Aaargh! I found out this morning at 1.30am AEST my time (21st) , right when it was happening - but was too cloudy
, there where two shadow transits; Io and Europa!
I keep telling myself, it really pays to check the Astronomy Australia 2015 book more regularly grrrrrrr because if it was clear this would've been a great opportunity to catch a double shadow transit. It was visible all across Australia.
That's great that you're able to get a 6mm. And those wide angled eyepieces you ordered will make observing much easier with a dob. You will also really enjoy the high magnification views of that 9mm wide angle ep when you take a look at the two biggest and brightest globular clusters in the sky- Omega Centauri and 47 Tuc. In the 10mm plossl that comes with the dob, the field of view is so narrow that it doesn't show all of Omega Centauri, it's not a pleasing view and you're just looking into the middle of it really. A little trick- when you're observing globular clusters, don't keep staring at them. Roll your eye ball just away from it and then back to it and you will see many stars sparkle and come to life. The change in contrast of the sky to the object helps our eyes to see things a bit better. Like giving the scope a bit of tap with really faint things. Using averted vision is another very useful observing technique which can allow better views of deep sky objects (DSOs) in general.
And expect lots of rain your way with all those eyepieces you have ordered! It's the way things go.....
When funds allow, see if you can fill in that gap with either a 14 or a 15mm eyepiece.
