I'm Back from South of the Equator

Last week I traveled to Bolivia to attend the Southern Skies Star Party at Lake Titicaca. Saying that it was truly an eyeopening experience doesn't begin to adequately describe the trip. Although dealing with the stress of travel, sleep deprivation, fatigue, cloudy nights, and the high altitude (almost 13,000 feet) wasn't exactly fun, the overall experience was a very positive one and included many personal observing firsts.

Highlights included locating the closest extrasolar star (Proxima Centauri) and SN 1987A in the LMC, splitting Beta Centauri with difficulty and Antares with ease, seeing the Small Magellanic Cloud and the great globular cluster 47 Tucanae (NGC 104) for the first time, observing the Homunculus Nebula surrounding the star Eta Carinae, and having simply superb views of NGC 2808, NGC 3132 (the Eight-Burst Nebula), NGC 3372 (the Eta Carinae Nebula), NGC 3532 (the finest open cluster in the sky), NGC 4038/9 (the Antennae), NGC 4945, NGC 5128 (Centaurus A), NGC 5139 (Omega Centauri), NGC 6302 (the Bug Nebula), NGC 6231 and the rest of the Table of Scorpius, NGC 6397 (a fantastic globular in Ara), M4, M7, M8, M16, M17, M20, M24, M83, M104, B86 (the Ink Spot), the Pipe Nebula (LDN 1773), the Coal Sack, and so very much more.

Dave Mitsky

Correction: we did not see the expanding shell of SN 1987A afterall. Since I posted the original message I've learned that the shell currently shines at 18th magnitude and the supernova itself is 21st magnitude! I was a bit dubious about this one at first but when a professional astronomer from La Paz confirmed it I figured we'd nailed it. Our only finder chart was the one on the LMC from the Millenium Atlas and it was a bit misleading it would seem.

Dave Mitsky