minutes. The tracking feature in ALT AZ works a treat and i was able to go off make coffee and come back and still be on the target.

So that's it folks. the depression I have been feeling lately about not being able to get out due to weather and dissappointing resuls with GO TO are now well and truly put to bed.
Anyway do post and let me know if you got out and tell us what you saw.

regards
Cosmic Very Happy

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_________________
Meade LX90 UHTC 8" SCT
Celestron Nexstar 5SE SCT
Mintron MTV-12V6HC-EX ccd video cam
15x70 Astro Binoculars 10x50 Binoculars
When I was a child I had a dream......now I own a telescope ....it's no longer a dream.

adt175 · Joined: 16 Jan 2007 Posts: 106 Location: Edinburgh

pbholmes · Joined: 15 Nov 2006 Posts: 167 Location: Dalgety Bay

I was looking round Lyra, and trying to find the Ring Nebula.

It's supposed to be visible with a 3" or greater aperture, but with my 4.5" I just couldn't see it.

cazza · Joined: 16 Jan 2008 Posts: 62 Location: Rosyth

Hi Cosmic, sounds like all the waiting was worth while! Wow can't believe what you managed to see.

I am thoroughly disappointed in myself for giving up with the ETX 90 alignment and will make an effort again given the success you have had.

I have had someone align it for me whilst at a star party and they managed it in about 5 minutes so it can be done (I just have make the effort and be patient).

Cazza

adt175 · Joined: 16 Jan 2007 Posts: 106 Location: Edinburgh

Cosmic · Joined: 12 Jun 2008 Posts: 190 Location: Dunfermline

Cazza
I couldn't believe how easy it was to align after taking off that LNT module
so mine is now the same as yours and it should be very easy to show you.
I would recommend that if you could get the right angle finder then buy one. It makes all the difference! When the scope is pointing directly overhead you can see through it very easily. I found mine on ebay.

regards
Cosmic

_________________
Meade LX90 UHTC 8" SCT
Celestron Nexstar 5SE SCT
Mintron MTV-12V6HC-EX ccd video cam
15x70 Astro Binoculars 10x50 Binoculars
When I was a child I had a dream......now I own a telescope ....it's no longer a dream.