GAA Wanderer - Iceinspace in Brisbane

NT Dark Skies I'm back in Gove now, after having a great week in Brisbane, getting together with a number of Iceinspacer's.
"mhodson, Astro_south,Striker, Andrew2 ,Graham & others.
Thanks all for a great time
The dark skies of Gatton are worth the drive !
Highlight: Seeing the "homunculus?" Nebula around the star Eta Carina.
Right up there with a first time view of M42, Saturn .....etc
Also attended a Public night at the botanic gardens by BAS, SAS & the planetarium.
I love these type of nights, got quite a bit of interest with my little Astroscan too
Lots of "Where do I get one of those" questions.
I have really come to appreciate the value of a Travel scope on this trip.
Gave some good plugs for Iceinspace to the BAS & SAS crowd too, hope to see more of them here soon.

Thanks again to all for a great week in Brisbane.

Constellations & the Arafura sea

NT Dark SkiesA viewing night with a difference tonight...
Had an impromptu BBQ on the shores of the Arafura sea in NE Arnhem land.
With Jupiter rising in the east as the sun set, a lovely evening began.
The constellations you would all be familiar with (Centaurus, Crux, Carina, Vela etc..) dominated the southern horizion.
Following a great BBQ Dinner it was lights out & a sky tour of the northern constellations of Auriga & Ursa Major as it rose through the NE horizion.
The clear skies were ensured by the fact that I didn't take a telescope along.
A very interesting story from one of the guests of his experience in 1958 (I think)
watching through a small refractor and seeing a new "Star" appear!
Expecting a tale of a supernova, I had not heard of, I was surprized to hear that he had in fact witnessed one of the moon missions, where they curcumnavigatred the moon.
The bright new "Star" was in fact the stage 1 & 2 separations of the launch rocket.
Now we can so easily watch the ISS pass us by, predicted within an accuracy of seconds

How the times have changed.