We call it a night if we get fog or we can no longer keep our eye open or the sun starts to get too bright.
It can be worth it staying up to the bitter end. The last time I went to Ron's there were only 3 of us left up to witness the most beautiful bright meteor I'd seen in ages.
Fingers crossed for the cloud cover, it has been absolutely cloudless up the coast here over the last couple of days but large patches of cloud have been rolling in since around 8pm or so tonight.
I'm not due back at work until 11pm Monday night, so if the seeing conditions are all good ......
We had another good turn out on Saturday night. 17 people I believe with 12 or 13 scopes. Members like Striker, Odlaw and davewaldo were first time visitors to Ron's, while Gargoyle_steve, drmorbius, argonavis, jjjnettie, Zubenel are regular visitors.
The afternoon and early evening looked promising but unfortunately in the middle to late evening the clouds moved in teasing us for hours. Most crashed around midnight but some hung in there all night til sunup defying the clouds. Davewaldo got his first view of Saturn just as the sun was coming up.
I know Striker managed to catch some long exposures of NGC253 early in the evening, and Odlaw got to learn how to operate his newly aquired LX200GPS and start the process of eyepiece testing.
Here are a few images of the night showing the setups, and for those who haven't seen it before, Astroron's fantastic country viewing site
Last edited by [1ponders]; 26-09-2006 at 01:37 PM.
I haven't had an allnighter like that for ages.
It started with Mercury and finished with Saturn. There's nothing like it in the world, the look in someones face the first time they see Saturn.
Thanks again Ron for your gracious hospitality. To everyone else, thanks for making the night so entertaining and edumacational.
Here's a couple of shots I took.
If I wasn't having such a good time I would have taken more.
Sound's like you guys had a great time. We have interstate relations with us at the moment, so I couldn't get there . (My earlier comment was wishful thinking).
Love the photos .
Bad luck about the clouds. But then it allows you to get to know the shadowy silhouettes that have been around you most of the night.
to everyone who came, the place looked like a car park with thirteen vehicles and just as many scopes.
The newbies and not so new enjoyed themselves, even though the clouds cut short the observing till Saturn cleared the hill and then they parted to give us a fine view, then I trundled of to bed for a couple of hours.
It was just great sitting out under the stars (clouds)with like minded people having good discusions and watching the sun rise.
I look forward to next month, I hope the weather is just a bit kinder.
![[1ponders]'s Avatar](../vbiis/customavatars/avatar45_9.gif){kind=avatar}
That Striker looks like someone you wouldn't mess with in the morning 
. (My earlier comment was wishful thinking).
.
.
to everyone who came, the place looked like a car park with thirteen vehicles and just as many scopes.
even though the clouds cut short the observing till Saturn cleared the hill and then they parted to give us a fine view, then I trundled of to bed for a couple of hours.
