[Rob_K]

Tonight was the Bright Astronomy Group’s monthly meet at Porepunkah airstrip. Following obs were with a Tasco "Space Station" 114x900mm reflector, Alt/Az mount, 21mm Celestron X-Cel ep. Obs time 7pm to 9:30pm.

First thing I saw was Hercules up in the sky, so different to my backyard with trees & hills in the way. Immediately realised I might be able to see globular cluster M92, which I hadn’t been able to see before.

M92 (NGC6341) in Hercules: This was down in the murk, and despite no stars being visible down there to guide me, I pointed the scope in the general position, looked through the eyepiece, and it was dead centre! Mag 5.9 and quite bright even against the crinkly brown background. Smaller and more centrally-condensed than the nearby M13. This was the 100th globular cluster I’ve seen through the 4.5" scope! Glob NGC6229 in Hercules was too low unfortunately – might have to travel north to see this.

NGC7006 in Delphinus: At mag 10.6 I thought that this globular might be a real challenge, but it proved quite easy to see. Very small, dim, centrally brightened. Not really "starlike" though in the same way that some other small, distant globs appear. In averted vision, got the impression of a small extremely dim extension to the cluster, but not sure. Number 101!

Realistically, the only future additions to my list are likely to be NGC6229 (Hercules) & NGC2419 (Lynx). Went on to re-visit a number of other globulars, including M13, M72, M30 (a ripper!), M56 and M71.

Observed some brighter planetary nebulae, including M57 Ring Nebula (so tiny!), M27 Dumbbell Nebula (dumbbell shape was visible) and, for the first time, NGC7293 Helix Nebula. This floored me, so big! At first it appeared as a large, circular grey shape, but after staring at it for a while, the brighter extremities became visible.

Viewed several nebulae through a 12" Lightbridge – included Swan, Lagoon & Trifid. Lagoon also looked good in my scope, but you really need the extra light for Trifid & Swan.

Also viewed Uranus, very easy to find at the moment as a bright pale blue dot close to Phi Aquarii. Also viewed it with 8mm ep, which revealed the tiny disc. Absolutely riveting, and hard to drag the eyes away! Cloud then came in, and I packed up about 9:30pm. A great night!

Thanks Doug for inspiring me to post this!

Cheers -