[ngcles]

Hi DSB,

John & Eric are spot-on !!

In truth, there is little hope of any dark sky at Bondi. You are much more likely to find hen's teeth and/or "bargain-basement" rents there. I know the sky might look okay to you out to the east but from Bondi, mate the light pollution there in any direction is a choice between bad, awful and horrific -- and then there is the amount of moisture in the air ...

It is unrealistic to expect good deep-sky views of non-stellar objects from Bondi -- apart from the very brightest.

I'm pretty sure there is nothing much wrong with the 'scope and I don't think your eyes are making as much of a difference as you think.

What you need is a darker background against which to see those faint fuzzies -- simple as. Most beginners have little idea of the difference a dark sky can make to the way their 'scope performs. In addition to the darker background you will actually become dark-adapted in a way not possible at Bondi.

To quote Darth:

"You don't know the power of the dark-side"

Oh and BTW -- read Coen's post well -- much, much truth there young padawan ...


Best,

Les D