Reports - 2014
Astronomy Benalla Viewing Report - Saturday 27th September 2014
Winton Wetlands
Date:
27th September 2014
Night:
Deep Sky Night
Weather:
Clear sky, Bit Hazy
Light Level:
21.7 Lux @ 0:00
Sun:
Set: 18:32
Last Light: 18:58
Moon:
Set: 21:13
Size: 16%
Illumination: 8.2%
Age: 3 Days
Attended:
Gary Svirak, John Whitehead, Patrick Watson, Les Stacey, Bev Morton
Guests:
Jason with his children, Noah and Isaiah (From Mansfield)
Lynn with her grandchildren, Michaela and Peter (From Benalla)
Vic (from Benalla)
Hi Everyone,
Gary arrived pretty early about 5:30 to set up followed shortly after by Patrick and John. Then along came Les
with his 16 inch Dobsonian telescope. Gary set up his two telescopes. We were then welcomed by presence of Jason
and his two children Noah and Isaiah all the way from Mansfield eager to see what we had to show. Gary showed
them our Moon, they thought that was awesome. Never before being able to see the Moon in such a close up view. As
yet the stars were not showing themselves, so the Moon was the main object for the time being. Vic arrived just as the
Sun began to set and the stars began to show themselves slowly one by one. First we saw Rigil Kent popping out from
almost nowhere then followed very quickly by Hadar. These are two bright stars in the constellation Centaurus. These
are commonly known as the pointers to the Southern Cross, and the Southern Cross became evident along with many
other stars of similar magnitude.
There was then some excitement as Lynn together with her two grandchildren had also arrived. Saturn the most
loved planet especially by children of all ages as well as adults. As the Moon began to set and the sky progressively
darken we were able to visit a lot more objects that had been hidden by the skies brightness one of these was the very
visited 47Tuc(NGC104) in the small Magellanic cloud. Then John followed this with the Tarantula Nebula (NGC2070) in the large
Magellanic cloud. This object though being seen in the small Magellanic cloud is actually in our own MilkyWay galaxy.
The object we pointed the scopes at, when the skies became dark enough. Soon the stars where starting to appear
followed by Saturn and Mars not long after, that gave the kids something else to talk about for a moment. Then Lynn
from Benalla was on the scene who saw Saturn along with her grandchildren. So John and Gary pretty much turned
both the lasers on at the same time. And the kids became a little more excited about the bright green lasers than the
sky for a moment. The lasers took over the show.
Well the sky wasn’t as deep as one would have hoped. But never the less, John had set his telescope up for
astrophotography. Where he was demonstrating his techniques to Vic and Bev Morton. John had Saturn displayed on
his television monitor together with his laptop computer being fed from a camera mounted in his telescope, this was
displaying a lovely view of Saturn where we could all see it without having to pear into a telescope eyepiece, very
much easier for the young. Then John had the Tarantula Nebula (NGC2070) up on the screen where he was able to explain
to a couple of people that where watching him how this object simulated a Tarantula Spider. Gary then took a look at
the Butterfly Cluster (M6) and then showed Vic. He was able to see the butterfly straight away.
Gary then decided it was a good time to get back on the Dobsonian and found this spectacular array of stars.
Gary said to Bev, wow take a look at this. In true apprenticeship fashion Gary said he had no idea what he looked but
it looked good. So with a bit of a frown John came over and took a look and pointed out that we were looking at the
Southern Jewel Box (NGC4755). By about 10:30 most of the guests had left, Patrick had also disappeared. And soon to
follow our last guest. Leaving John, Bev, Les and Gary. Moisture was getting the better of the Dobsonian before I
turned on the fan. After about 30 minutes my scope was like new. Perfectly clear once again. The sky wasn’t quite dark
enough to see M4, not by me anyway. The sky didn’t disappoint, 47 Tuc (NGC0104) was reasonable easy to locate.
At about 12:00, it was Les’s turn to head home. Leaving only three of us. John and Bev took an opportunity to
have a coffee. After a coffee break Pleiades (M45) started show about 12:30. And was quite spectacular. Bev had some
good views from her telescope of Pleiades as well. By about 1:45 Gary decided to call it a night. John informed Gary
that he locked the gate about 3am before heading home. After proclaiming what a wonderful sky we had as the Moon
was well down and the Milky Way was hanging in the heavens just a bit out of reach so it seemed John made the
explanation of “why do I keep going to bed when we have this”. We have taken all sorts of photos of the Pleiades.
All in all it was a magic night, plenty of people, members and guests. With the nights getting warmer hopefully
this will improve.
John Whitehead
Gary Svirak
with his 16 inch Dobsonian telescope. Gary set up his two telescopes. We were then welcomed by presence of Jason
and his two children Noah and Isaiah all the way from Mansfield eager to see what we had to show. Gary showed
them our Moon, they thought that was awesome. Never before being able to see the Moon in such a close up view. As
yet the stars were not showing themselves, so the Moon was the main object for the time being. Vic arrived just as the
Sun began to set and the stars began to show themselves slowly one by one. First we saw Rigil Kent popping out from
almost nowhere then followed very quickly by Hadar. These are two bright stars in the constellation Centaurus. These
are commonly known as the pointers to the Southern Cross, and the Southern Cross became evident along with many
other stars of similar magnitude.
There was then some excitement as Lynn together with her two grandchildren had also arrived. Saturn the most
loved planet especially by children of all ages as well as adults. As the Moon began to set and the sky progressively
darken we were able to visit a lot more objects that had been hidden by the skies brightness one of these was the very
visited 47Tuc(NGC104) in the small Magellanic cloud. Then John followed this with the Tarantula Nebula (NGC2070) in the large
Magellanic cloud. This object though being seen in the small Magellanic cloud is actually in our own MilkyWay galaxy.
The object we pointed the scopes at, when the skies became dark enough. Soon the stars where starting to appear
followed by Saturn and Mars not long after, that gave the kids something else to talk about for a moment. Then Lynn
from Benalla was on the scene who saw Saturn along with her grandchildren. So John and Gary pretty much turned
both the lasers on at the same time. And the kids became a little more excited about the bright green lasers than the
sky for a moment. The lasers took over the show.
Well the sky wasn’t as deep as one would have hoped. But never the less, John had set his telescope up for
astrophotography. Where he was demonstrating his techniques to Vic and Bev Morton. John had Saturn displayed on
his television monitor together with his laptop computer being fed from a camera mounted in his telescope, this was
displaying a lovely view of Saturn where we could all see it without having to pear into a telescope eyepiece, very
much easier for the young. Then John had the Tarantula Nebula (NGC2070) up on the screen where he was able to explain
to a couple of people that where watching him how this object simulated a Tarantula Spider. Gary then took a look at
the Butterfly Cluster (M6) and then showed Vic. He was able to see the butterfly straight away.
Gary then decided it was a good time to get back on the Dobsonian and found this spectacular array of stars.
Gary said to Bev, wow take a look at this. In true apprenticeship fashion Gary said he had no idea what he looked but
it looked good. So with a bit of a frown John came over and took a look and pointed out that we were looking at the
Southern Jewel Box (NGC4755). By about 10:30 most of the guests had left, Patrick had also disappeared. And soon to
follow our last guest. Leaving John, Bev, Les and Gary. Moisture was getting the better of the Dobsonian before I
turned on the fan. After about 30 minutes my scope was like new. Perfectly clear once again. The sky wasn’t quite dark
enough to see M4, not by me anyway. The sky didn’t disappoint, 47 Tuc (NGC0104) was reasonable easy to locate.
At about 12:00, it was Les’s turn to head home. Leaving only three of us. John and Bev took an opportunity to
have a coffee. After a coffee break Pleiades (M45) started show about 12:30. And was quite spectacular. Bev had some
good views from her telescope of Pleiades as well. By about 1:45 Gary decided to call it a night. John informed Gary
that he locked the gate about 3am before heading home. After proclaiming what a wonderful sky we had as the Moon
was well down and the Milky Way was hanging in the heavens just a bit out of reach so it seemed John made the
explanation of “why do I keep going to bed when we have this”. We have taken all sorts of photos of the Pleiades.
All in all it was a magic night, plenty of people, members and guests. With the nights getting warmer hopefully
this will improve.
John Whitehead
Gary Svirak
Pictures from the Hubble Site
