Sky Treasures

[Epick Crom]

Hi my fellow stargazers! 

The forecast was for partly cloudy skies here in Perth, I wandered outside and was pleasantly surprised the weather doctors got it wrong! Clear skies with decent seeing at 9pm. The kids were itching to get a view through my beloved 10" dob, being school holidays over here me and the Mrs obliged. We had been talking about globular clusters so naturally first target was NGC 104 aka 47 Tucanae. The kids were full of awe as they digested the sight of a million stars rolled into a tight ball. Mars was next, my daughter gasped at how bright it looked! My son wanted to see a nebula so I turned the scope at M 42. Lots of wow's as my kids marvelled at the glorious gassy swirling green mass of space cloud they observed. They went to bed in awe, it's so awesome sharing our mind-blowing hobby with family!

Now alone, I spent the rest of my observing session exploring the Large Magellanic Cloud. The Tarantula nebula looked awesome, really tarantula like! I could see the central cluster that illuminates it, as well as several dark nebula embedded within. A stunning sight. So much to see within the LMC, I spent an hr discovering lots of open clusters, nebulae and globular clusters within this galaxy. A beautiful treat indeed! Finally it was off to bed, a lovely solo session and with my kids, Astronomy is really the best hobby a guy can have😍. Thanks for reading and clear skies to all!

[faulksy]

sounds amazing epick. thanks for posting

[Epick Crom]

55 minutes ago, faulksy said:

sounds amazing epick. thanks for posting

Thanks Faulksy, yes it was amazing. What a great hobby we have eh? Clear skies to you

[Jiggy 67]

Great report, you’re so lucky to have the LMC on your doorstep down under 😀

[Epick Crom]

Thanks Jiggy 68, yes we are lucky to have such incredible sky objects here in Oz. But I reckon you northerners have it great too, Andromeda galaxy, Polaris, Perseus, Auriga, Ursa Major etc. It's always been my dream in Astronomy to view the sky from the northern hemisphere, what a strange view it would be!

[Jiggy 67]

1 hour ago, Epick Crom said:

Thanks Jiggy 68, yes we are lucky to have such incredible sky objects here in Oz. But I reckon you northerners have it great too, Andromeda galaxy, Polaris, Perseus, Auriga, Ursa Major etc. It's always been my dream in Astronomy to view the sky from the northern hemisphere, what a strange view it would be!

You’re welcome to do a swap anytime! 😂😂

[MattG]

1 hour ago, Epick Crom said:

Thanks Jiggy 68, yes we are lucky to have such incredible sky objects here in Oz. But I reckon you northerners have it great too, Andromeda galaxy, Polaris, Perseus, Auriga, Ursa Major etc. It's always been my dream in Astronomy to view the sky from the northern hemisphere, what a strange view it would be!

I live in the UK and with the weather I feel like I haven't viewed the sky from the northern hemisphere either recently... What a strange view it will be to have clear skies 😂

[Epick Crom]

7 minutes ago, Jiggy 67 said:

You’re welcome to do a swap anytime! 😂😂

Jiggy, I might take you up on that offer ☺️

[Epick Crom]

2 minutes ago, MattG said:

I live in the UK and with the weather I feel like I haven't viewed the sky from the northern hemisphere either recently... What a strange view it will be to have clear skies 😂

😂 Sorry to hear that MattG. It's overcast here tonight, and to think us Aussies whinge about one overcast night😂

[Jiggy 67]

5 minutes ago, Epick Crom said:

😂 Sorry to hear that MattG. It's overcast here tonight, and to think us Aussies whinge about one overcast night😂

Yeh you might change your mind about that swap if you knew the truth about our clouds 😫

[faulksy]

16 hours ago, Epick Crom said:

Thanks Faulksy, yes it was amazing. What a great hobby we have eh? Clear skies to you

very true. love our hobby 😁

[Epick Crom]

9 hours ago, Jiggy 67 said:

Yeh you might change your mind about that swap if you knew the truth about our clouds 😫

True. I am really lucky as the west coast of Australia is blessed with mostly clear summer skies. Winter is another thing though, that is our rainy season 😭

[Kon]

Lovely report. 

On 13/01/2021 at 23:40, Epick Crom said:

My son wanted to see a nebula so I turned the scope at M 42. Lots of wow's as my kids marvelled at the glorious gassy swirling green mass of space cloud they observed.

M42 is my 5 year olds favourite night seeing as well. Precious family moments. I call him my astronomy buddy.

[Epick Crom]

5 hours ago, Kon said:

Lovely report. 

M42 is my 5 year olds favourite night seeing as well. Precious family moments. I call him my astronomy buddy.

Awesome! Same here my son is 8 and loves M42 as well as joining me for observations. Same with my daughter. Family plus Astronomy equals bliss!

[bish]

Sounds fantastic. Always satisfying crawling into bed after a great observing session.