Late at Night

[IanT]

Hello
As a newcomer to modern instrumental astronomy (6 months) I am constantly amazed by the number of interesting objects to be seen with a telescope. On Friday night I stayed up with my son to watch a low pass by the ISS through Centaurus and Crux. Great. On Saturday afternoon I set up my 'scope and then woke up at 3 am (first time ever). In Fitzroy, Melbourne, the phrase dark sky is an oxymoron yet I was totally bowled over by what was on show. After the last few months getting to know Sagittarius, Scorpius and neighbours, it was fantastic to see Orion, Canis Major and Taurus high in the sky. Even though the western sky was pretty empty with Pegasus dipping down low, it was possible to move from, among others, The Pleides, the Hyades, M42, M43, M41, across to Puppis and Carina with Eta Carinae, The southern Pleaides, 47 Tuc and the Tarantula nebula. What a fantastic sweep of sky!
I had grown up squinting through a 50mm refractor (on a tripod 20cm high) 40 years ago and even though good fun was, I never realised what I was missing. I had resigned myself to the fact that views through a telescope never live up to their photographic counterparts. How wrong I was. On Saturday night I had an ephiphany. M42 was so much more dramatic and dynamic and spectaclar than I could have imagined. All those years of reading about the trapezium and the great swirls of nebulosity in books such as Sir Robert Ball's "The Story of the Heavens", suddenly became manifest. Even in beautiful photographs, I could never decide which four stars constituted the trapezium. I still can't, but there they were in my very own eyepice.
In a somewhat deferential tone I have to confess that because of the enthusiasm of southern hemispherical reports I had expected M42 to be a lesser object than Eta Carinae. No way. The same with the open cluster M41. I can't wait for this stretch of sky to rise a few hours earlier because that 3 am start, even though it was worth it, was a killer.

Cheers
Ian

[rmcpb (Rob)]

Great report, just what I need to get me enthused after all the cloudy weather we have had lately.

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

Glad to hear you had such a great time Ian. Keep your eye on the Star Party and Observing Sessions forum for nights up at Snake Valley near Ballarat. Apparently the natives reacon its pretty dark up ther But you know the sort of tales country Victorians tell

[WadeH (Wade)]

Hi Ian. Love the report, seems like you had a lot of fun in the early hours, sometimes you just need to do it dont you?.

It appears that another poor soul is hooked. BTW what size telescope are you using?

[joshman (Josh)]

congrats ian!!!! i had a similar viewing experience on saturday night/sunday morning. fantastically dark, superb nebulosity.

though i packed up at 3, due to the clouds rolling in, but i managed a good few hours, before that happened, i think i need to be a bit better prepared in what i want to find in teh sky next time though. but hey, it's all about the journey!

[StarLane]

It's surprising what you can see early in the morning (3am), even in suburbia. Once everyone has gone to bed the light pollution is at it's minimum and the atmosphere has had a chance to settle down. It's worth getting up for.

[Lee]

Nice report Ian.... I remember the first time I saw Orion (and knew what I was looking at that is...) - I had to get up at about 4am in late winter, and there it was, larger than life, Mars in tow..... unforgettable.

[erick (Eric)]

Originally Posted by [1ponders]

.....nights up at Snake Valley near Ballarat. Apparently the natives reacon its pretty dark up ther But you know the sort of tales country Victorians tell

No, it's true - Monday morning at 2am I couldn't see my hand in front of my face - but that was after the clouds had rolled in so couldn't see any stars either!

ps. great report Ian - ain't it just marvellous!