Hi all,
Just got back to the USA from 4 weeks back home in West Oz. After 4 years away, it was great to see the southern sky again.
I managed to spend 11 nights out bush at the Chiro Observatory. Some nights were partly cloudy and there was very heavy dews, and at times the temperature dropped to around 5C. (winter, and the wet season!) However on each night I was able to get in at least 4 hours of observing and on many nights I was able to observe for a full 12 hours.
The skies were fantasticly dark. Using regions in Pavo and Crux, the limiting magnitude was always better than 7.5. For the Pavo region, 32 stars equates to a limiting mag of 7.5. The first night I counted 38. Other nights gave counts over 40, with the best being 43! With such high numbers, I doubted that I was counting correctly so I checked what I counted against SA2000 and it was correct. NGC 253, the Heliex, Centaurus A, were all comfortable naked eye objects, the zodiac band was visible all across the sky, except where it was drowned out by the Milky Way in Scorpius and Sagittarius, and the sight of the going from horizon to horizon was breathtaking!
One night I decided to see how many globular clusters I could see with the naked eye. Here is the list going from easiest to most difficult. omega cent, 47 tuc, 6752, M22, 6397, M13, M5, M55, M15, 362, 2808, M4, M10, M2, M3 and M12. M19, M9, and M14 were not visible. One interesting result from this exercise, I was surprised to find M15 easier to see than M2, until I checked the quoted magnitudes. After over 40 years in astronomy, I had not realised the M15 is brighter than M2! It is surprising what you can learn!
Another night I decided to see how many Messier objects I could see with the naked eye. I managed M2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10,11,12,13,15,16,17,21,22,23,24,25,31,33,41,42,45,and 55. Not visible were M9,14,18,19,20, and 28. Twilight prevented observing M35,36,37,38,44, 46, 47, and 48, all of which I have seen on other occassions.
Most of my time at the observatory was spent on asteroid photometry, however I was able to spend some time taking "pretty pictures" which I will share over the coming weeks as I get time to process them. I have attached one to this message. It is NGC 300, a moderately bright, low surface brightness member of the Sculptor group of galaxies. It is a combination of 5, 3-minute images, using a 300mm f/6 newtonian and an ST9XE CCD.
Dark skies, mostly good weather, Sagittarius overhead, it was great to be back!!!! If you have never been to Oz to view the southern skies, you owe it to yourself to make the trip at least once.
Cheers,
Maurice
Just got back to the USA from 4 weeks back home in West Oz. After 4 years away, it was great to see the southern sky again.
I managed to spend 11 nights out bush at the Chiro Observatory. Some nights were partly cloudy and there was very heavy dews, and at times the temperature dropped to around 5C. (winter, and the wet season!) However on each night I was able to get in at least 4 hours of observing and on many nights I was able to observe for a full 12 hours.
The skies were fantasticly dark. Using regions in Pavo and Crux, the limiting magnitude was always better than 7.5. For the Pavo region, 32 stars equates to a limiting mag of 7.5. The first night I counted 38. Other nights gave counts over 40, with the best being 43! With such high numbers, I doubted that I was counting correctly so I checked what I counted against SA2000 and it was correct. NGC 253, the Heliex, Centaurus A, were all comfortable naked eye objects, the zodiac band was visible all across the sky, except where it was drowned out by the Milky Way in Scorpius and Sagittarius, and the sight of the going from horizon to horizon was breathtaking!
One night I decided to see how many globular clusters I could see with the naked eye. Here is the list going from easiest to most difficult. omega cent, 47 tuc, 6752, M22, 6397, M13, M5, M55, M15, 362, 2808, M4, M10, M2, M3 and M12. M19, M9, and M14 were not visible. One interesting result from this exercise, I was surprised to find M15 easier to see than M2, until I checked the quoted magnitudes. After over 40 years in astronomy, I had not realised the M15 is brighter than M2! It is surprising what you can learn!
Another night I decided to see how many Messier objects I could see with the naked eye. I managed M2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10,11,12,13,15,16,17,21,22,23,24,25,31,33,41,42,45,and 55. Not visible were M9,14,18,19,20, and 28. Twilight prevented observing M35,36,37,38,44, 46, 47, and 48, all of which I have seen on other occassions.
Most of my time at the observatory was spent on asteroid photometry, however I was able to spend some time taking "pretty pictures" which I will share over the coming weeks as I get time to process them. I have attached one to this message. It is NGC 300, a moderately bright, low surface brightness member of the Sculptor group of galaxies. It is a combination of 5, 3-minute images, using a 300mm f/6 newtonian and an ST9XE CCD.
Dark skies, mostly good weather, Sagittarius overhead, it was great to be back!!!! If you have never been to Oz to view the southern skies, you owe it to yourself to make the trip at least once.
Cheers,
Maurice
Attached Image:
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