[seeker372011 (Narayan)]

In December 2006 I visited the well known hill resort of Kodaikanal in Southern India. (picture below)

At close to 7000 feet it is often cloud covered (see image) and the first night I was there was a completely rained out. On my second-and last night -I was only able to come back to my hotel- after dinner with some friends-well after midnight.

It was a brilliant night so -despite it being mid winter (yes, even in Southern India, at 7000 ft it gets very cold)- I dressed in several layers of clothing, and ventured out onto a terrace area in the hotel. I had previously found where the light switches were and turned off every single light I could find a switch for. It was still in town so there were plenty of street lights and the hotel itself had lots of lights but overall it wasn't too bad once I had turned off the lights on the terrace as most of the other lights were directed downward.As far as I can remember there wasn't a single neon light in the whole town so that was a bit of all right.

It turned out to be one of the most incredible observing sessions ever.

Firstly,it was the night of the 14 of December-very close to the peak for the Geminids.

I didn't actually know this in advance so it was stunning to see this meteor shower. I have honestly never seen so many meteors in my life.

I estimate there were close to 60 to 90 meteors per hour-this was at 1:00 am local time--whizzing by from a radiant quite high in the sky. This alone was worth the price of admission!

All I had was a pair of 11 x 60 binos- I had thought long and hard about taking a telescope along for this trip but in the end decided against thanks to to all the onerous security these days in airlines.

After a considerable period watching these celestial fireworks I finally took the binos out of the case.

I am particularly keen to observe some northern hemisphere objects that we in Australia don't get to see.

My first target is , of course, the Double Cluster. Superb! what a stunning object ! I can understand why this is such a favorite target for Northern Hemisphere observers.

I spend a little while scanning the other Cassiopeia clusters-M 52, M 103, NGC 457, NGC 7789, returning often to the double cluster. It is really quite a delightfull pair of objects.

By this time The Great Bear has risen high enough that I can train the binoculars on the galaxy pair M81 and M82. Too easy ! These stand out quite clearly. Only wish I had my 10 inch dob to really slay these galaxies.

Its time to look at the Andromeda galaxy. And now for the first time I am looking at an object I have seen often enough from Sydney, but this time high in the Northern sky and that too from an altitude of 7000 ft.

I am absolutely blown away! The galaxy goes on for ever! It seems to go across the entire field of view of the binos. Now, for the first time, I believe it when they tell me it covers 6 moon diameters long and two wide! Its enormous! Stunning...

The next target was M33-again at this altitude, even with just binos, --I see detail I have never seen before visually.

Now I have a problem. My red light torch has just died which means I can't read my star maps ..I can't look for unfamiliar northern objects anymore

its time to look at some more familiar objects that I can find easily even though everything is upside down.

Almost as an afterthought I turn the binos on M42.Holy wow!
From 7000ft, even with a pair of binos, the amount of detail is astounding. I honestly think its about the best view of M 42 since I looked through a 6 inch binocular telescope at SPSP several years ago.

My final surprise for the night was M41. Now how often have I looked at this cluster..it 's just another cluster isn't it? But from 7000 ft..it was like I was seeing something I have never seen before. Three dimensional, and more stars that I have seen in a CCD image or so I feel. Its unbelievable how different-and so much more interesting-this most familiar object is, once you have stripped city pollution and layers of atmosphere away. Even with all the delights of the observing session so far, it remains the most indelible memory-mainly because it was the biggest surprise.

Plenty more wonders remained to be seen -M51, M108, 109 ..but the Great Bear had still not risen high enough and I was beginning to feel the effects of the 18 holes of golf and the not inconsiderable quantities of red wine at dinner..and called it a night.

Four months later I wish I hadn't because who knows when I will get a similar opportunity again?