Victorians! Pull your scopes out!

[janoskiss]

We have clear skies across most of VIC right now and here in Melbourne, ...for the first time in quite a while. My dobbie's outside with the fan on high, waiting for the twilight to dissipate.

[Starkler]

Im waiting for the glue to dry on my busted azimuth encoder mount :(

[janoskiss]

Stick your ED80 on the EQ5 then. ;)

[Starkler]

Glue dried and problem fixed :)

I just came in from star gazing and tinkering with the argo navis.
The seeing was a bit so-so, not a patch on the other night .

[janoskiss]

Saturn looks good but not great. Cassini easy, but seeing poses a bit of a challenge. Not much deep sky where I am.

[AstroBug]

It’s true. I can’t believe it. I picked up my 10" dob from Bintel on Saturday after months of saving. It was a cloudy morning and I expected to have to wait the mandatory couple of weeks for a break in the clouds. Saturn looked so sharp between the clouds on Saturday night, I’m still excited about it. This week I’ve checked out M42, M79 and had a general scanning of the Eta Carina area. Even spotted a very faint M65 or M66 in Leo last night, not sure which one, it was so faint and took about an hour to find. The seeing doesn’t appear as sharp as on Saturday night even though there are fewer clouds but no complaints here. Looks like tonight could be good also!

[danielsun]

It wasnt good at all at taylors Lakes last night. It is to be expected because i cant wait to try out my NEW ED80!!!!

[Dave47tuc]

I observed Sunday night and the seeing was very good. 7/10.:)
The rest of the week and now we have a North East wind which makes seeing poor.:mad2:
It maybe clear but I doubt if seeing will be any good.
We (yes Geoff) hope to get to Marks on Friday night but I think the low mite get here quicker than first thought.:shrug:

But I must say Sunday night was very good seeing and I was observing Saturn up to 450x. But it was very steady at 200x. Best view I have had for a while.;)

[Starkler]

Might pack the scope and go for a little drive tonight, as the nasty looking clouds on the Vic/SA border are likely to ruin any later plans :mad2:

When living in Melbourne you have to grab any opportunity you can get.

[janoskiss]

Might be an idea Geoff. :confuse3:

[Dave47tuc]

Heads up,:)
This afternoon 26 Feb, seems a lot like the 19th Feb.

Very nice seeing on the 19th. So maybe it will be worth getting your scopes out for a look see.;)

Enjoy.

[janoskiss]

Thanks, Dave! It does look good tonight. Scope is on its way outside. :)

[janoskiss]

:cloudy:

:mad2:

[Starkler]

No clouds forecast for tonight :cool:

Get your scopes out guys and gals as the moon will be back to annoy us in a few days! Me I'm going for a drive ;)

Its kinda sad that for us Melbournites a cloud free moonless night is a newsworthy event ;)

[Dave47tuc]

Last night was poor seeing.:mad2:

I gave up :confuse2: tonight I'm not going out I need some ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Hope you get a good night guy's.;)

[janoskiss]

This whole week looks pretty good!

[janoskiss]

Aaah, that's better. :)
No clouds. Not a single one. :)
The night started out with average seeing, but by 11pm it got quite a bit better. And since then it's just been improving. In the last 1+1/2 hours it's been superb.
:astron:

[Starkler]

I had a great time.Best solitary observing session I have had in ages :)
Stuff this working for a living caper, I could have stayed out a lot longer :(

[janoskiss]

I know what you mean Geoff. I would have liked to do the same, but I already stayed out too long. I'll be longing for a siesta today.

[Starkler]

Good news folks, no clouds tonight ! :party:

The moon sets at around 9pm tonight and it only gets worse from here so get to it ! :poke:

[janoskiss]

I cannot believe this! How many nights in a row is this now? Seeing was reasonable, not great, but no clouds! Between Saturn and Jupiter I got some deep sky binoviewing in too. Omega cent looked better in the BVers than in anything else. Then went for a tour of doubles, clusters, and nebulae near the Cross and Carina. I even managed to catch the hamburger galaxy, NGC 5128 through the light pollution. The structure was barely visible though if at all.

I had some devastating news today and was feeling awful. A good few hours under the heavens with my faithful companion was the best therapy I could have hope for.