Clear skies in the east.

Swamped in cloud now

The scout is a damn fine instrument for anyone (but mainly beginners/advanced). It is so simple to use and because it works off of GPS satilites....................it is very accurate. Basically it takes the hassle out of having to read star charts etc while out doors.

The display is red (for obvious reasons) and can be set to different levels of brightness. Even at its brightest.................it doesnt effect your vision. BUT i guess it depends on peoples eye sight. It may effect some more then others.

My only complaint about it (even though my girlfriend bought it for me.....and it is a nice gadget to have) is the price. If they cost of it was halved.............to say €250..................they would sell a lot more of them...........but then again there IS a lot of technology involved in it such as GPS, Gravity tilt mechanisms (so it knows how high or low you are holding it ,which side it is tilted to etc.) I just discovered tonight that it even has a thermometre in it and gives you the temperature of the surrounding air.

Also you can plug headphones in and listen to info about what you are viewing, it shows the lines (picture) of all the constellations,location of al
the satelites in orbit,you can hook it up to the pc and download the latest database files as objects are added to the already 6000+ list of objects.............blah blah blah.

So really when you sit back and think about it.................maybe the cost is not that high.

Stilll crystal clear here.

I have been setting up and aligning since 6.30 as it looked promising here in Waterford. The plan was to do some long exposures with the 500mm lens piggybacked on the scope, of Orion.

As soon as I was ready to go.... hey presto the clouds rolled in fast and thick!!!

Still overcast down here at the moment, however, I will hang on for a while just in case some of those clear skies make it down to the "sunny southeast"

Best o luck to the rest of you who have the starry night... .... I just wish they were here too!!!!! :roll:

Just clouded over here Still had two hours of a clear (if light polluted) sky. Michael.

You should all drive up to Killiney. I just checked and it is still clear as far ass the eye can see with no threat of cloud.

SO WHAT THE HELL AM I STILL SITTING INDOORS FOR?

Vodka tastes nice.