Clear skies .... what the!!!! Cyclone Anthony (now ex) had taken all the cloud out east with him, so we had had a few clear nights, utterly amazing for up here!!
Set up scope ... and what a mess!! Even though I had the ends covered, and all of her wrapped in a sheet, there were little webby things all over the secondary mirror, and in focuser, also collimation waaaaay out. Thus a day spent cleaning the secondary and trying to collimate. Not great at collimation, well, pretty ****ty at it really, though aim to do better this year.
So, last night a few Townsvillians in our group were viewing in their backyards, with M42 to be the main target.
Started with
Jupiter, alas, image still blurry with the 4.8mm EP so another quick adjustment with the laser collimater, with success. Jupiter looked wonderful, SEB not as visible as reports had led me to believe. 3 Moons one side, and 1 the other completed the scene.
Quick look at the pretty
Pleiades, then to
M42. This has to be best DSO object in our night skies - a magnificent vista of light and dark nebulous cloud. Just panned the area for quite awhile, taking it all in, with no need of a filter. Checked out 6 of the stars in the Trapezium embedded in hte nebula, with the 4.8mm EP. Also a quick look at
W Orionis, one of my fav little carbon stars, and was a treat to see. Tried for R Leporis, but straight overhead, and back wouldnt be in on that.
Alas, failed at The Crab, though have found it OK in the past, ? seeing not crash hot. No luck with comet Hartley, or the splitting of Sirius with the primary glaring like a beacon.
Shifted scope to
NGC 1647 just south of The Hyades. What a gorgeous OC, that I hadnt seen before, and it filled the EP!! It also has a delightful little double left of centre.
6 hrs later - Alarm went 0400
.... crawled outside and looked up, skies clear but Moon very bright and sitting in Virgo very near to
Saturn. Oh well, found Saturn, and popped in the 4.8mm ... WOWOW ... what a beautiful sight!! The rings have opened a bit since I last saw it, making it even prettier. No luck with the storm as disc too bright and white, popped in a blue filter bit worse, no matter.
Quick look at
ESB 365 next to Beta Crucius, love these little carbon stars. Not as red as W Oriois earlier, but still a great sight. Also a quick look at Jewel Box, before crawling back to bed.
Overall, a great nights viewing, wonderful to see some of these beautiful sights again ..... as ex cyclone Anthony makes his way back with the cloud.
