[GUS.K (Ivan)]

Had success tonight spotting the Quasar ( HE 0515-4414) in Pictor with a Red shift of Z=1.713 (Light travel time of 9.8 billion Light years). Attempted it last night but clouds rolled in before I had a chance to spot it. Seeing was okay tonight but skyglow from Sydney(100 km's away) was pretty bad in the eastern part of the sky. It is around magnitude 15 and was spotted with direct vision through my 18 inch scope with a 13mm (153x) and 9mm (220x) eyepiece. Other highlights from tonight were Eta Carina with the two lobes and the skirt of ejected material between them clearly visible and Sirius B easily seen with low power(not a challenge for the 18) but looked really nice.