Australia Monday 21

by Dan Wright

Each time I tried to use turn signals, I switched on windshield wipers instead because the turn signal lever is opposite. I missed a highway entrance and got lost in a residential neighborhood, but this was a good thing, because I could drive around and practice. "OK now I need to make a U-turn. How in hell am I going to do it? Think carefully …"

Eventually I entered the correct freeway and headed out of Sydney with high spirits. But most of the 6-hour drive was narrow two-lane roads with trucks barreling past. I had to maintain concentration. I wanted it to be done. I was saying, "are we there yet?"

A lot of the country looked boring -- hours and hours of the same trees and fields and low hills. But when I approached Coonabarabran, it started looking impressive. There is a sign when you enter the town, it says:

Welcome to Coonabarabran
Astronomy Capital of Australia

I arrived just before sunset and Marek was there to welcome me. The cottage is quaint, beautiful, spacious, and clean, standing in a green field before an enormous mountain that resembles Devil’s Tower in Wyoming.

I opened suitcases and unpacked. Marek and I assembled Wagner’s 10" CPT. I am glad to have Marek here because he already knows so much about this precision instrument. With two guys working we had it together in a jiffy. Marek put his "collimation mojo" on it like a mechanic tuning a race car.

By then it was dark outside, so we stepped out the front door, which faces due south, and Marek wielded a green laser and introduced me to the southern sky.

On this trip, the moment I most anticipated was my first sight of The Clouds, Large and Small, Magellenic. There they floated before my eyes, immediately apparent and impressive. Marek pointed out the celestial south pole in Octans. The Milky Way stretched all the way from Altair in Aquila down through Centarus and Crux.

The constellations from home appeared far north and upside-down, which was a constant source of humor. To get my bearings, I would face south (turning my back to the north) and bend way over backwards -- then all the north-stuff seemed right. The cutting-off point beyond which I usually can’t see farther south, i.e. the scorpion’s tail and the bottoms of Capricornus and Aquarius, were near the zenith. I had to stare hard and adjust my thinking before I could recognize the teapot asterism.

My first night of observing was only drinking in famous sights. Marek didn’t guide me too much, he just let me go at it. I was checking out the SMC with binoculars when I saw a something really big off to one side, so I put Wagner‘s scope and my 18 Radian on it. Marek could hear me gasping. "Holy Sh*t My God What an Amazing Glob". So I looked it up; it was in Tucana, huh. Right! Its 47 Tuc of course.

I inserted my binoviewers with 24 pans and just looked and looked at 47 Tuc. I said to Marek, "It really kicks M13's ass doesn't it". He said, "If you want the Pepsi challenge, compare it to M22". M22 was at the zenith, so I enjoyed one of my best views ever of it. It is still a great mighty glob, but now I’ve seen better!

Later I beheld Omega Centarus, the Tarantula, the zeta scorpii region, and a glob in Ara named 6397 which is supposedly one of the closest globs to us.

Well I must cut this short and get it E-mailed. Another great night awaits!

Regards from Dan at 31 degrees south latitude.