In spite of solid cloud all day on Saturday, GAA's planned viewing night went ahead anyhow!
Arriving as the Sun set we enjoyed a Pizza & a few beers as the the last golden rays of light faded from the sky.
Still clouded in but with my 10" dob set up (I am an undying optomist) we persued the usual cloud watching.
Of course, no one else had bought a scope with them (after all it was cloudy!),
Jupiter was the first to poke through the clouds !
The evening just got better from then on, moving first to the Crux/Centaurus region for a good look at the Jewel Box & Omega Centuri.
Not only had the clouds cleared by now but the seeing was excellent (where are those other scopes ?) A 2" 40mm gave an awesome walkthrough of the Eta Carina Nebula, with a 7mm Seibert optics giving an easy view of the Bi-polar lobes of the Homunculus nebula around the star eta Carina itself.
With the clouds clearing towards the horizon now, we sought out the very nicely paired Mars & Saturn in the "Beehive" cluster. it was awesome to see both these planets in the same low power field of view.
Time spent in this part of the sky would not be complete without browsing though the field of galaxies in the Leo/Virgo region. (Leo Triplet is always one of my favourites !)
King of the galaxies for the night was the Sombreo (M104), with the outer dust lanes & bright central bulge clearly visible !
Clouds came over sporadiclly throughout the evening, but this did not present any real problem.
The night was finished off well, viewing the rising moon silouetted by the gum leaves, as it rose through the trees.
