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Thanks all for a great night of comradery under the stars.
Yes, Joe's binoviewer strutted its stuff again, with Saturn looking particularly outstanding.
Thanks Joe, also, for the Polish beer, and for the loan of your 26 Nagler. I am increasingly of the view that the 26 Nagler+Mary Rose combination is a marriage made in heaven. I think the slightly higher magnification and contrast vis-a-vis the 31 Nagler makes the 26 a better choice for me.
It was great to have a few new faces. Mike brought a karate mate James+ James' two kids. I gave them a sky tour, and it is fair to say that they were pretty excited by what they saw. As expected, Saturn and Omega Cent had the biggest impact, but they also enjoyed the Sombrero, the Tarantula, the Jewel Box, etc.
I encountered some frustrations because of the annoying yellow street light, and there was a lot of sky glow about, no doubt due to the moist conditions interplaying with the sky glow from Sydney. I was disappointed in my efforts to hunt down some galaxy clusters in Coma Berenices, as I could not get nearly as clear a sense of a multitude of galaxies as I did under the darker skies of Ilford. I think I will be heading to darker skies a bit more often now, having had a taste recently at SPSP of just what is possible when you get right away from the city lights.
It was the latest night ever for me....I crawled into bed at about 1/4 to 4. And my lovely wife needed me to get up to unload the car so she could use it at 7am Sunday morning......guess who was utterly sleep deprived on Sunday!
I will be in Coonabarabran in June, but I hope those who do make the Pony Club next time have a great night.
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