Anyone for a Friday night meeting near Sydney?

[wagen13 (Mike)]

It looks like there may some hope for the weather Friday night/Satuday morning. Anyone want to go observing with a visitor from far away?

I'm here from Seattle for a few days. I have an 80 mm ED scope and 50 mm IS binos, so nominally self-sufficient, but obviously I'm a bit limited in aperture. Not gonna get any resolution in Omega Centauri at 90x! But not being out all night lane is at least as important as sponging off some else's scope!

Staying in Randwick, right by the U. Of NSW. I'm supposed to go pick up a rental car in a couple of hours, so transportation is not a problem, although navigation and figuring out the toll system may be!

Replies here OK or PM your phone or email if that is more convenient.

Thanks,
Mike

[mental4astro (Alexander)]

Hi Mike, sorry to say I can't make it, but, don't think you are under-gunned with your ED80. I've resolved Omega Centauri with 11X70 binos from a dark site. You are in for a treat at 90X with your ED80. Just be patient with it, let your eyes adjust, & Omega will 'POP' out.

You'll also resolve 47Tuc with your scope. Very different beadtie from Omega.

Another suggestion is drop your magnification as low as you can and slowly scan the sky. The ED80 is great for low power viewing and will reveal details that ate just too large for big apertures. Particularly the Milky Way with its mottled glow and dark nebulae.

Oh, and there is currently a mag 7 comet to chase down, Lovejoy. There's a write-up on it in the Observation Forum with maps to help hunt it down.

Alex.

[Wavytone]

Hi Mike, any plans ? There's a decent oval near me that's fairly good but it's 45 mins from Kensington. I could be persuaded to bring my dual 7" Maks.

[malau (David)]

Too bad I just know about this. If you guys have any plans (and the weather is good) I probably can come along

[Wavytone]

It's going to be clear but the sea breeze is blowing up here, it will drop after dark.