[goober (Doug)]

Location: Mt Toolebewong (590m)
Telescope: 4" Apo on alt-az
Time: 8pm - 9:30pm EST
Temperature: 5C
Dew: light
Transparency: 4-6/10
Seeing: 3/10
Wind: Breezy
Moon: crescent, set early

Observing up on a mountain above Healesville. Skies were quite good, with a bit of cloud scudding over. Seeing was poor, with stars winking out. I observed with my 11mm (49x) and 7mm (77x) Naglers.

A rather hurried session as there was cloud about, and an annoying tree blocked by view of Virgo, so I couldn't see many of the galaxies in the cluster.

M60 - Gx in Virgo
Large, obvious glow, but no detail seen. Size estimated as 6x6'. Slightly brighter in the centre, but a very even look.

M59 - Gx in Virgo
Very close to M60, in same field of view, separated by a chain of three magnitude 8/9 stars. Fainter and smaller than M60, and slightly elongated.

M61 - Gx in Virgo
Large galaxy, but very faint in the eyepiece. Bright star about 25' away. No detail seen.

M49 - Gx in Virgo
Large, very bright galaxy, easily spotted. Round, with a hint of elongation. Very nice object.

M58 - Gx in Virgo
Small, faint galaxy near a magnitude 8 star. Faint core and wispy halo.

M80 - GC in Scorpius
Bright cluster, condensed even looking core. No resolution at either 49x or 77x.

M4 - GC in Scorpius
Large, easy to spot, several stars resolved. Not a condensed cluster, but lovely to look at. Unusual.

M6 / M7 - OC in Scorpius
Checked them out while in the area. Great views, much better than from home, but not as good a views as I'd seen before. Rather muted, instead of their usual scintillating appearance. Haze?

M20 - nebula in Sagittarius
Nebula - quite faint but easily seen. Hints of lanes seen through the nebula. I should have broken out the filters, but I was racing the clouds that were coming in fast.

M8 - nebula in Sagittarius
Bright, large nebula that wrapped around a nice open cluster. Lovely object.

M23 - open cluster in Sagittarius
Large, sparse open cluster. Lots of members, but not that memorable.

M21 - open cluster in Sagittarius
Tiny, compact cluster near M20. Not that many members spotted.

M28 - GC in Sagittarius
Bright and obvious, diffuse and large core. Very nice object. No resolution at 77x.

M69 - GC in Sagittarius
Bright, with an interesting and uneven core. Need to revisit this one for some higher power study.

Clouded out at 9:30pm...