First two sessions from Sydney, Australia

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I have been down-under for about a week (for work), and only on May 1 did the weather clear enough to have a go behind the hotel with my 15x70s. There was some thin haze near zenith, and some annoying thin cloud from time to time, but towards the south the sky was quite decent.

I first went after M68 in Hydra. It proved to be very difficult, but star-hopping from Corvus, it showed up as a small blotch of haze at one end of a nearly linear configuration of stars. Averted vision only, BTW. I do want to verify this later, from a darker position.

I then turned to M83, which was similarly hard, but a faint patch haze showed up near a V-shaped formation of stars. This too was only visible in averted vision.

I then looked further south, and started off with the Jewel Box in Crux, the Wishing-Well cluster, eta-Carinae nebula and cluster, Southern Pleiades, which I had seen before from South Africa. New to me was NGC 3114, a tight little cluster quite close to eta Car.

I then moved to Centaurus, and got omega Cen (Caldwell 80). This is even more spectacular than 46 Tucanae, which I got from South Africa before. It fills well over a degree of the field of view of my bins, just great.

Two Messiers and a Caldwell added to the list, apart from the other new NGC, let me go to bed a happy man.

I had another shot at stargazing on May 2, with slightly better conditions. M68 and M83 were much as the previous night. Maybe I will go up into the Blue Mountains for a better view.

Aimed the bins at Crux, and checked out the Jewel Box again (still great), and moved to the Coal Sack (Caldwell 99), as some milky way was showing with the naked eye. It showed up well in the bins, as a void in the middle of a field of fine stars, although it was too big to fit into a single FOV.

Next up were the other favourites I saw the night before (omega Cen is just mind-blowing).

I then moved a bit further afield to get NGC 2516 (Caldwell 96) and IC 2391 (Caldwell 85). Both are lovely open clusters, easily spotted in binoculars.

Finally, I went hunting for NGC 5128 (Caldwell 77, Centaurus A). This eluded me the day before, but this time I got it in averted vision, to the left of a "<" shaped asterism. The remarkable dust-band seen in photos was not evident, but maybe later from a dark site things will be different.

Still, four Caldwells bagged is a nice haul.

Yesterday was cloudy again, but hopefully the skies will clear tonight.

This too should be seen

[southernman]

Good report. I hope you get better viewing conditions. There is much to see from southern latitudes. Have you tried viewing the magellanic clouds yet?

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Good report. I hope you get better viewing conditions. There is much to see from southern latitudes. Have you tried viewing the magellanic clouds yet?

I got them from South Africa, so they have been bagged (brilliant sight in 15x70s). Maybe when I am up in the mountains I can get another look.

[Mark at Beaufort]

Good report Michael - it must be great viewing the Southern Skies. You have seen some of the objects I always wished to observe. I did manage to view M68 last night with the 10" Dob but it would have been easier from a more southern latitude.

Enjoy the rest of your trip.

Mark

[Astro Imp]

Great report Michael.

Really envious of those great southern sky objects, must be nice to combine work and play.

Enjoy the rest of your trip and keep us informed.

[tom33pr]

Michael, I'm soooo jealous!

I spent two years in Sydney (2000/2001) and I loved it!

The ozies must have a lot of fun with astronomy considering the weather they get!

[m_j_lyons]

As usual - I'm jealous.