Last night was a beauty, best transparency in ages. Saw more detail and extent in NGC253 than I've seen from Melbourne (it about filled the view with the 15mm), lost count of the nebulous patches in the SMC, saw Kron 3 (near 47 Tuc) for the first time from the 'burbs too. A couple of galaxies in Columba were surprisingly interesting (1792 and 1808), and the SN in NGC1365 was blazing away. A couple of patches of cloud wafted in but soon drifted away. Seeing was horrible (though the GRS on Jupiter was just about visible), but you can't have everything!
Looks like the thin band of high cloud in SW Vic
on the sat will scoot through early evening, and after that there's a decent chance of a clear spell (*) after dusk before any of the stuff west of Adelaide gets anywhere near.
Been a mixed bag and occasionally challenging from Melbourne with the regular high cloud visits (maybe more than this time last year?), but I've had the new scope out a good half-dozen times in its first month, as well as a perfect night at Heathcote. As Brent say, it's about taking your chances, also keeping an good eye on the hi-res satellite animations. And it certainly beats the North Atlantic for an astronomy location, much warmer too!
* No promises on the forecast, if it properly clouds up it's not my fault!!
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