There was a window of very clear sky last night so I got the telescope out and found Andromeda for the first time. Not a whole lot to see except a fuzzy patch! There should have been a new moon last night at dusk but it was hidden by a big patch of cloud from where I was looking.

The back garden is a terrible place to be using a telescope as the light pollution is so bad. Even if I shot the street lights (!), London, the M25 and the local towns combined with the Lea Valley humidity means it never gets really dark. And on the few really clear nights we get, packing everything up and heading out into the country is just too much effort at midnight! One of these years perhaps I'll get up to the Galloway Forest where it's really dark.46 Trinity Rd, Ware, Hertfordshire SG12 7