M42

Not the motorway.

Decided to try the 500mm lens, zoomed right in, on my tripod against clear night sky.

Discovered the following
* my tripod is rubbish
* stars move quickly
* 500 lens actually gives me a pretty impressive view AND it's the right way up AND it's much quicker to set up

Feeling a bit of a smarty pants, I disappeared to see Corin's Dad. To see what I could do with a 2x tele-extender.

In the space of 15 minutes travelling time, the sky filled with cloud.

Had a brew, gave it up as a bad lot and stepped out of the front door to leave, and the clouds had disappeared, but so had my time.

This is the best of the early evening shots - having checked online, it would appear that the little fuzzy cluster is M42 - Orion Nebula - in the constellation of Orion. Slightly northwards is the smaller M43 nebula along with NGC 1973, 1975 and 1977 (smaller nebulae).

So, Velux window for the attic so the scope can be set up properly. 2x teleconvertor and sturdy tripod needed.

Some decent weather.

not much to ask, surely?