Much like the biblical Moses who parted the sea, I pointed the Takahashi TOA130NFB to the skies early in the afternoon and the clouds parted !!!!
With only a few wisps of high altitude cloud occasionally passing through, the sky stayed clear well into to early hours. It was only the heavy dew around 1.00 am that caused the exodus back to a warm bed......
The gathering was expected to be small as a result of the earlier forecasts, but Bronwyn, Ken, John, Ross, Alex, Phil and I were treated to some fine views. Early in the evening all scopes were looking to the showpiece sights like Orion, Omega Cent, Eta Carina, Tarantula, Jupiter et al.
With apertures of 85mm, 130mm, 140mm, 300mm and 457mm available, we had a nice time discerning the advantages of both small and large apertures. At one time all scopes were simultaneously on NGC2070 (Tarantula) and it made for a great comparison.
The ISS even marked the event by making a spectacular -3.8 magnitude pass which was also able to be spotted through the 18" Dob, albeit very briefly (that thing really motors along..).
Later in the evening seems everyone was playing 'Spot the Galaxy' especially in the Virgo region but also including NGC5128 and NGC4945 both of which were impressive in the Mewlon 300 and the Dob.
The TOA130 sitting on the AZ-EQ6GT was set up in the middle of the observing area and kept an eye on Jupiter most of the night to allow everyone to view the GRS transiting and several dark spots and swirls in the NEB and SEB. Eventually the TOA shifted to track Saturn which, though still not anywhere near the best elevation, showed a good enough view that we were able to keep count of the brightest moons.
Ross's CFF 140 F7.5 showed that it is a fine scope indeed, I found the view of Tarantula through his Ethos 10 was mesmerising given its small (140mm) aperture. I would love to test the CFF on a tracking mount to be able to push up the power.
We rounded out the evening with a nice hot coffee and a chat after the dew had got to the point that everything was dripping wet....
Tonight's cloud forecast makes it unlikely that any viewing will happen..... (insert sad faces here .... )
For Joe : I spent an hour removing rocks along the track during the afternoon so your car should feel better when you next attend
Cheers,
Kunama
