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Old 18-07-2021, 07:03 AM
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h0ughy (David)
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Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: NEWCASTLE NSW Australia
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Quote:
Originally Posted by strongmanmike View Post
Another amazing night We've had cloud and snow up here Fri/Sat and while it did clear early on the evening last night it clouded over before I could setup the 12". So since we have all the streaming services up here, it was a yummy dinner of meatballs and gnocchi watching A Quiet Place II instead and then an early night....

My wife got up at around 4am and when she came back to bed, I was awake and she mentioned it was crystal clear outside and she had just been enjoying the views of heaps of stars out the windows and that it was a beautiful sight

Soooo I just had to get up and take a look....WELL!!, not turning any white lights on, in order to keep my perfect dark adaption and slipping into some boots and donning my big warm jacket (-3C outside) I'm bloody well glad I did!! ...WOW! Walking out and away from the house...what a sight to behold overhead! A huge dark sky full of stars how can one ever get sick of seeing such a sight Looking South, which remember is clear and unobstructed out to over 80km I noticed what looked like thin cloud hugging the whole southern horizon.. but there must be a gap in this cloud..?.. because I could see Crux, very bright and pointing vertically, right at the bottom of it's circumpolar path ....aaaah then it dawned on me ..that's the bloody Milky Way! ..looking South, it was stretched right around and hugging the horizon from West to South to East, I could see the Sagittarius star clouds and tail of Scorpius, sitting just above the western horizon, and remarkably, clear Milky Way, extending through Centaurus, Crux and Carina, right around to Orion, which was rising in the East, bloody awesome! Then with the two bright Magellanic Clouds sitting above this horizontal Milky Way and the half dozen twinkling lights of Cooma, visible on the horizon, 55km away, like a small man made constellation of it's own, what an incredible scene!...I have never had such a southern view, spread out in front of me like this before

Even though it was only a handful of deg above the southern horizon, one star (Mag 5.4) was still visible in the Coal Sack! but although it is visible when Crux is high, I couldn't quite convince myself of the second, Mag 6.6 star, maybe in exceptional seeing..? ..but sheesh!!, being able to easily see a mag 5.4 star so close to the horizon?..I'll take that any day and that's some mighty clean air and dark sky right there The glow of Canberra to the North was only modest to negligible, it's very faintest outer extremities, naked eye, extending no more than 30deg up into the blackness of the rest of the sky, then there was a distinct dark gap and then this brighter strip..?...huh? What's that?...Aaaah of course, the Zodiacal light!

I spent some time in the freezing conditions, walking around checking out this spectacular vista overhead from different spots that I have in mind for the future observatory, it was mildly windy too, so I was able to evaluate and compare spots with and without wind protection.

Eventually as the first vestiges of the coming dawn started to appear, the brisk conditions had me longing for a hot cupper by the fire inside Still, a simple experience like this, even after nearly 40 years of observing under some great skies...was still memorable ....and to think this spot is mine ..not a friends, not a clubs..it's mine, all mine ?...holy cow..

Mike
Isn't it Angie's?

And I am forever envious
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