Down Under Astronomy
Australia 2001
In the spring of 2001, I fulfilled a dream to travel to the
Southern Hemisphere and observe astronomical objects only visible when south of
the equator. My search for and ultimately finding a haven where I could have
unlimited use of a large telescope (18") for an extended period of time (9
days), was realized. I was so impressed with the accommodations, that I decided
to record my thoughts here to not only influence those yearning for the same
experience to journey south, but to point those interested in heading south in
the right direction.
Interspersed throughout this "diary" is not only observing notes I took, but plentiful pictures of the objects, as well as some highlights while visiting the surrounding area - a definite plus when trying to convince your significant other that there are other things to do besides observe!
Enjoy! (and book that flight to Australia soon!)
Jump to Observing complex, Farmstay, Trip Planning, Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, all links
For over eight years of observing the northern skies from the Pacific Northwest, I had amassed quite a few tomes regarding astronomy. The perplexing and frustrating part was that I was ignoring nearly half of what was written in them! Encountering such names like Centaurus, Vela, Volans, Pictor, etc, I got pretty good at skipping these and thumbing through to something I recognized like Bootes, Virgo and Sagittarius.
The picture books were harder to ignore, however. Some of my favorite objects in the northern sky were always eclipsed by captions and pictures of even more wondrous objects that I had never seen, and could never see, unless I ventured south.
This past year, I got my chance for a few weeks off and I was determined to find a telescope that I could rent in Australia. Not ordinary telescope would do, however, as I have gotten used to my 20" F5 dobsonian and wanted something comparable. You know it's a funny thing. Here in the states, there are a number of places that offer telescope rental in dark sky locations. When you want to venture outside of your own country, though, you must be ready for some detective work. Typing in "telescope rental Australia" in the leading search engines, I was left with no real leads. I found the Australian Astronomical Society (http://www.atnf.csiro.au/asa_www/asa.html) and from there proceeded to go to local clubs and began e-mailing the web masters of the various local groups in search of a telescope to rent.
As luck would have it, I got in contact with various people at the Canberra Astronomical Society (http://msowww.anu.edu.au/cas/) who pointed me to Magellan Observatory (http://www.goulburn.net.au/~magellan/). Magellan had just what the doctor ordered! It was equipped with a NGT 18 in a dome! Along with a full compliment of Nagler and Panoptic eyepieces, with a variety of filters, I was drooling! It also has a nice house you can stay in while you're there, so no need to worry about a hotel room. After a few e-mails back and forth, I had contacted Zane Hammond, the proprietor of this esteemed observatory and procured the scope and house for the dates May 18th through May 25th. It was mine, All mine! (insert evil grin and begin rubbing hands together mischievously).
I was intent on putting together an observing program to get the most out of my time. Using Guide software, available at Project Pluto (http://www.projectpluto.com/) I found that sunset occurred at 5:30pm and sunrise was at 6:00am and saw which constellations would be available for viewing and at which times. Whoa! Twelve hours of observing! After wiping off the drool once again, I spread out my books and started to write down objects I wanted to see. Most books woefully under represented the southern skies and I relied primarily on The Deep Sky Atlas, North & South by John Vickers and Alex Wassileeff (http://www.gis.net/~vickers/). I had used this sky survey extensively for the past few years for northern objects and the southern version came in quite handy (or so I at least hoped!)
Furthering my communications with Zane, I found that the nightly temperatures would hover between -5 and 5 degrees Celsius. (20 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit). This meant cold weather gear and I packed my survival suit, Sorrel boots, gloves and hat. Zane told me further that he had just gotten a bino viewer and wondered if I could bring my set of matching Nagler and Panoptic along to take full advantage of his new addition. Would I ever! He had my favorite star atlas, The Herald-Bobroff Astro Atlas, so I could eliminate that behemoth from my suitcase.
The months slowly progressed and my wife and I flew to Australia! We stayed the night in Sydney and proceeded out to Magellan the next day. It was a nice drive, about 2.5 hours outside of Sydney, managing to drive on the left hand side quite well. Although I must confess I never could operate the radio and temperature gauges with my left hand and I constantly set off the wipers when trying to signal :) We loaded up with groceries in Goulburn, about 30km from Magellan and arrived in the early afternoon.
To say that the adrenaline was flowing when I arrived at Magellan Observatory would be an understatement. Upon arrival we unpacked our groceries and set about making the farmstay our temporary residence. It is very nicely furnished with 2 double beds, 2 singles, and a fold out couch. Zane had graciously stacked the dining room table with a variety of southern sky atlases, periodicals and magazines.
Click here for a complete overview of the farmstay, including pictures.
Unable to contain myself, I drove up the Zane's outstanding house on these 150 acres. Having corresponded over the past months, I was anxious to meet him and get a tour of the observatory. We hit it off immediately and began chatting. Below is Zane on the left and the author on the right.
I met with Zane and he took me to up to the observatory. It is about a 1/4 mile from the house. The setup that Zane has is every Amateur astronomers wet dream. A 18" NGT in a beautiful, custom dome dominates the landscape. On a large cement pad, approximately 75' x 75' is situated the dome, a 12' x 12' roll off observatory for his Losmandy mount, and a wonderful 36' x 18' "shed", housing a variety of scopes for the Losmandy, a propane stove, couch, table & chairs, display case (pictures and meteorites and observing aids), bookcases and cabinets. Everything you could ever want within a few steps of your observing and protected from the wind. He has a slide projector & screen in there to use when the weather is not cooperating.
Click here for a detailed overview of the observing complex, including pictures.
As nightfall approached, the anticipation was almost more than I could bear. Wonder of wonders, we had been blessed with a cloudless evening as twilight approached. No more waiting for me!!! As the stars began to appear, an unfamiliar sky began taking shape above me. Looking south, I was gazing on constellations I had never seen. Gazing north, and Ursa Major was just above the horizon. This really put the perspective for me how far south I was (35 degrees S). Gazing southward, the night sky began taking shape and the 1st thing I noticed was not one but two humongous splotches in the sky. The Magellanic clouds! Both LMC (Large Magellanic Cloud) and the SMC (Small Magellanic Cloud) were extremely prominent. To behold these nearby galaxies was awe inspiring. In the Northern hemisphere, on a good night, I can just make out the Andromeda galaxy. The smallest of the magellanic clouds was the diameter of EIGHT full moons and easily seen, even before twilight had ended. the LMC was extremely prominent, dwarfing the SMC. At only a distance barely over the diameter of our own Milky Way, here was a galaxy hunters record trophy!
Click here for a great shot of the sky containing both the LMC and SMC that Zane took!
I could hear the dome moving as Zane positioned it. Even though I planned on moving the scope on my own the week I was here, I was grateful that Zane would quickly bring the more brilliant objects into view for me on my first night. The first object I observed was not something I had planned on. Unbeknownst to me, a rather prominent comet was on the horizon and would shortly be below the horizon. Comet Linear A2 -A had brightened to almost magnitude 4 by the time I had arrived, far brighter than what had been expected. What timing! The head of the comet had recently broken apart and the bulbous head was naked eye. Upon looking through the NGT, I was brought back to the days of Hayukatake and Hale-Bopp. While not nearly as bright as either of these two, I whetted my eyes upon this glorious comet and it's 8-10 degree tail. Spending the better part of twenty minutes, interchanging eyepieces, we decided to mount the bino viewer and see it in 3D!! Bringing out my eyepieces, we put dual 16mm Naglers in the viewer and began viewing all over again. What a sight! Having both eyes open and soaking up this magnificent specimen sated my appetite for comets.
For my first object, I had requested to see Omega Centauri (NGC 5139), the largest and brightest cluster in the sky. For years, it had taunted me in pictures and I could only wonder what the impact would be with my own eyes, the photons of thousands of stars coming to rest on my eyes. Here was what I was looking forward to the most. My hands were shaking as I took the scope and began to look through the eyepiece. After only a minute, my emotions got the best of me and my eyes began to tear up. The realization was finally sinking in. Here I was in Australia, on a wonderful night, looking through a magnificent telescope and taking in a lifetime dream. Gathering my composure, I again moved to the eyepiece and began taking it all in. At nearly a 1/2 degree in size, the most striking attribute was that it was not as bright as the photographs! Instead, the stars are very uniform in brightness, and the core is not that bright. While dense, the core is rather subdued in brightness and many of the stars are individual points of light. In the central core, a faint imprint of a footprint can be detected which provides a nice contrast to the size and immensity of this object. We then again mounted the bino viewer and I was taken back by the 3D aspect presenting itself. I was transported into the immenseness of space and I felt like I was in a spaceship.
Click here for a image of Omega Centauri and a picture Zane took here or by David Malin here. (in all honesty, Zanes' is the most realistic, but is still brighter than what you see with your eyes)
Zane could hardly contain himself and was on the verge of giddiness as he moved the scope over to the LMC. The Tarantula Nebula was next. It was far down my list of objects, as none of my books had displayed a prominent picture of it and I did not know what to expect, other than it was a nebula of fairly significant size. This was Zane's favorite object and I found out why as I looked at this monstrosity. I was astounded. Here was an object that defies and eclipses anything I had ever seen, including the Orion Nebula. The brightness and complexity of this, not to mention it completely fills up a 27mm Panoptic, was amazing! The orientation of it was such that I imagined a great winged bat with it's maw open up and racing down on me. The filamentary detail in the structures throughout the nebula matched that of the veil, but with superior brightness. Surrounding the main nebula is a multitude of smaller nebulosity, as if birds were flying overhead ;-). Trying a number of different and higher eyepieces yielded a wonderment in myself. WOW!!! To think that this object was off my radar perplexed me.
View the Tarantula nebula here. David Malin has a good picture here along with some fascinating facts about this nebula here.
I stepped back from the scope awash in newfound joy. What a surprise. The pause didn't last long as Zane again pushed the scope around to another object, the Jewel Box Cluster, NGC 4755. This somewhat dense open cluster sparkles with several different colors of stars. It truly was a jewel box. The contrast of colors and brightness of stars really were grandiose. All the stars are resolvable and I spent the better part of five minutes gazing at this treasure.
View the Jewel Box here and by David Malin here.
Next up was the Keyhole Nebula (NGC 3372) surrounding the Eta Carinae complex. This superb nebula ranks in size, brightness and complexity with that of Orion and the Lagoon. The contrast between the extremely hot gasses and surrounding dark nebula, along with the exploding Eta Carinae was especially nice. Spending about 20 minutes on this object, scanning throughout the complex with a variety of eyepieces, literally took my breath away. We culminated the viewing by putting a 4mm Nagler on Eta Carinae itself and the bulbous hot jets spewing to either side of it. Zane said it could go supernova at any time, but tonight wasn't my night ;-).
View the Eta Carinae Nebula here and wonderful pictures Zane gave me that he took here. You can see pictures of the exploding Eta Carinae here.
When Zane then mentioned the Centaurus A Galaxy, my head shook in violent agreement. Pictures of this amazing galaxy had amazed me for years and boy was I ready! Or so I thought, for seeing this peculiar galaxy with your own eyes is something to behold. Whoa! Imagine a nice juicy hamburger, the buns floating just off either side of a thick patty that stretches out over the buns to either side, and you start to get the picture. No don't imagine that! (but that's what I saw!). Here was the infamous X-Ray source that astronomers have puzzled over for years. To me, the dark dust lanes in the middle of this galaxy reminded me of a huge atomic explosion in space as if the explosion was halted in middle and you see these tremendous bright bubbles to the top and bottom with a expanding sliver of mass coming out the middle. As I am primarily a galaxy hunter in my hobby, I must say that here was a unique specimen that I had never encountered a sibling or relative of. Ok, here's another visual. Imagine Jupiter with one dark band that goes beyond the planet surface. It really is round, like a face on galaxy, but with a dark bad equidistant between the poles. Enough analogies already. Go buy that ticket to Australia and see it for yourself!
Astronomy of the day has the usual pictures (don't search on NGC 5128 you won't find it! You must search on Centaurus) that really don't show what you see visually, feast your eyes upon a picture Zane took that he gave me here. or by David Malin here.
"Do you like M13?", Zane queried. Of course I replied. But I had to admit that Omega Centauri was better. "Well", Zane continued, "In my opinion, Tucane 47 is much better than M13". Boy these southerners can get cocky I thought (just kidding!) He swung over to a naked eye object just off the SMC and stepped away from the scope. Over the past eight years of observing, M13 had always been the crown jewel of the northern hemisphere. Unerringly, it always garnered the most "oohs and ahhs" from crowds, and I never tired looking at it. As I looked through the NGT on this clear and transparent night, the lights of thousands upon thousands of stars descended upon my eyes. Now this was one bright globular! While Omega Centauri is larger, as I stated earlier it's stars are quite uniform in brightness and it was kind of muted. Tucane 47 (NGC 104), on the other hand, literally explodes with bright, dense stars. It's core is much brighter and the object overall eclipses that of M13. In my mind, I was seriously considering relocating to Australia, if only that I could gaze upon this magnificent globular on my observing nights!
View Tucane 47 here or a wonderful picture by David Malin here.
I had to sit down. We had been going for over three hours already and my mind was reeling from the new sights I had been seeing. Sitting in a nice chair, I pointed myself south and brought up the planisphere Zane had given me. The milky way spread out before me, diagonal down low to the East and rising to the Southwest. It's myriad of stars giving me light to read by. There was Crux, the southern cross. While it's a nice 4 star pattern, it looks more like a small kite rather than a cross, with no central star, like our Northern cross, Cygnus the swan. It is fairly bright, however, with all four stars only being eclipsed by alpha & beta Centauri. With the exception of these six stars, the rest of the Southern stars are not very bright. Picking out constellations, while not difficult, is not as easy as some of our northern counterparts. Centaurus wraps itself around Crux. Carinae and Vela are somewhat difficult, although there is the "false" cross, formed by two stars in Carina and Vela that orients me. Musca and Triangulum I could pick out, as well as Pavo. Over the coming week, I would become intimate with many of these constellations.
Zane sat down next to me and said "Do you see the Emu?". That didn't ring a bell. I didn't recall any constellations named for a large, flightless bird. "Look at the dark patches in the milky way", Zane said, "The head is the dark patch to the left of Crux, the neck stretches downward and the body is the dark patch over by Scorpio". Immediately apparent, I remarked how easily it can be seen once you look at the dark areas. They all connect, covering over 100 degrees of the sky. Zane continued, "The Emu is one of the more important parts of the skies for the aboriginals. See the alpha & beta Centauri? They are said to be two spears that pierce it's neck". I have always been enthralled with the mythology of the stars - later as I wandered through countless bookstores, even ones dedicated to aboriginals, I never did find a book describing the mythology of the aboriginals...people I spoke with said it was because there were so many aboriginal tribes, that each had it's own and there were few common between the tribes. If you happen to find one, please let me know! This Emu was indeed a site to gaze upon while taking a rest. It takes you back when you think for thousands of years, this aberration has been looked at by people in the night sky and only now was I gazing upon it for the 1st time.
View a wonderful picture Zane captured of the Emu here.
After this nice rest and a seeing something new without the scope, Zane said we had went through what he called "the showcase" objects. He asked what else I would like to look at. I responded "Galaxies and perhaps a planetary or nebula". "Have you seen the antennae galaxies, NGC 4038 & 4039?", Zane inquired. Like everything else down here in the southern galaxy, I had never seen any of these objects. He went back over to the scope and centered them. These were rather unremarkable, with the exception that you have two galaxies, obvious in collision phase. With some averted vision, I was just able to detect some wispy-ness off one of them (nothing like the photographs which show two long antennas protruding from either side).
View the Antennae interacting pair by David Malin here.
We then went over to NGC 4945 in Centaurus, quite an astounding site! It reminded me of NGC 253 or even NGC 891. This was one fantastic galaxy, edge on, completely taking up the entire view and then some in the 16mm Nagler. The knottiness is very evident, and it is extremely bright and large. What a fantastic galaxy! I had to put in the 9mm and then the 4mm to see what I could see. The 9mm was really nice, the core and surrounding area showing a lot of detail. The 4mm was just too much, unfortunately and went back to the 9mm.
View NGC 4945 by David Malin here. (this is NOT what it looks like through a telescope ;-)
We then went over to M83. I had only looked at this the single time I was on my Messier hunt because it's so far to the south, it rarely rises above 20 degrees above the horizon back in Oregon. Zane brought it up here, at nearly 45 degrees above the horizon. Whoa! This was like M51, but bigger! While it doesn't have a companion galaxy like M51, this is one, really nice face on galaxy. The arms are distinctly evident and are easily seen. The size is something else! I'll have to try this again sometime in the northern hemisphere, although I fear I will just want to jump on a plane and head to Australia!
See a great picture of M83 by David Malin here.
We then went on to the Bug nebula and if it weren't for the fact that it was documented as a nebula, I would have swore it was a galaxy! It really looks like two small interacting galaxies. Very dim, no structure evident through the scope. Just two DFO (Dim Fuzzy Objects), but something that was very nice to see!
View the Bug Nebula (NGC 6302) by David Malin here.
At nearly 11pm, we had been observing for a while and I noticed that Sagittarius was becoming quite high in the sky and Mars was really shining, nearly directly overhead. We decided to go after Mars. Putting an aperture stop on the scope and supplementing the eyepiece with various filters, we played around with all the eyepieces, gazing at Mars, almost at perihelion (closest it gets to Earth every 2 years - just scant weeks away). Mars is one of those objects that you only get a chance to look at every few years, and then only really good observing for a month or so when it rapidly begins it's journey away from Earth. We had a great time looking at this, and I saw many dark features I hadn't seen in the past (or could recall for that matter). One thing that was peculiarly absent, however, was the ice caps. I could not discern them in this observing session. I had always spied them in previous years, but this year, they were not present.
With Sagittarius becoming so high in the sky now (the Triffid & Lagoon were nearly overhead as well), we decided to go after my "Northern favorites", The swan, The triffid, and the Lagoon. I found that these were on top of Zane's favorites as well and I must say I was being spoiled with them so far off the horizon (normally they're only 20-30 degrees above the horizon from my spot in Oregon - Early evening objects at best.
I....was...not...prepared for this. Now I'm really moving to Australia. Such an unparalleled view! Without exception, these are spectacular emission nebulas ... and here I was seeing them, really seeing them! The structure in the Triffid blew my mind! I had never encountered the Triffid at such high power (9mm) with so much detail. The dust lanes in the middle actually had structure! The clouds were billowing and frothing in those dust lanes! Not to mention, there is surrounding Nebulosity to an extent that I had never witnessed. It is easily 2x larger than what I was accustomed to, looking through so much atmosphere in Portland (not to mention twilight!). I will never encounter these objects like I was seeing this night in the Northern Hemisphere.
View a great pic of the Triffid (M20 & NGC 6514) by Zane here or by David Malin here.
The Lagoon was spectacular! The storms of clouds in what I saw with my eyes was again something I had never witnessed. The detail was superb. Seething I tell you, seething, swirling clouds and color like I've only seen in Orion! The nebulosity was much better and distinct, brighter, than I had ever seen. Unrivaled except by Orion or the Tarantula, this nebula is something to behold. The size requires you to sweep the scope in several directions to be able to see everything, even with a panoptic 27mm. But that is not how to really enjoy this great object. No siree bob! Power is a must! To put yourself in the middle of this maelstrom, you must have power! The structure of this nebulosity can only be really appreciated with lots and lots of power and moving the scope all around.
View the Lagoon (M8 or NGC ) by David Malin here.
We then went over to the swan and gazed upon it for a while. For those of you who have not seen the swan in nearly perfect skies, with a large aperture scope, with an OIII filter, you have not lived! This is my personal favorite for Nebulas, just because of the odd shape and how well it handles under extreme magnification. My favorite thing to do is to go to really ridiculous power (600x or 1200x) and gaze the knottiness in the "neck" of the swan. The swirling clouds are intertwined like a thick rope. Because this object can be seen slightly higher (40-50 degrees) in the Northern hemisphere, I didn't detect any detail that I wasn't used to on great nights (also, my 20" has a slightly larger light gathering ability). However, this was becoming a mediocre night, as the humidity had begun to rise and I couldn't believe I was seeing this good (footnote: we only went to 600x this evening) at this time of the night.
View the swan (M17 or NGC 6618) here by David Malin.
By this time, hunger was getting the best of me, and the humidity was becoming a nuisance, so I decided to retire for the night. What a wonderful first night under the stars "Down Under"!! Whoopee! The images burned into my retina and memory this evening will live on in my memories forever. However, I was only one day into an 8 day trip and I had so much, much more to see!!!
Having went to sleep around 2am, I was surprised when I awoke at 6am with the sun. Such is the life of the international traveler and a 14 hour jet lag hadn't caught up. We decided to go for a walk around the property (120 acres) and we spotted several groups of Kangaroos and small flocks of Parrots. Having the wildlife literally outside of your door is a very nice addition to our stay at Magellan!
I spent the remainder of the afternoon pouring over the books that Zane had left for me. One book stood out above all others - Hartungs' Astronomical Objects for Southern Telescopes. This book is phenomenal. It sorely pointed out that my reliance on one reference material, along with a computer program, was not sufficient. I must recommend this book as a MUST READ for anyone planning an observing session in the Southern Hemisphere. I can attest that the majority of my observing plan went right out the window and I concentrated almost solely on the objects described in this book. It goes through each of the constellations, describing the best objects to view. Sometimes this is only a few objects, but in other cases, such as Ophiuchus, Puppis, Sagittarius and Scorpio, there are pages upon pages of objects. Planetaries, nebula, galaxies, clusters, and even dark nebula are represented. Scattered throughout are also many photographs that whet your appetite.
This evening, I was determined to split my night into two observing sessions. I planned on getting used to maneuvering the scope around in the first session, then having dinner around 11pm and then returning for the remainder of the night. Being used to a manual dobsonian without a computer for guidance, the NGT was something new. I had some serious learning to do if Zane were to trust me with his observatory for the remainder of the week. Learning how to open the dome (it's all manual - ladders and elbow grease), powering up the instruments, and then aligning the scope took some concentrating and note taking while Zane demonstrated each of the above. The computer was something that just takes practice, as I learned.
As I was now into my adjusted observing plan (compliments of Harturng's wonderful book), I logged nearly 30 objects, while also returning to the gems of the previous evening. Highlights of this evenings' observing session were:
NGC 1566 - "Spanish Dancer" galaxy. While not especially large, the wispiness of the two spiral arms in this irregular do lead you to believe you are seeing a dancer amongst the stars. David Malin's photo is here.
M46 (NGC 2437 & NGC 2438 ) - Nice cluster w/Planetary nebula inside it, which I was able to easily detect the central star. Again, something I had previously viewed, but only a few times over the preceding years.
NGC 3242 - "Eye Nebula". This is spectacular planetary that has 4 concentric rings surrounding the central star, each with distinct coloration. It really does look like you're looking at a distant eye! It reminded me of Cats Eye in Draco, but this is even better.
NGC 3132 - "8 burst nebula". Again, a fine planetary with 3 concentric rings and central star. Some evidence of a shell like structure, but not definite.
NGC 2467 - Another planetary that was quite large. OIII helped out quite a bit on this one. There is also some nebulosity just off the side of this.
NGC 6388 - Globular Cluster. WOW! I thought this was a galaxy when I first spied it. It is very dense and quite small, but compact. Using the 9mm, I was able to discern some stars. What I wouldn't give if it were only closer. I would bet it would rival Tucane 47!
NGC 6231 - Open Cluster. Many bright stars in this cluster really knock your socks off. Very large and the stars paint a nice canvass on the surrounding background. See David Malin's photo here.
NGC 6188 and NGC 6193. A nice paring of a open cluster with a nebulas planetary that is quite large by planetary standards. See David Malins' photo here.
NGC 6221 - Galaxy. Small, but intense bright galaxy with an "S" shape. Stood up under magnification quite well.
NGC 6752 - Globular cluster. Another WOW cluster. Remarkable pattern kind of in the shape of a cloverleaf. (or the suit clubs in a deck of cards). See David Malin's photo here. (his image is overexposed IMO)
As it was, I retired for dinner at about 9:30 because it was getting real cold. I returned at 10:30 and lasted until 3am until my eyes were just watering and was getting tired. Found that it had gotten down to -5 degrees C that evening. Brrrrr!
Day 3 - May 20th, 2001 / Our 15th Wedding Anniversary!! - Canberra & clouds
Drove into Canberra - Australia's National capital today. It's only a little over an hour drive from Magellan. We visited the National Museum, which is on the arm of a reservoir surrounding the entire city. Interesting fact of the day was that Canberra is a completely planned city. When Australia formed a single country in 1901, one of the agreements was that the capital could not be within 100 miles of either Sydney or Melbourne. A competition amongst worldly architects yielded an unlikely winner - a architect from Chicago, USA!! The city is something to behold, with everything planned so well. It's like Washington DC, but 100% more organized (but not nearly as full - the smallest of the Smithsonian's are larger than their National Museum). We ate a elegant lunch beside the lake at the Museum - there is a water fountain that shoots up over 100 meters into the sky (over 300 feet!). It is visible from throughout the city and we even saw it 5-10 miles away from Canberra while we were driving into the city.
Alas, the weather gods were not cooperating this evening. The clouds would not go away. I even suited up at 10:30 when it looked promising, but sat outside w/out opening the dome for 30 minutes and it didn't get any better. Stayed inside & watched a few movies (Zane has quite a collection!)
Day 4 - May 21st, 2001- visiting Canberra (mint, zoo, visitor center, National library, National Art Gallery)
Having just went to one attraction in Canberra the previous day and being thrilled with the city, we had picked up a few brochures and maps of the city and decided to explore it in much more detail. Since the earlier evening was an early one (no observing), we arose early and headed into Canberra.
The National Mint - This is a great place to view & purchase non-circulated coins from Australia. It takes a minimum of an hour to complete the tour, which winds itself throughout the complex, complete with observing windows in various areas, tremendous display cases and history of the Australian coinage. I was amazed at the sheer number of coins that Australia has minted. Along with currency are several coins they've created for special occasions, including the Sydney Olympic gold, silver & bronze medals, medals commemorating the Apollo missions (the radio receiver in Australia was used to communicate with early astronauts).
National Aquarium and Wildlife sanctuary - This is a must see for anyone visiting Australia. Contained within this zoo is both a large aquarium complex, containing the numerous aquatic creatures in the oceans surrounding Australia and also native animals. You can go into the "petting" portion and pet kangaroos, koalas and even emus (we didn't even try for the emus, they are an impressive and dangerous looking animal, standing as tall as 6 ft, with a very sharp looking beak). Dingos, Wombats, Echidnas, Kookaburras, Fairy Penguins, Tasmanian Devils among many others. Many of the enclosures are simply short 3' high fences, allowing you to get close up views of many of these strange and wonderful creatures.
National Library - We only visited the bookstore because we wanted to purchase some books for us and our kids. We figured this would be the best place with the largest selection. We weren't disappointed! Everything you could possibly want on Australia is in this bookstore. This is in a section of the city dedicated to National museums and government offices. Quite an architectural feast, walking and driving around this area. Highly recommended!
National Art Museum - This was a real highlight. This is a multi-story complex, complete with fantastic works of art, with no size limitations. The highlights for us were the aboriginal section - containing all sorts of aboriginal art, including a 100' x 100' area dedicated to hundreds of painted didgeridoos! Another section contained art from the islands to the north - which were particularly fascinating with the detail these islanders possess. Much of the island culture is in imagery and myths and these paintings represent them superbly! However, the single most awe inspiring work was that of Pollack. His painting "Blue" is on display and it's shear size (almost an entire wall) enthralled me. I had read recently that his work is highly "fractalized" - that is containing many representations within representations of the basic image building blocks. Looking at this painting was mesmerizing. The colors and size, while intimidating, made me look at things in a completely different manner for weeks to come.
Regatta Point - This is kind of a visitor center, situated adjacent to Cooks' Fountain, a 100 meter tall fountain that jets straight up into the air. This center provides not one but two large relief maps that you can gaze upon to see the entire city layout. It also contains the history of how the city designed was commissioned to architects the world over.
After such a long day driving and visiting around, I came home exhausted. I went to sleep and awoke at 1 am, and suited up. At the farmstay, fog was looking like it might not be a good night (it's adjacent to a river), but when I went up the observatory, no more than 100 meters higher in elevation, I found the night to be spectacular and had while seeing was decent, I fought dew constantly throughout the night. Cataloguing 20 objects through 5am, I was significantly enthralled!
Highlights of this observing session were:
NGC 5927 - Open Cluster. Very large and extended, many bright stars.
NGC 55 - Galaxy. WOW! Edge on, took up entire FOV in 16mm. Detecting either foreground stars in core, or some clusters or knottiness in the central bulge.
IC 1459 & NGC 7418 - Face on and Edge on galaxies in same FOV. Smaller face on resembles planetary nebula. Edge on took up 1/4 the FOV and this was a nice pairing of DFO's.
NGC 7599, 7590, 7502 - Simply one of the most outstanding triples I have ever witnessed, all in the same FOV. One goes vertical and the two others are horizontal and parallel to each other, forming a disconnected and elongated "C" .
NGC 253 - As usual, one of the "signature" edge on galaxies. If you haven't tracked this down in the northern hemisphere, you haven't stayed up late enough. Compared to other nights in Oregon, this was not quite as good (dew most likely) as central core did not hold up as well to magnification as I have done in the past with my 20".
Day 5 - May 22nd, 2001- Rainy, all day & night
Not much happened, except I made significant progress in the book I was reading and watching a few movies. Took the extra time available to completely go through Hartung's book and map out the following days observing session in detail.
Day 6 - May 23rd, 2001- More Kangaroos, visiting Braidwood & the best observing night yet!
We awoke early and headed to a nearby town named Braidwood. It's a quaint little town with some antique shops. We enjoyed going through them and seeing a small town. Reminded me of small mid-west towns in the US. All shops along the main drag and a wonderful little park (we noticed that most small towns have a central park - normally the place to look for public restrooms!
It was cloudy in the afternoon, but it cleared towards evening. My wife joined me and we revisited the Southern gems along with Zane to point the way. It began to cloud up seriously near 10pm. I broke for dinner and as it was still cloudy, decided to take a short nap from 11:30-1:15. I awoke to a good evening and went back up the scope. Zane joined me at 2am, doing some photography work and we talked the entire night. Having facilities nearby to make a nice cup of soup at 4am was really nice! We ended up viewing until dawn and my comfort zone with the scope, along with a better observing plan resulted in me logging another 62 objects! Highlights of this observing session were:
NGC 1512. Small Galaxy, but excellent detail, even at dusk and only 25 degrees above the horizon. I could detect two arms.
NGC 1851. Very bright globular. Nice dense core, stars near edge can be resolved easily.
NGC 3293. Beautiful open cluster. Very striking. A few different colors, many bright stars, quite large.
Beta Crux / Carbon star. Wow! Gold/Orange carbon star double with Beta Crux.. Contrasts beautifully with Beta Crux.
M79 and Comet Linear-A2 in same FOV!!! Wow! (I hope Zane's pictures turn out)
NGC 3532. Stunning Open Cluster. Absolutely huge (mag 3) that doesn't even fit in the 27 Panoptic. Stars are all same brightness, mostly uniform distribution of stars.
M104. Sombrero Galaxy. Ole` !! How many times had I yearned to see this again in the Northern Hemisphere & kept missing it (it's a winter object). Down under, it's remarkable, especially with a nice scope. The bulge is something else.
NGC 4105/4106 & IC 3010 and IC 3005. NGC 4105/06 are two "eyes", eerily similar in size and brightness. Just a eyepiece nudge away is IC 3005, a nice edge-on, about 2x size than the NGC's. Just another eyepiece nudge away is IC 3010, yet another edge on, but even larger and brighter (2x larger than IC 3005). Call me strange, but galaxy clusters are my bailiwick and I went back & forth on them for a bit.
NGC 3621. Very nice face-on galaxy. Quite large, it's core is just barely brighter than surrounding area. Spiral arms not evident, but it is framed very nicely in foreground star.
NGC 3309 - Abel Galaxy cluster. Within just two FOV's, lie FIFTEEN detectable galaxies!! Wahoo! I love these clusters! Anyone who has ever studied the Abel clusters know that you have to spend a lot of time with these and draw them out (which I did) and compare them with charts later on to see which ones you got right and which ones you missed. Turned out I only missed a few and didn't identify a single one that wasn't!
NGC 4268/77/73/81/61/57 - Another galaxy cluster. This was MUCH better than the previous one since so many of these galaxies were so large & bright. Very impressive group. Very little imagination needed with these since they were so much brighter.
NGC 2808 Really nice Globular. Very much condensed core. Held up well to magnification - outlying stars easily resolvable. Wow! Really nice.
NGC 2867 "classic" planetary. So much so, if it weren't for the missing moons, I would have swore this was Uranus. Color was very reminiscent of Uranus and size was right on.
NGC 3199. Nebula. I'm going to name this "Swallow Nebula". The shape was similar to a 1/4 moon, but coming to a point in the middle. It's similar to the bright side of the Crescent Nebula, except that it's "sharper" on the edges.
NGC 6441. Bright, compact and dense Globular next to a very bright star. What an excellent pairing!
NGC 5460 - This open cluster has a
very unique shape to it. It's stars form a perfect "2" and also is
joined with a half-heart. It's a sinuous set of stars in a very remarkable
pattern. A must see!
Day 7 - May 24th, 2001 - Marathon Observing
When you don't go to sleep until 7am, the day becomes a series of naps interspersed with eating and some light reading. I spent some time on the computer checking some of my observations from the night before. While I had observed quite a few objects already, I was getting nervous because there was so much more for me to see that I had barely scratched the surface on so many different objects. On tonight's' agenda: Monoceros, Musca, Norma, Pavo, Puppis, Pyxis, Sextans, Lupis and even more in Scorpius. Would the glorious weather hold? Would I hold out? My sleep deprivation was kicking in and I could tell I was not getting the rest I really needed, but I must push on. Mush, Mush!
The night turned into yet another great observing session. Starting immediately at dusk with Puppis, Monoceros and Sextans I was off to a rapid start. I gathered steam in the late evening eclipsing Musca and Norma. After a 10pm dinner, I resumed and tackled Pyxis and Pavo. I had to have a break from this record-setting pace of observing objects, so I settled down in the chair and just watched the milky way for a bit. I didn't need the planisphere to note many of the constellations. I could pick them out by memory. I guess the one that will always haunt me is Scorpius. This is because it is such a great constellation, it really is in the shape of a scorpion, but in the Northern Hemisphere, you only get to see one end of it, so you never see it as it should be.
By 3am, I was at my end. I was getting frustrated because while a clear night, the seeing had degraded and I was unable to go beyond 240x without serious degradation to the objects. I knew in all reality that this would most likely be my last night - tomorrow night was really my last night but I was so drained that I was sure my stamina wouldn't hold up. What was the last object I looked at his evening? Tucane 47!
I observed an additional 30 objects this evening. Highlights include:
Monoceros (dusk)
NGC 2244/45 - Rosette Nebula. Just too close to the horizon. I'm going to have to come back in the spring to see it while it's overhead! Nevertheless, it's still a nice object, far larger than the FOV for the 27 Panoptic. The cluster of stars in the middle is a nice touch.
NGC 2264 - Cone Nebula w/"Xmas tree cluster". Cluster was really nice, but nebulosity is barely visible. (sigh, I hate those pictures that show it so dramatically!)
NGC 2301- Open cluster that is really nice. Deserves to be looked at again when higher in the sky.
M50 (NGC 2323). Very bright, very nice open cluster. Takes up full FOV in 12mm Nagler. Stars are all very bright.
Musca
NGC 4372. Another remarkable pairing of a open cluster and a very bright star in same FOV.
NGC 5189. This is a PHENOMENAL planetary Nebula. Wahoo! Wrapping itself around two stars, the wisps of the nebula form a very cursive "M" with extended arms. For this to be a planetary is beside me. This really looks like a emission or reflection nebula with it's tendrils.
Norma
NGC 5946. A small, dense and rather dim galactic cluster that is in the middle of a remarkable star field. It really gives you the impression you are looking at a flower and the cluster is the core of the flower.
Puppis (dusk)
M47 (NGC 2422). Superior open cluster, had to use the Panoptic 27mm to take it all in.
NGC 2477. Even better than M47, this open cluster is what should be THE standard which all should be judged.
NGC 2467. Awesome nebula. Almost as large as the dumbbell, it's shape is reminiscent of a "One eyed Koala", with a bright star just off the side. Fluffy extended "ears" project out of a oval shaped nebula.
Pxyis
NGC 2818. Really sparse and dim cluster, but the planetary makes all the difference! The planetary is rather large and reminds me of the Owl Nebula in Ursa Major. It is NOT uniform in brightness and was unable to detect the central star.
Sextans (dusk)
NGC 3115. What a galaxy! Great edge on with a nice bright core, easily 1/2 FOV in the 16mm Nagler. Dark dust lanes are detected at the bottom.
NGC 3166/69. Two fantastic edge on galaxies that I have christened "devil eyes". The orientation was such that these nearly identical edge on galaxies looked as if they were a pair of eyes staring down at you with anger. The somewhat brighter cores of these made for a glowing in the otherwise faint disk surrounding these pair.
NGC 2903. Another fantastic elliptical galaxy. Very bright core. Some structure observed - possibly arms? Medium to large in size.
Day 8 - May 25th, 2001 - Packing & Last Dinner w/Zane & Fiona
I was spent. Totally. The last few nights of good observing has taken it's toll and I know that I will not be observing tonight. Having viewed in excess of 250 objects over the past week, many of them on every night, I felt that I had been rewarded with exceptional weather. The process of packing up my cold weather clothes and cleaning the house proceeded uneventfully. As evening approached, a high clouds were drifting overhead, as if Mother Nature herself was tired of keeping them at bay (just for me!) and was relenting as well.
We headed up to Zane's house - a wonderful custom home just a walk away. We had a marvelous sit down dinner and desert and hours of conversation with both Zane and his beautiful wife Fionna. We were treated to a Aardvark animation tape they had - previewing many of Nick Park's early and advertising career. As we left after midnight, the night sky glowed once again with the innumerable stars of the Southern Milky way. I spent a little time outside gazing upon this sky I would soon leave.
What a wonderful week!
Day 9 - May 26th, 2001 - Trip out and visit Wombeyan Caves
We arose and packed up the car, taking snapshots of the house and observing complex before heading out to our final destination here in NSW (New South Wales), that of Wombeyan Caves. This was a cave complex unlike any I had explored in the US. Tight quarters, unspoiled caverns, and the best and most knowledgeable guides I have ever come across. The tours are not "pack-em-in-walk-em-out" type of caves (commercial) in the US, but small (15-20 people), guided trips (3-4 tours a day) that really let you soak it all in. These were magnificent and Michelle and I were in awe of the caves and mused that it would have been nice to spend two or even three days at this complex - there are so many to visit, it would easily take two jam packed days with little rest. I would, however, caution people from taking the road between Mittagong and Wombeyan, and instead keep to the round-about way through Taralga. The road between Wombeyan and Mittagong is a narrow, dangerous, rut-filled excuse for a road that is better left to the goats and 4 wheel drive vehicles and not your standard 4 door rental sedan! However, I must say the views were unparalleled if you were willing to peel your eyes off the road and we spotted more parrots on this little path than in any other part of Australia.
If you've made it this far, then I applaud you and thank you for your rapt attention! If, by reading this far, you are seriously considering a trip to Australia, then I would like to point you to a Australia Trip Planning page I have put together that gives some advice on traveling to Australia, specifically for Astronomy and other exploits. Having to do it all over again, I would suggest a different itinerary (longer!) and would plan things a little differently.
In closing, the reason I spent so much time on this web-site is that I have never encountered such a perfect spot for Astronomy. If I could, I would replicate everything Zane and Fionna have put together and put it right here in Oregon. Alas, this may not happen anytime soon, but it is rare indeed that one finds such a jewel as I found in Australia. People love to tell others about the great times they have had. This is my tribute to my time in Australia and also to SHOUT with glee and tell others of my wonderful stay at Magellan.
Yours truly,
Thurman Miller
Rose City Astronomers,
Portland, Oregon
Feel free to email me.
Here are all the links in this document, all in one place!
Links to pages on this site:
Magellen Observatory complex
The Farmstay overview
Planning a trip to Australia
External Astronomical links to other sites referred to in this article:
Magellan
Observatory - The BEST place for the amateur in Australia!
Canberra
Astronomical Society
Australian
Astronomical Society
Astronomy Picture of the Day (good photo archives)
David Malins' image archive - Premier Astrophotographer
Project
Pluto - Awesome Astronomical Software
The
Deep Sky Atlas, North & South - A great image resource for BOTH
Northern & Southern Hemisphere objects
Hartungs' Astronomical Objects for Southern
Telescopes (Amazon link) - THE source for Southern observing planning
The
Herald-Bobroff Astro Atlas - Great Star Atlas
Rose City Astronomers -
Portland, Oregon Astronomy group
External links to non-astronomical sites referred to in this article:
Wombeyan
Caves
Canberra Tourism
site
Australian National
Art Gallery
Australian National
Museum
The National Mint
National Library
Goulburn - city
guide
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