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Ian, No I haven't been in touch with The AST yet. But I did get down to Mt Canopus for the puublic open night they had a few weeks ago. I was amazed by the clearest skies in a long time but there was about half moon high in the sky which washed out all the good stuff. But being able to look through some of the bigger scopes was cool. Yes I am planning on taking a look at membership. I'll let you know.
David, I think either Oatlands and Campbelltown would be cool, from memeory they're both got some flat land around them. My problem down here is I can find fantastic dark spots but all the hills and the mountain make the horizons a bit suspect. I have been thinking for a while about going up the mountain and having a look. Might have to wait for warm summer day though. But I am going to do it. For those from interstate who haven't been down, Mt Wellington is 1000metres high and overlooks the city. Gear wise I have a couple of pairs of binoulars and a Nexstar 80mm refractor. This is a fabulous little device, you point it at 3 bright objects and it aligns the scope for you. You then tell it to go find something and it does. A great idea for people like me without a lot of patience. But you soon start hungering for more apeture. But it's a start. Thanks for the invite when in Launceston. Without being rude or teying to get into that North South parochialism, we keep hearing down here on the news about Launceston having smog problems, how is that affecting your viewing?
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