Nt Stargazing 2005

NT Dark Skies
A fresh start in 2005 will begin with another night at the Golf club, this time for a close look at the Comet Macholtz, which will on the 7th of January be in close proximity with the Pleiades (seven sisters) Star Cluster.
Our night at the Golf Club will begin at 6:30 pm, with the golf club doing a hamburger night.
As it is close to the new moon, there will be many other celestial delights to gaze upon.
The night will go ahead regardless of the weather, as there is an undercover area at the club & we have several Astronomy related powerpoint presentations (if the skies are overcast), to answer some of those question you may have been pondering !
All are welcome, no experience is necessary, just a sense of curiosity about the very big universe we live in.

Two Comets - Again !

For the second time this year we are being treated to two naked Eye comets in the sky together!
As if the brightening Comet Macholtz is not enough there is the comet C2003-K4 (currently Mag 5.5) in the constellation Vela, rising rapidly into the southern sky & fading as it goes.
C2003-K4 was much less obvious that Macholz with a smaller dust tail.
Time spent last night looking at the stunning Saturn, was rewarded with some periods of excellent "seeing" with the equatorial cloud belts, Cassini division & ring shadows clearly visible.
It is good to be getting so many clear nights at a time of year when the build up would have normally set in.
Lets hope for clear skies over our Xmas holidays !

Bright Geminids & A New Comet !

NT Dark Skies
The Annual geminid meteor shower put on a good, if somewhat late show on Monday night the 13th Dec at the golf club viewing night.
With an enthusiastic roll up of about 60 people, the evening was well attended.
Those present were treated to a look at a new naked Eye Comet "Mochholz" gracing the eastern sky, to the upper right of the constellation Orion.
visible to the naked eye as a "Fuzzy Star", the true extent of it is easily seen through binoculars & is very apparent with a telescope, showing the Coma (core) as well as a broad dust tail.
(keep watching this one as it will brighten considerably in January)
Great views of the thin crescent moon were had, along with Andromeda Galaxy, The Great Orion nebula, the Crab Nebula.
Later in the evening, 20 to 25 Geminids /hr were seen by those still present, with some of the meteors being quite bright.
The night was topped of with lovely views of Saturn, which is always a delight.
For the real night owls, the geminids put on a fine show at around midnight, with about 40 meteors / Hr.
Wishing you all a merry Christmas & a dark sky new year.

Geminid Meteor Shower

NT Dark Skies
Hi Stargazers
A fine observing night was had this Saturday just past.
After a sausage sizzle for all present, a first look was had through our newly "pier mounted" refractor.
This has given the Club refractor a whole new lease of life, a vast improvement on the unstable mount of the supplied tripod.
The views through the 6" refractor were equal to or better than the 8" LX 90.
Some of the viewing highlight's for the evening were the Tarantula Nebula, Sculptor Galaxy, The Great Orion Nebula & some fine binary stars.
The evening was topped of with some good views of Saturn as it rose above the trees, Saturn will only get better as it rises higher & earlier in the evening.
Our next event will be a viewing of the Geminid Meteor Shower.
We will be holding this event at the Gove Country Golf Club from 6:00 pm on Monday the 13th Dec.
The bar at the golf club will be open & the golf club will be providing nibbles, so come and join us for a relaxing evening of viewing, with what will hopefully be the best Meteor shower of the year, with peak rates predicted to be 60 to 100 meteors/Hr.
We will have a scope there for viewing other celestial delights too !
All are welcome.