Excitement with a capital X...coming soon to a galaxy near you...or mine ;)

Okay okay so I absolutely have to share this with everyone. I am just tingling with excitement while waiting for a complete Celestron Cometron 60 to arrive. You heard it right....this is the real deal, a blast from the past. Saw the ad on Astromart and I absolutely had to get it. It is one of them grey tube (pity its not classic Celestron orange like my CO40), made in Japan scopes with adjustable hardwood tripods. Comes with two original Celestron 0.965" eyepieces and a barlow. And since it is second hand and my birthday is coming up in November, plus I have been a good boy, I decided to get it. Now I have a Celestron Cometron 40 (CO40) which I got as a gift from my dad's friend way back in the early 80's. It is with this first "real" telescope (coated achromatic lenses and not plastic single lenses) that I saw some fantastic celestial sights that sparked my passion for backyard stargazing, and this feeling has remained with me till this very day. Its hard to put into words the sense of awe and wonder, not to mention the oneness I had connecting with the heavens above. Its a real wonder why I ended up doing neurobiology instead of Astronomy...but oh well that's all water under the bridge. So yes the scope should be here...hopefully by the end of the week. I can't wait to take it out for a test drive under the stars. Now its not going to give as bright or as detailed a view as my 6" or 10" scope but I bet I will be looking through it with the same sense of wonder and awe as I did when I was a teenager back in the 80's under those darker Malaysian skies....report and piccys to come!!!!!!!

Blast from the past....observing reports from downunder 2002

10/11th of May 2002

Viewing conditions: Excellent transparency magnitude 7++ skies ; Telescope 6" Synta Catadioptric Newtonian (1400mm f/l), 10x50mm binocs and on occasion a 10" DOB and 6" Synta refractor
Observing notes:

This is my forth visit to Leyburn and also probably my last before the winter. This was also supposed to be a test trip to see if I could take the cool-cold temperatures of winter, which will hit next month (needless to say that I won't be going the next month due to my aversion to cold temperatures…unable to focus…brain and finger freeze). Weather for the past few days prior to the trip was excellent with clear skies. As we drove out, there were some clouds gathering though. Well hopefully we will get clear skies from the word go when we get there. As we had set out early, we got there just before 4pm. During the southern autumn, the skies start getting dark at 5pm and will be fully dark when it hits 6pm. When we got there the skies were spectacular. There were some clouds hovering around but they were never really a threat.

We began the night with a special treat with the planetary conjunction. Caught Jupiter, Venus, Mars and Saturn all close to one another. Kev tried to find Mercury in the muck before the sun had even set with his 80mm binocs mounted on a mop stick (ingenious way to mount your super binoc) but to no success. I had a brief glimpse of Jupiter, Saturn and Venus in Dave's 10" but as the scope was still cooling I did not get the best views of the planets. I was still lingering on Jupiter when I noticed how dark the sky was already. I then decided to start my mad dash to bag all the galaxies I had on my list (much smaller this time as I wanted quality over quantity this time).

Started out with Leo as this will be the first constellation to set (well for the objects on my list anyway). Set out to bag two rather bright galaxies NGC 2903 and 3607 in Leo. Turns out that I did not need to work very hard. NGC 3607 was a rather bright elliptical close to the M65/66 trio while 2903, at the extreme end of the lion's tail was another easy spiral. Its amazing how easy galaxies are when you are viewing from a dark sky site. Not a problem at all (and I even caught the M65/66 cluster in my 10x50mm binocs). Got M95 this time round (could not dodge me forever). Not much detail there.

Next on my list were…well more galaxies! Charged right on to Canes Venatici and bagged all the galaxies I missed the last time round (the sky transparency was super excellent tonight!). I had not even expected to bag some of the galaxies mentioned later on as they are located fairly low in the sky. Bagged NGC's 4631, 4449, 4490 and M106 (woohoo!). Of the four, the most outstanding was 4631 with the irregular mottling seen all across the face of the galaxy. In fact the mottling was so prominent that I did not even need averted vision.  What a treat as I did not expect such detail from these galaxies. Had a brief glimpse of M51 as well and it too looked much better tonight (even in my 6"…last time all I saw were two fuzzy blobs devoid of any detail). Though I saw a hint of the spiral arms and that bridge connecting the two!

Virgo was up next. I had failed to see some of the galaxies there the last time I was here. Did not intend to fail this time! As such I managed to get them all (well those on my list anyway): 4535 (near M49 which was visible in my 10x50mm) and M89 and M90. While I was at it, I swung my scope around to…naturally Coma Berenices and caught M98 and M99. I have tried these two from home but failed so it was pretty refreshing to see them so easily in my 6" under Leyburn skies. M98 was particularly interesting appearing as a nice sliver of light. Also managed to squeeze in M91 and M88 while I was at it. Not much detail seen in those two. It was at this time when one of the member's (Peter) came on over with his newly purchased Howie Glatter laser pointer and started to show off his new toy. He pointed out this galaxy at the head of Centaurus (one that I had not seen)…NGC 5102 I think. Pretty bright but small galaxy that one.

Did also try to bag two rather bright galaxies in Ursa Major (the only ones in which I deemed were high enough to find….a major portion of Ursa Major, save its legs are all but invisible from my altitude). The two on my list was NGC 3184 and 2841. Did not manage to see any of the two. Well I have to give them a miss…probably too low in the murk!

With all those in the bag it was now time for some fun and for more of my faves. I will not elaborate further here as it would only seem all too repetitive, but I will note some rather exceptional observations. Of the objects I revisited (ditched my 6" in favour of Dave's 10" DOB…well not for all objects but for most of them anyway): globs with very good resolution ; Omega Centauri, M13, M5, M4, M22 and a very low 47 Tucana; nebulae M42, Eta Carina, M8 the Lagoon and the Trifid and planetaries M57 (nice ghostly ring in the 6". Nice nebulosity within the "smoke hole" in the 10"), M27 (looks more like a football with the UHC in place..even in the 6") and NGC 5189, the spiral/leafy sea dragon nebula in Musca (nice even in my 6" with heaps of detail seen. It appeared more like spiral galaxy with the spiral's easily visible….I later noted that I could catch most of the details even from my mag 5-5.5 skies back in the suburbs through the UHC…ahhhh don't you just love technology!) . The things to note was the rusty reds seen in the outstretched arms of the Orion Nebula (never noticed that before) and some reds in the Trifid in the 10" (Notice how I don't have any reports on how objects looked liked through Kev's 16" this time round. I purposefully stayed away so as not to spoil the view in my 6"). Oh and did I mention that we could spy NGC 5128 (Centaurus A galaxy) with the naked eye…yup the skies were that good!!!!!

Well my next dark sky report may possible be several months from now as its time for hibernation (well I will still be out under the stars…but from the comfort of my apartment's balcony :)

The weekend of JOVE...and the our celestial neighbour our moon

The weekend is here again and this weekend I devoted some time to scrutinizing good old Jove. Jupiter is at opposition on the 21st of September and will sparkle at magnitude -2.9, and its equator will span 49.9". WOW did I also mention that it will shine bigger and brighter on that day than it has in almost 50 years. BIG incentive to get out under the moonlit skies (the moon will be close to full, or full by the 21st!). Had planned to get out on Friday night but lil bub S went to sleep at 11pm, plus the skies were clouded out...bummer. Good thing the skies cleared out by about 9pm on Saturday night and I got some great views of jove...and I also devoted sometime to our moon. Have not looked at our satellite since moving here from BrisVegas. Jove was okay and exhibited a rather large disk. Observed the NEB as the SEB is still missing, together with two other belts to the north of the NEB. The great red spot was off to the side and almost out of view.

And how could I carry the scope down a flight of stairs without looking at some DSO! Observed planetary nebulae, M57, M27, the blinking planetary in Cygnus and the blue planetary in Pegasus under moonlit skies with the NPB filter. Then snuck in some views of the great Andromeda Galaxy (M31) and its satellite galaxy M32. The views from my light polluted observing site was actually quite nice. Used the 20mm Expanse in the C6 for the best views. I did try out the Orion Skyglow filter and it did bring out more of the galaxy (who says galaxies don't benefit...well maybe it was just the added contrast with the filter). Views were nothing like my drawing above and only the nucleus of the galaxy was visible. Finished off the night with superb views of the terminator region of our moon. On a side note I observed old Jove last weekend and the great "salmon" (not red at all) was visible at about 10.30pm local LA time.

On the subject of light pollution and finding the best time/setup to observe

Light pollution has always been a problem and it is the bane of modern observational astronomy. Its funny how we live in a "golden age" of affordable equipment, and yet we have to travel so far just to get to pristine dark skies for deep sky observation. Its kind of silly really as I remember growing up in the late 70's/ early 80's and the skies back at my parents place in Peninsula Malaysia was dark enough to nab some really interesting deep sky objects (DSO's), even though back then all I could afford was a 40mm f/20 Celestron Cometron refractor! These days the same skies appear pink with light pollution! Moving to Brisbane, Australia in 1997 for my undergrad studies and then moving there to live in 2001 showed me what good light management could do to improve the skies (the skies were actually black and not grey or pink!). Over the years, it also showed what development could do to "lighten" the skies up. The skies over Brisbane in 2010 and Brisbane way back in 2001, or even 1997, show distinct differences, even though they still appear black overhead. I estimate a magnitude loss of anywhere between 0.2 to 0.4! I now live in Los Angeles, one of the most populated cities in the world and even here the skies are better than back home in Malaysia or Singapore! But moving here from Brisbane also dramatically illustrated how even a loss of 0.4 magnitude (Brisbane's limiting magnitude in winter approaches 5.5, while here on the best of nights I can get 5.1 tops) can do to decrease the number of stars and DSO's visible to the unaided eye, or even detail at the eyepiece. So yes light pollution is a problem and unless we do something about it, soon we will not even be able to see past the brighter planets and the moon!

The immediate addressable problem though is how and what we can see from light drenched skies. Many people who live in large cities seem to think that all you can see are the brighter planets and the moon. That is not true if you are experienced and know what to do! DSO's are totally doable from such skies. I will give you a rundown on what you can do to track DSO's down from relatively bright locales:

• a nice transparent winter or coolish night (best after a front has passed) close to the new moon
• pick a spot that is shielded from ground lights at eye level
• setup on grass and not on concrete (concrete traps heat in the daytime and radiates at night when it cools down)
• use a monk hood (a black cloth that can drape over your head and eyepiece)
• experiment with different eyepieces to get the optimal magnification
• use a longer focal length scope
• use as much aperture as you can handle (the old myth that small refractors are better than large reflectors are pure baloney....bottom line is the larger the scope, the more you can see)
• flock your scope's tube with velvet or flat black paint to improve contrast
• use ultra high contrast or narrowband light pollution filters (make sure you use a hood with these as they can reflect stray light back into your eyes and reduce contrast)
• observe later at night (most establishments turn their parking lot lights off after a certain time, plus there are less cars on the roads at night)
• use a light shield (such as drapes over a frame)
• remember to allow your eyes to dark adapt for at least 30 minutes...start with brighter objects such as open star clusters, then proceed to the fainter fare

On a wider scale that's when it starts to get complicated. To really get involved in turning the light pollution situation around consider joining the "International Dark Sky Association". They provide education and resources to combat light pollution at an international level by promoting good and energy efficient lighting habits...

http://www.darksky.org/mc/page.do;jsessionid=9A6F57442A49F3938C2EE5CC3251E9A9.mc1?sitePageId=55060

Fantastic observing night in LA...plus blast for the past 2002

Managed to get out under the stars tonight and the session was super. Transparency seemed much better than last weekend (the nights have been colder and crisper so maybe that's why) and some of the showpiece objects looked even better. Pity Sagittarius was setting when I got out at about 10.30pm (had to wait for bubs to go to bed first) so I could only manage a sneaky peak at the Swan and the Eagle nebula. Did not manage to look at M8, M20 or M22. Then went on the view the usual suspects M11 (diamond dust on velvet effect tonight!), M57, M27, M13, M92. All were viewed at 150x in the 6mm Radian, with the exception of M27. Also got to see M15 in Pegasus tonight! Very nice with some resolution at 150x in the C6. At low magnification the core looked really starlike and concentrated and the views reminded me of a much dimmer 47 Tucana. Wanted to have a look at M31 but it was in the region of the sky close to the spotlights. Will have to give it another go. Finished off the night with a look at Jupiter.....hopefully I can get out tomorrow night as well! Also finally got to test out the new wooden legs for the EQ3. The whole setup is slightly heavier, but it was well worth it as the whole thing was much sturdier and the scope vibrated much less under high mag.

And now onto....BLAST FROM THE PAST.......

12/13th of April 2002

Viewing conditions: Medium transparency magnitude 7++ skies with heavy dew; Telescope 6" Synta Catadioptric Newtonian (1400mm f/l), 10x50mm binocs and on occasion a 6" Synta refractor, 10" DOB and 16" Truss
 

Observing notes:

This was my third trip to the dark sky site over at Leyburn and I had a huge list of objects to hunt down (namely galaxies in the Coma-Virgo). But I promised myself not to rush through the list so I could scrutinise each and every object to tease out the finer details. The weather was not the greatest. In fact when we got there the skies looked pretty angry to the north. There was even a slight drizzle which sent everyone scurrying for tarps to put over their scopes. But as always, Leyburn never fails to surprise. The skies did clear later at close to 8pm (starting from the south as usual. This time of the year the skies start getting dark at 6pm).

Some of the objects I had planned for the early part of the night were now too low. Even the sky seemed not to be of exceptional brilliance tonight. There seemed to be some sort of haze about. At this time of the year both the SMC and LMC together with the centre of our galaxy (i.e the milky way) is visible. Talk about the best of both worlds!!!! I can't remember which object I started out with but I was quite sure it was 47 Tucana in the SMC. Not too brilliant as it was rather low in the sky to start with. Still some resolution was visible. Just had to have a go at it! Next up was the Tarantula in the LMC. Its funny how the UHC filter (first time in Leyburn too!) did not visibly improve the view (same for M42 later). Tried it also in the 10" and got the same result. The Tarantula's extended arms were seen better minus the UHC. I then proceeded to my fave object, the Eta Carina Nebula. This one looked brilliant and I was surprised at how much more detail was visible when the UHC was in place in the 6". All the dark knots and mottling were visible (and did I mention that the keyhole was outstanding???). I later had a look through my buddy Dave's 6" Synta Refractor with the UHC and I was blown away. The contrast in the refractor with the UHC had to be seen to be believe (with much more detail and contrast then even the 10" Dob could muster). Talk about legendary refractor -like contrast. The dark regions were pitch black and the nebular regions looked………..well distinctly nebular!

Next up was the Orion nebula M42 which was by now pretty low in the sky. Like I mentioned before more outer nebulosity was seen without the UHC in then with the UHC in place (strange). Also had a go at the Christmas Tree/Flame Nebula (NGC 2024) near the horsehead. Did not look as good then when I last saw it. Probably also due to its low altitude. I did manage to catch it with some difficulty in the 6" though. Had to place the bright star just out of the field in order to see the nebula and its dark lanes.  It was easier in the 10" so I made my sketch using Dave's 10".  Also note that the UHC did not improve the view of this object! Tried to locate the horsehead with the UHC in place but to no avail. I will have to try for it again when Orion is high in the sky! Also spent some time with some old fave's like Omega Centauri (the resolution was just amazing even in a 6"), NGC 5128-Centaurus A galaxy dust lane clearly visible and NGC 4945 edge on all in Centaurus.

With the perennial fave's out of the way, the next target's were mostly faint and dim smudges….the galaxies. Remember how I, for some strange reason could not find M83 in Hydra in the 6" on my last outing?  Realised that I was star hopping in the opposite direction. The star patterns on either side were pretty similar. Caught it this time. Nice face on spiral with two spiral arms visible in the 6" with difficulty (saw three in the 16" but more on that later J). Then it was on to Leo which was getting a little bit too low for my liking. Caught the usual M65/66 and their NGC companion. Much brighter than from home. Then moved on to the M95/96/105 cluster. Caught all of them excluding M95 (again could not find this one….for some strange reason that cannot yet be explained!). Will have to try again for that one. One thing to note was that I though I could make out some detail in M96 spiral arms in the 6". Then again maybe it was just my imagination running wild yet again….

Moved on to Coma after that and had a look at NGC 4565 (it appeared like a photograph in the 16"…but again for later) and by chance stumbled upon a much fainter NGC 4494. Thought I had 4565 but then again it could not have been so dim so I checked the map and whalla…another new galaxy in the books!!!! Also looked at some galaxies in the Ursa Major-Canes Venatici region. This region has several good galaxies of optimum brightness that will show detail in a 6" under good conditions. Unfortunately they are also located at a very low altitude from Brisbane. This did not deter me nevertheless. I did managed to bag the M94-Croc's eye from my mag 5 skies back home but just could not get M63-the sunflower galaxy, only a few degrees away from this galaxy. This time I managed to bag it. Could not see any of the mottling that O'Meara saw. Also caught the extremely faint glow of M51 in the 6". It was a extremely difficult catch for me as it was just a subtle brightening of the background. Did see what I though was a central starlike nucleus though and its smaller companion. This was really pushing the envelope as it was in a ridiculously low altitude from where we were. Did get a much better view of it through the 16" though.

Had planned to observe several other objects in the Sagittarius-Scorpius region but alas dew set in. It was just 1am but everything other than those powered ep's and scopes were drenched. That was when I called it a night.

p/s: The highlight of the night would have to be looking at stuff through a fellow member's (Kev's) 16" Truss Scope. We had a look at many…and I mean many, many objects. Had a look at Omega Centauri. Again the snaking chain of stars, the two dark eyes in the glob and the 3D effect were seen. 47 Tuc was brilliant (resolved right to the core) despite its low altitude as was NGC 3132 the Eight Burst Planetary Nebula in Vela (again the 8 shell's of nebulosity was seen). The dust lanes in M104 and NGC 5128 were so wide you could drive a dump truck through them (a sliver of nebulosity was noted in the dust lane of NGC 5128). Also there were some strange objects that we looked at that I could have sworn should have shown more structure in a 16" like the Ghost of Jupiter in Hydra, M64, the black eye galaxy in Coma and M83, the face on spiral in Hydra. I could not make out the CBS eye structure in the Ghost of Jupiter nor the dark lane in M64 which was visible the last time round in my 6". M83 too was not much better than in the 6" with the spiral arms looking only a little bit more pronounced (with three arms now visible). Was it the transparency of the skies which made the difference???? Its also amazing to note how globular's take on an identity of their own when viewed though larger apertures. There was this glob we looked at that resembled a starfish with its outstretched arms of stars. Can't put an NGC number to it  but it was nicknamed the starfish glob by Kev.  He also showed us a very strange looking planetary called the spiral planetary in Musca (his nickname was the "leafy sea dragon nebula" as its shape really resembled the leafy sea dragon seahorses found in South Australian waters…I think it was NGC 5189). Some objects really resembled photographs (excluding the glob's which looked better than in the overexposed photographs). The Trifid Nebula in Sagittarius was one of them looking like a photograph minus the bright pastel color's (some rusty red's were visible though with the usual green's). The edge on spiral in Coma 4565 was also brilliant with the central bulge, its radiating arms and the dark, dark dust lane. Wow! Also managed to see the spiral arms in M51 connecting it to its smaller companion but the word here is visible rather than spectacular…well till next time.

Blast from the past....observing reports from downunder 2002..more to come!

12/13th of January 2002

Viewing conditions: Good transparency magnitude 7 skies; Telescope 6" Synta Catadioptric Newtonian (1400mm f/l), 10x50mm binocs and on occasion a 10" DOB and 16" Truss

Observing notes:

My second visit to Leyburn and boy was I in a rush. Have not been to a dark sky site since November due to the southern summer weather (i.e. more cloud cover and rains). I had been planning this trip for about two months now. Anyway, the weather did not look great from Brisbane. The forecast was for fine hot weather but fine does not necessarily mean clear skies! As we got nearer, it still did not look promising but we went anyway. Friday night reports filtering through sounded positive though. We got there at about 6pm, just enough time to set the scopes up and let it cool (or warm up..it was warmer outdoors than in the car with the air con running). Astronomical twilight only descended on us at about 8.30pm (when it got really dark). There was still some clouds in the sky but the southern sky was clear...first up...the LMC and SMC's.

The LMC and SMC was higher up in the sky early in the night than the last time we were here. Wanted to see M32 and M33 but the skies over there were clouded over. Would not have gotten a very good look anyway as they were pretty low in the sky. Warmed up with 47 Tuc with the new 12.5mm Plossl. Looking great with stars resolved across its face. Spent several minutes on this object...brilliant from a dark sky with chains of stars radiating outwards (this effect is invisible from my mag 5 suburban skies)! Will get a chance to compare it with Omega Centauri later tonight :). The Tarantula also looked brilliant with the 12.5mm. Heaps of faint tendrils seen.

And now the highlight of the night! I was invited over to look through a 16" truss owned by a member of the society, Kevin. WOW was all I could say...47 Tuc was resolved all the way to the core (you could change the focus and resolve stars at different level's giving it a much more 3D view than in the 10"). All the stars looked golden! Also looked at the Tarantula...more nebulosity and knots than you could possibly imagine...much better looking than those burned out photo's. Also caught a glimpse of the Eight Burst Nebula in Vela (NGC 3132). It looked plain in my 6" but I could see why it was called the Eight Burst in this monster scope. The greenish planetary was huge with about 8 outer shells in the 16". He put in an O III but that seemed to hurt the image (but more core details were seen). Next was Eta Carina...superb in the 16" with the homunculus clearly visible at high power with two shells visible...will have to look and see if I can see that in my 6" later. Also caught Linear...nice bright nucleus and short dust tail in the 16" and M42 the great nebula in Orion (did look great for a while before the high altitude clouds hit)....Time to get back down to earth!

At about 12am, the clouds started to roll in and we decided to have a break. The break lasted till about 1.30am when we were getting ready for bed...the skies cleared up and the transparency became excellent!. Whew the milky way stretched all the way from the south to the north. Seeing how Orion was getting lower, decided to catch a quick glimpse of its wonders. M42 was looking superb now with its wings fully stretched...heaps of nebulosity around M42 as well. Looked at M78...much brighter than from home and resembling a comet with a short tail more than anything. Tried for the Flame Nebula but did not see it. Now onto Eta Carina which was very high in the sky!

Hmmmm..in the 6", even the clumps and knots are visible. This is a brilliant nebula stretching over a very large area of the sky. Only the central portion was visible in my scope operating at 56x (will have to get a lower mag ep...say 32mm or 40mm). I could make out the keyhole...and wait a minute....the homunculus does look non stellar. Bumped up the mag and though I could make out the shells. Now I am not crazy or anything but the 6" view actually looked quite good even after looking at it through a 16"! And hey Centaurus was quite high too..time for Omega Centauri. This was the first time I would look upon Omega with my 6". It is a brilliant and huge glob..much bigger and brighter than 47 Tuc...a distant second now. At 56x Omega was pretty much resolved to the core with its chains of stars resembling skeletal arms stretch as far as the eye could see (the 10" view was something else altogether). The glob looked very flat (probably due to its fast spinning speed) without a condensed core. It looked distinctly yellowish. Very different looking from 47 Tuc and most of the other "common" globs.

 

Bumping the scope north, I caught a glimpse of NGC 5128 a rather peculiar looking galaxy also known as Centaurus A, a radio source. I have seen this through binocs from a dark sky site but nothing could prepare me for the view. The dark dust lane was barely visible with direct vision but stood out like a sore thumb with averted vision. I also had the impression that I was looking at a smaller and unresolved Omega...cool. Also caught the edge on galaxy (NGC 4945?) in Centaurus...another brilliant first for me appearing like a very delicate fat streak at 56x. No mottling was seen (will have to confirm this with a second view).

As dawn was fast approaching, I had to start my hunt for all those galaxies I had planned to see. Leo, Virgo and Coma was up as was Corvus. First stop was M83 in Hydra...never found it in my scope for some peculiar reason but saw three spiral arms in the 10". Looked like a miniature version of M33 in Triangulum. Next stop Leo and M65/M66 and M95/M96. As a kid, I grew up dreaming of seeing these rather bright galaxies in my Cometron scope...no luck. But my luck was about to change! M65/M66 was easy in the 6" at 56x with a smaller and fainter streak north of them. Thought I had seen M95/M96 in the ep but I was wrong after checking "The Messier Object's" by O'Meara when home. Saw three rather faint galaxies in the field forming a small triangle (I had a nagging suspicion that these were not M95/M96 as they were quite faint!). Turned out that they were some NGC's north of M95/M96. Oh well will have to hunt these ones down on my next trip I guess.

Next stop...Virgo, Coma and Corvus. M104, the Sombrero looked brilliant in the 6". I have seen this from home (mag 5 skies) in my 3" but the 6" at 56x under dark skies showed something else. It was really bright and the dark lanes was hinted at that mag. At 112x the dust lane was easy (in the 10" it was thick enough to drive a dump truck through). Then onto the Black Eye in Coma. Also a very easy galaxy, I did not see the dark dust "eye" on first glance. Andrew, one of my observing buddies commented that he saw it by scanning the outer fringes of the galaxy. I tried that trick and saw it in the 6" though it was easier in the 10". The rest of the night (or day as the sun would rise soon) was spent looking at some ellipticals in Virgo (M49 was brilliant in the 6") and Coma. Did not get a chance to draw that many galaxies in Virgo as there were to many...well will have to dedicate more time to them on my next trip...

Overall it was a very fruitful trip. Its hard to get exceptionally clear skies in summer but we were rewarded for our patience. The next trip, I plan to hunt down all the galaxies in Virgo and Coma and maybe try for M95/M96 again as well as spend some quality time with Omega Centauri!

Blast from the past....observing reports from downunder

I will be publishing several or my observation reports over the course of the next few days, weeks or whenever I get the chance that I meticulously documented way back when I started observing from my main dark sky site that I used to visit almost monthly. Leyburn, which is situated about 2 1/2 hours driving time, one way from Brisbane. The skies were awesome back in 2001 when I started observing there and is still the darkest spot closest to Brisbane city.


17th of November 2001

Viewing conditions: Good transparency magnitude 7 skies; Telescope 6" Synta Catadioptric Newtonian (1400mm f/l), 10x50mm binocs and on occasion a 10" DOB
 
Observing notes:

My first trip to the Southern Astronomical Society's dark sky site with my newly acquired 6" scope. I had an agenda for this trip, to see all the objects with low surface brightness that are invisible from my suburban observing site, plus to revisit some old favourites. As the sky darkened, the first thing that caught my eye was the "clouds" towards the south. Those were not clouds, they were the LMC and the SMC! Boy were they bright! I have glimpsed with difficulty the LMC from my suburban site but the SMC has continued to elude me until now. Not much detail with the naked eye but excellent objects to scan with binocs!

Waited till the sky was much darker and started to hunt down the faint fuzzies. First up were my two faves, NGC 55 and NGC 253, the Sculptor galaxies (both visible from my mag 5 skies back in Brisbane). Under dark skies, these two bright galaxies were excellent. Mottling was seen in 253 with a hint of the dark lane. 55 looked distinctly clumpy, showing its distinct asymmetry with one end clearly brighter than the other!

The extremely large but low surface brightness Helix nebula in Aquarius was next. I have never been able to spot this from my balcony from suburbia. The planetary was an easy catch showing up as a featureless blob in my binocs. No hint of the central hole so visible in photographs. On to my scope. The scope showed little extra detail with the central hole revealing itself at the edge of perception and only with tapping and averted vision. Rather disappointing object but at least I can say that I have seen it!

Another large but low surface brightness object? Yup M33 in Triangulum! Many have said that this galaxy is a good indicator of the quality of the observing site. If it is visible to the naked eye, you have got yourself a great site. Well, the galaxy was definitely visible with the naked eye this night! Through the binocs, it was an oval haze covering a much larger area than the Helix nebula. The views through the 6" were breathtaking (before I looked at it through Dave's 10" DOB that is...5 spiral arms were visible in the 10"). Traced two distinct spiral arms. One radiating to the north and another to the south. Cool!

Also had a look at M31, the great galaxy in Andromeda.  Visible to the naked eye, this galaxy was awesome in the scope. Covering a ridiculously large extent of the FOV, I spotted for the first time its dark lane. But it was not totally obvious...rather at the edge of detectibility. The nucleus looked distinctly greenish and both M32 and M110 were visible (M32 visible in the same FOV). Another great object to look at!

Finally...my perennial faves 47 Tucana (boy...good resolution all across the glob...but overshadowed by the 10".....looking spectacular like photographs with stars resolved all the way to the core!!!!); the Tarantula (again spectacular in the 10" with all its knots and clumps); Eta Carina nebula; M42, the great Orion Nebula (large greenish wings visible in all its glory!) with the sword of Orion (patches of nebulosity everywhere!), M78 (a first for me too..have to try from home! Looks like the head of a comet!!!!); M1, the Crab Nebula (much larger than it appeared from home...spectacular in the 10" with the crab structures observed with averted vision!). Last on the list was NGC 3132, the eight burst nebula. Expected more out of it but was disappointed....looked a little more like a bright out of focus star than anything else....oh well..till next time..