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For me, some of the most memorable were quite modest ....
1. My first memorable DSO was Nov 2007 from Melb suburbs looking ... I stumbled across The Pleiades (M45, Seven Sisters) through a modest little scope (Meade ETX-60 refractor, FL=350mm), and remember gazing for ages. It was framed well at 14x and 23x using cheap super plossl eyepieces, but the crispness and blueish hue was like nothing I'd seen before. I dragged the Mrs out of bed to have a look, and although initially not impressed with the idea she was blown away by the view also.
2. Exploring the ETA Carina nebula / region in January 2008 after purchasing a 10" LightBridge Dob was great. Seeing bright nebulosity along crisply resolved stars had an impact, while I was just gaining an introductory appreciation of new star formation and the mechanisms of emission/reflection nebulae.
3. First viewing and resolving the magnificent Omega Centauri and 47 Tuc
globular clusters in January 2008 with my 10" LightBridge Dob at 100x and 50x was breathtaking. Although they look even better from dark skies and with bigger scopes, the awe of fist witnessing and appreciating these ancient beehives of stars lingers on!
4. First "really seeing" the Milky Way, LMC and SMC from a dark sky site ... naked eye (Heathcote Vic, March 2008 Messier Madness). Although retirement is still over 25 years away for me, I decided it will just have to be somewhere with Dark Skies.
5. Open clusters from Melbourne in May 2008 using my 10" LightBridge (M7 at ~70x with Panoptic 19mm, M24 Milky Way patch at ~50x with Panoptic 27mm). Beautiful!
6. Seeing 6 Virgo galaxies on one view from Heathcote in July 2008 with 10" LightBridge and Panoptic 27mm (~50x). Having hunted in vain for galaxies from suburban Melbourne skies, I'd formed the opinion that Galaxies were not worth the trouble ... but this changed my mind.
7. Sombrero Galaxy (M104), Centaurus A (NGC5128), Jewel Box, and the Ghost of Jupiter planetary nebula were also memorable for me when viewing for the fist tome ... some due to having them pointed out to me, others because I recall freezing my private parts off at the time!
Cheers,
Jeff
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