[glend (Glen)]

Hopefully Paul's mum is feeling better tonight. I will be checking in here tonight. Astro conditions are certainly outstanding here at Lake Macquarie tonight.
I just took a Sky Quality Meter (SQM) reading in my usual spot near my observatory. Of course the SQM doesn't work through cloud, but tonight is very clear, and the reading is 20.45 which is reasonably dark. When I first started recording SQM readings here, eight years ago, the readings were regularly around 20.85 to 20.90 .
Sadly the gradual deterioration of the Darkness is due to human factors, increasing population in the area, and it is clearly following the trends on the numbers from the Global Light Pollution Map recorded for this area. Still I am pretty lucky in the my spot is on the Peninsula, surrounded on three sides by Lake Macquarie with State Forest at my back fence. As a point of comparison, when we used to go out to Bretti Reserve past Gloucester, for Astro camps years ago, the sky there would always be well over 21.50, with the darkest recorded being 21.85. Hopefully your enjoying darkness tonight at your location.