Akan Datang...Coming Soon to a galaxy near you...and some melancholy again......

I have been reminiscing heaps about the past and about the glorious times I spent out under the pitch black canopy of the southern skies. Now that I live in the northern hemisphere, I really miss those times, whether it be taking in the sights from my suburban balcony in Princess Street, Perrin Park in Taringa (the last of the parks I used for not so dark sky observing and for sidewalk astronomy with friends...my other usual haunt was Robertson's Park in Indooroopilly...or even from Mount Cootha), out under the truly dark skies of Leyburn, Camp Duckadang for the Queensland Astrofest, old Ron's place on the sunny coast, or even our "in between" site at Mark's place in Glenore Grove in the Lockyer Valley. Those were the best of times. I never grew tired or weary of visual observing. There seemed to be a never-ending source of bright and not so bright DSO's to scrutinize over and over again. Seems like all my fave objects are southern objects.......Let's see in no particular order here are my faves:

• LMC: best views I ever got of this object was through my Orion 80ST, Orion Starblast and my 15x70 and 20x80's. Using my 24.5mm Meade SWA and UHC filter in the Orion 80ST, or the Starblast to just drink in all that our satellite galaxy has to offer.
• SMC: same as the above...even naked eye from a dark sky was worth the price of admission
• Tarantula Nebula: this one continued to amaze me. I always saw something new and different in my different scopes......UHC type filters did wonders for this arachnid, even from dark skies. The views I had of it from Leyburn still burns freshly in my mind eye. Its spidery legs entraps the star cluster within seemingly enmeshed with its silky web in the background.
• Eta Carina Nebula and its surrounding clusters: whether it be from my light polluted suburb, or from pitch black skies, this was the ultimate nebular nursery.....best views from the burbs with the NPB and my ex-UHC filter.....filters not required under dark skies....you could get lost in its dark lanes...ending at the keyhole...in my opinion the best nebula in the sky...besting great M42
• 47 Tucana: I like 47 for different reasons in comparison to super loose Omega. Its tight core of sparkling suns was easily resolved even in my C6. The views in my 10" just blew me away....diamonds on black velvet totally. Even low powered views were scintillating as stars winked in and out across its starlike core.
• NGC 5189 Spiral Planetary: I remember the first time I spied this lil beauty...it was through Kevin Dixon's 16" truss from Leyburn. He called it the leafy sea dragon nebula. I was later astonished to learn that its filamentary structure was visible in scopes as small as the Orion 80ST, with filter of course. I came back to this object over and over again.......my sketches don't do this object justice at all......its high surface brightness did help too from the burbs...
• Pavo Glob NGC 6752: Starfish globular.. Can't remember who called it that but I am sure it was old Kev through his 16" scope......its snaking arms made it look like a starfish...even in small scope this globular is easily resolved....this glob puts M13 to shame....
• Ara Glob NGC 6397: even easier to resolve than the Pavo Glob as its individual stars were bright.....
• Omega Centauri: What can I say..the grand daddy of all globular clusters.....I can still see it from way up here in SoCal....but it is a pale reflection of its southern visage
• NGC 253: Silver Coin...amazing galaxy...heaps of mottling even in my C6.......spiral arms and clumps easy in the 10" from pitch black skies
• The dreamtime celestial emu starting at the coal sack in Crux!!!!!!
• The heart of our milky way blazing overhead.....the ultimate edge on galaxy view.....OMG was the word...dark lanes snaking all over the place

My passion for visual has been waning of late and it has been replaced by a rabid obsession to image all the bright northern DSO's. I don't know if this is the downward spiral where I once again crash out of the hobby. I want to take a step back....I want to recapture those magical nights under my southern skies.....as such over the course of the next few weeks join me as I take the Delorean and travel back in time...back to Brisbane in the land of oz........and as the great Doc Emmett Brown once said.........GREAT SCOTT.....