Southern Skies - NZ trip

[moondog]

I have posted widefield shots of the New Zealand sky under the imaging section, since I know SGL members like seeing pics !

This is a short report on how I found the skies 'down under' for naked eye observation.

Observing widefield was badly affected by a bright moon during my first week. Since the sky, even on the fringe of a sizeable ( for N Z ) urban area was a few magnitudes better than in the UK. In these skies the moon greatly affects widefield views.

In the second week, with the moon out of the way, I could appreciate the quality of the sky and the different star patterns.

I was observing from latitude 41 deg, which is pretty far south.

As one of the, shall we say, more mature members of The SGL ( i.e. old & wrinkly !), I remember my mother pointing out the milky way when we were walking back from my grandmas one winter's evening. The milky way went in an arc from horizon to horizon and was very bright. All from the edge of a large urban area in the UK. Since those days the UK skies have rapidly deteriorated. Well, the NZ sky was how I remembered it all those years ago in the UK.

I must admit to being surprised at what I could see with my naked eye and the fact that I could easily recognise some of the Southern sights. The Southern Cross (Crux) was an easy target and was very bright.Following the arc of the milky way across the other side of the sky I found an extremely bright 'upside down' Orion. The sword handle was an easy target, being very bright with some nebulosity visible. Far brighter than from my reasonably LP free back garden in the UK.

I could see the different star densities through the milky way, as well as the few 'dark areas'.

Turning my back on the milky way I tried to find the Large Megallanic Cloud. It took a bit of finding the first time, and wasn't as bright as I anticipated.To the naked eye it looked like a small oval grey cloud surrounded by very few stars.The Smaller Megallanic Cloud was a bit more difficult but this was helped by finding the adjacent, bright Tucanae cluster. The SMC was like the LMC, an oval grey cloud, but smaller and a bit dimmer.

I didn't have much observing time in the evening because of other commitments. Most of my available observing time seemed to be spent just eye balling the milky way from horizon to horizon - all while dressed in shorts, tee shirt and sandals - way to go !

MD

[Zeffer]

I would absolutely love to go - a good friend arrives in NZ today and I'll pass on your comments.

My only experience was a trip to Zambia and although I wasn't really into stargazing back then I can remember being overwhelmed by the beauty and magnitude of all that was up there.

If only things were like they were when you were a child!

Thanks for an inspiring report.

[The Warthog]

I remembe being able to see stars from my back yard in Welland, as a kid. Even 30 years ago, living here, I could see many more stars than are available today.

I hope to get to NZ in the next five years or so. I have an open invitiation to visit my nephew, and when I retire, I'll have the time to go and really enjoy it.

[lunator]

MD

Nice report.

I would love to go to NZ but I would then be even more annoyed at the LP in the UK.........

Cheers

Ian

[Andrew]

Nice report/comparison MD.

I've been lucky enough to go to NZ a few times and see the skies from very dark sites - it really is awesome

I can't wait to go back - Thanks for the reminder

Andrew