What was your most fav celestial event

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Comet McNaught for sure.
Great memories.

[Suzy]

That's such a great story Gary, and you told it so well.

My number one (1) moment would be Supernova 1987A from the death of the star named Sanduleak.

Now there is also another memorable reason for this star being so special. Up until that event, we thought for supernovas to explode, they needed to be at the later stage of their life (red super giant). Sanduleak was a luminous blue variable (super giant) star that exploded (the same class as the famous Eta Carinae star. It taught us how precarious these young, massive, hot stars can behave.

Having been so young and without a scope, I am so glad I treasured that moment, and for that I thank my father who conveyed how extraordinary an event that indeed was. He must have done a great job as it is burnt into my memory as vivid as if it were yesterday.

You have to be pretty lucky to have seen a Supernova naked eye in your life time. Once you've seen something like that, to me, everything else just pales in comparison, no matter how beautiful comets Hale-Bopp and McNaught were, or how blood red and spooky that total lunar eclipse in 2007 was. Events which I witnessed as well and note them as being quite remarkable moments. It's crazy seeing a comet in the middle of the city above peak hour traffic

[cybereye (Mario)]

For me it was seeing Halley's Comet back in 1986. I was working in the desert in far western Queensland and we had wonderful clear nights. A little fuzz ball but still it was Halley's. I was 26 back then so next time around I'll be holding the telegram from the Queen/King/President!

Mario

[casstony]

Comet McNaught because it was an event easily shared with family and friends.

Other events that impressed friends/family include that great meteor shower and the ISS - they get excited when they can see stuff happening.

[stattonb (Statton)]

i forgot to mention opposition of mars 2003

[GrahamL]

Comet McNaught

but some of the lesser known events are equally memorable personally

Comet Holmes busting through the clouds for a night or so when it brightened .

Anthonys impact , It took me a good hour to spot that little smudge but its still a vivid memory.

Last night of astrofest last year , sure it wasn't something that really shook the world but to have an event pop up randomly like that with a bunch of people standing around to witness it still pretty special.

[stattonb (Statton)]

thats true and it makes it more personal,im planning a trip to take my son and daughter to 2012 eclipse so they can see some of the things i do ,lol i allways get my flat mate telling me wen i have the kids "wat is daddy looking at out there in the dark" cracks me up and would really like to share somthing with them like the eclipse.

[Peter Ward]

TSE in 2006 over the Sahara. Brilliant.

Got a nice picture as well

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

1. Watching, awestruck, the absolutely amazing Leonids Meteor Shower of 1966. They fell like rain! (it's what initially got me hooked on Astronomy)

2. Aurora Australis as a kid and teenager in Sydney

3. Comet Halley in 1986

4. SuperNova 1987A

5. Seeing the rings of Saturn for the 1st time (in my home-made scope) 1991

6. Finding my first distant faint Galaxy cluster (Fornax Cluster) in my 12" Dob 2005

7. Comet McNaught 2007

and Comet Lovejoy (gotta give Terry a rap )

Oh, and being the 1st person to discover a major SEB Band alteration on Jupiter in 1989, and recording it in sketches and handwritten data, and published in the Ballarat Astronomical Journal, but not recognised or credited as being 1st.
2 Japanese Astronomers were given credit when discovering it days later.

[Jen]

Oh and i forgot to mention looking through Johnny (my 12 inch dob) for the first time at Snake Valley a night i will never ever forget was the best moment for me to date with many many more to come

[Saturnine (Jeff)]

Love these types of threads, for me , my top three would be:-

1. First sight of Jupiter and its' cloud bands in my 2" refractor in 1964.

2. Ceduna TSE 2002 with my former partner and our kids.

3. Comet Mcnaught from Saddleback Mtn. Kiama in 07 .

Jeff

[CometGuy]

Not possible to pick one, but these are my candidates:

1. Mars and Saturn in close conjunction and seen together in a telescope June 1978. They were like 0.2 degree apart and high in the sky at the time.

2. Supernova 1987A. Seeing the LMC with a bright orange supernova embedded in it was really something.

3. Witnessing a bright active Aurora from Invercargill, NZ, circa 1990. Was amazing watching the auroral curtain dancing across the southern sky, even with a near full moon in the sky. The following year also watched the sky above Melbourne turn a plain red with another bright aurora.

4. The 1994 collision of Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter, which was easily visible in a 10" telescope.

5. The Great Comets of 1996, 1997 and 2007 (Hyakutake, Hale-Bopp and McNaught). Saw all 3 comets near their best in near ideal conditions. Absolutely froze getting views of Hale-Bopp in the Rockies when it was near its best, but it was worth it! McNaught was the most impressive of the bunch though, easily visible in daylight and with a spectacular feathery tail in the evening sky.

6. The Leonid Meteor storm of 2001. We though it would be a washout with rain, but at 2am in the morning I remember waking to see lots of lightening illuminating the Curtains. Was thinking we were about to get a thunderstorm, but looked out to see stars and lots of bright meteors. Was problably the single one astronomical event that impressed my wife!

7. Total Solar Eclipse of 2002 from Woomera.

Terry

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

Originally Posted by CometGuy

Not possible to pick one, but these are my candidates:

1. Mars and Saturn in close conjunction and seen together in a telescope June 1978. They were like 0.2 degree apart and high in the sky at the time.

2. Supernova 1987A. Seeing the LMC with a bright orange supernova embedded in it was really something.

3. Witnessing a bright active Aurora from Invercargill, NZ, circa 1990. Was amazing watching the auroral curtain dancing across the southern sky, even with a near full moon in the sky. The following year also watched the sky above Melbourne turn a plain red with another bright aurora.

4. The 1992 collision of Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter, which was easily visible in a 10" telescope.

5. The Great Comets of 1996, 1997 and 2007 (Hyakutake, Hale-Bopp and McNaught). Saw all 3 comets near their best in near ideal conditions. Absolutely froze getting views of Hale-Bopp in the Rockies when it was near its best, but it was worth it! McNaught was the most impressive of the bunch though, easily visible in daylight and with a spectacular feathery tail in the evening sky.

6. The Leonid Meteor storm of 2001. We though it would be a washout with rain, but at 2am in the morning I remember waking to see lots of lightening illuminating the Curtains. Was thinking we were about to get a thunderstorm, but looked out to see stars and lots of bright meteors. Was problably the single one astronomical event that impressed my wife!

7. Total Solar Eclipse of 2002 from Woomera.

Terry

. . . and becoming famous http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C/2007_E2_%28Lovejoy%29

[scopemankit (Chris)]

Comet Mc Naught.

[stattonb (Statton)]

good to see people are having fun with this thread.

[AstralTraveller (David)]

1983 TSE from Hood Point PNG.

2002 TSE from Lake Gairdner South Australia.

My first grazing occultation of Spica. This was my first ever graze observed with a borrowed 60mm refractor in the freezing pre-dawn near Goulburn. I'd had my license for a couple of months, borrowed the parents car and headed off with some mates for an adventure. I was hooked by what I saw and have continued to do grazes ever since.

My second grazing occultation of Spica. One saros later I observed another graze of Spica. Apart from being tremendously satisfying to be back at the beginning again, so to speak, it was also the most spectacular graze I've seen. The pea-soup cloud cleared with minutes to spare and I recorded a personal record of 20 events.

Comet McNaught. Far and away the best comet I've seen, despite the bushfire smoke. Every evening for a week or so we traveled over towards Picton and observed it with every piece of optics I own.

[stattonb (Statton)]

i use to live in Picton nice dark skies

[astroron (Ron)]

How could I have forgotten my first view of Saturn and it's rings
in a 40mm? spotting scope above Penang Hill in Malaysia in 1968
The start of my long adventure in Astronomy
Cheers

[Ric]

Comet McNaught is the big standout for me as well.

In dark rural skies it was blooming awesome.

[Astroman (Andrew Wall)]

Not really favorites between one another but, I enjoyed Observing Comet Hyakutake Finding it 8 days after it's discovery with a 4" reflector.. Followed it until it disappeared from our skies, then reappeared then disappeared... 1998 Leonid meteor Shower, awesome green fireballs. Total Solar Eclipse in Ceduna made a great late honeymoon..