October 18th, 2013 "Penumbral" lunar eclipse

First off, I have to say that this image is from Facebook user "astronomy".  They get full credit and I get none :)
I had plans to take this picture myself, but it happened so early where I am located that I missed it.  This is what user "astronomy" had to say:

"This evening (Oct. 18), the moon will undergo a partial eclipse, known as a "penumbral" lunar eclipse."

Basically the Earth blocked a super small part of the light coming from the Sun, heading towards the moon, and we (Earth) got in the way.

Setting up a newtonian reflector and EQ5 mount

This video was just for fun and was not intended to be a thorough tutorial on setting up a reflector and mount.  But if you are a complete newbie then you might get something out of it.

Uranus - Take two

I set out a few nights ago to see the planet Uranus for the second time.  It's been a few years since my first viewing, I have failed at least 4 times since the first.
What helped me this time was using Pegasus as a guide.  I waited until Pegasus got to the meridian, and then used the "trailing' two stars of the box as a pointer.  Usually Uranus just seems to be out there with nothing for me to judge its position.
Uranus is somewhat tricky to find.  All the other planets inward from Uranus (except Pluto and Earth) are really easy to find with the naked eyeball.  It appears bigger than most stars you see through a telescope, but not by much.  The best giveaway is the color:  blue.  I always imagined it would have a greenish tint, but in my 8" reflector, it just appears blue.
Uranus does not 'flicker' like normal stars do.  It stays steady as a pale blue dot.  Though there is virtually no detail when using my equipment, I still find it fascinating to look at.
Uranus is just past opposition as of a couple weeks ago I believe, so it should still be one of the better times to view it.