kcolter
sage
Reged: 06/04/03
Loc: Missouri, USA
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Magical Skies of West Australia
#5246426 - 05/29/12 09:39 PM
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I've been out the last two nights under the darkest of skies 25 km outside Manjimup, West Australia. My wife's best friend from high school came to Australia post college and never came back to the states. The sky here is magical. I have been out after the moon sets in the early morning hours. The naked eye view of the sky takes the breath away. The "familiar" sky is either upside down or in an unfamiliar location (Sagittarius straight up, for example.) It took me longer to find M13 than it did to find Omega Centaurii. Last night there were some lovely meteors including one that left a trail that faded over 3 seconds or so. Omega C and 47 Tuc both trump M13, but so does M22 from down here. Centaurus A and M83 were both quite nice in the Celestron 15X80 I was using. Veil neb was well seen. Coal sack, southern cross, jewel box are all rare treats for me. There are so many lovely open clusters that I haven't looked up numbers for yet. I will be moving on to the Top End for the Venus transit. These nights prior to the transit when the moon is down have been very special. The star clouds in the Milky Way are breath taking. Hope to have plenty of clear nights. Cheers!
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daniel_h
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 03/08/08
Loc: VIC, Australia
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Re: Magical Skies of West Australia
[Re: kcolter]
#5246485 - 05/29/12 10:18 PM
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Glad you're enjoying it, the skies there are prob as dark as it gets, is limited by star glow.
You're right about us southerners enjoying the 2 best GC's, thoug a scope shows them at their best
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BobinKy
Post Laureate
Reged: 04/27/07
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Re: Magical Skies of West Australia
[Re: kcolter]
#5246583 - 05/29/12 11:30 PM
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kcolter...
Thank you posting a report of the magical skies of West Australia. It sounds like a really great location to observe.
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ronharper
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 02/14/06
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Re: Magical Skies of West Australia
[Re: BobinKy]
#5246668 - 05/30/12 01:02 AM
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Thanks for sharing this excellent news. You lucky dog. Shoot, wish I was there too. New Mexico is pretty good in places, but not like that. Enjoy it man.
Ron
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Mr. Bill
Postmaster
Reged: 02/09/05
Loc: Northeastern Cal
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Re: Magical Skies of West Australia
[Re: kcolter]
#5247382 - 05/30/12 02:18 PM
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I'm thinking about my trip"down under" coming up in the near future.
Looks like this is a good time for astronomy....their "Fall."
Bet you wish you had the 25x150s....
 
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plyscope
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 11/23/06
Loc: Perth, West Australia
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Re: Magical Skies of West Australia
[Re: Mr. Bill]
#5247792 - 05/30/12 06:23 PM
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In the late 80's my sister and I did a 4 wheel drive trip across Central Australia. Perth, Kalgoorlie, Wiluna and then 3 days along the Gunbarrel Highway to Uluru before going on to Alice Springs. One night we stayed at Giles Weather Station close to the WA/SA border.
The night sky in the central desert was the best I have seen. This was before I really took an interest in Astronomy but I still remember the incredible naked eye view of the milky way.
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mercedes_sl1970
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/02/05
Loc: Canberra, Oz
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Re: Magical Skies of West Australia
[Re: plyscope]
#5248479 - 05/31/12 08:30 AM
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The night sky in the central desert was the best I have seen. This was before I really took an interest in Astronomy but I still remember the incredible naked eye view of the milky way.
It really is simply stunning!
Andrew
PS that is not a trivial trip - we only 2-wheeled it into central Australia
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Man in a Tub
Postmaster
Reged: 10/28/08
Loc: Fogpatch, CA
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Re: Magical Skies of West Australia
[Re: kcolter]
#5249324 - 05/31/12 05:55 PM
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I just read your report again. I've come back several times.
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edwincjones
Close Enough
Reged: 04/10/04
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Re: Magical Skies of West Australia
[Re: Mr. Bill]
#5251033 - 06/01/12 08:12 PM
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Quote:
I'm thinking about my trip"down under" coming up in the near future.
Looks like this is a good time for astronomy....their "Fall."
Bet you wish you had the 25x150s....
I went in March-April, the MilkyWay was fantastic
edj
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mercedes_sl1970
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/02/05
Loc: Canberra, Oz
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Re: Magical Skies of West Australia
[Re: Mr. Bill]
#5251361 - 06/02/12 12:27 AM
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Quote:
I'm thinking about my trip"down under" coming up in the near future.
Looks like this is a good time for astronomy....their "Fall."
May-y-y-te - get it roight, it's cawld aut'm.
Andrew
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Mr. Bill
Postmaster
Reged: 02/09/05
Loc: Northeastern Cal
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Re: Magical Skies of West Australia
[Re: mercedes_sl1970]
#5251444 - 06/02/12 01:28 AM
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Quote:
Quote:
I'm thinking about my trip"down under" coming up in the near future.
Looks like this is a good time for astronomy....their "Fall."
May-y-y-te - get it roight, it's cawld aut'm.
Andrew
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kcolter
sage
Reged: 06/04/03
Loc: Missouri, USA
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Re: Magical Skies of West Australia
[Re: Mr. Bill]
#5255181 - 06/04/12 07:12 PM
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Watched partial lunar eclipse through Nikon 12X50 SE last night from Nitmiluk NP near Katherine. We have scoped out an excellent site for tomorrow morning for the Venus transit. Sun will be only 9 degrees above horizon for ingress so we had to get out of the gorge to a spot with excellent eastern horizon for the transit. Will be viewing from a paddock that seems to be occupied only by wallabies at present. Bird life has been the other use for the Nikon 12X50's on this trip. Watched territorial dispute between blue winged kookaburras last night around the pool in the NP. Clouds need not apply tomorrow morning!
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edwincjones
Close Enough
Reged: 04/10/04
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Re: Magical Skies of West Australia
[Re: kcolter]
#5255739 - 06/05/12 07:17 AM
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we in the Northern Hemisphere can only see 2/3 of the heavens,
going south means we can see the other 1/3
-we can be complete
it has been almost 10 years (South Island-New Zealand)
but my high points were
-naked eye view southern Milky Way (best)
-inverted northern skies (most perplexing)
-Southern Cross and Coal Sac (unexpected surprise)
-LMC and SMC (did not live up to my expcetations)
-all the other new stuff
edj
Edited by edwincjones (06/05/12 07:27 AM)
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