New Zealand Observing Report, Part I

Andrew Pierce

This was a family trip, not an observing trip, so I brought the bare minimum -- three eyepieces, SkyAtlas 2000, a pair if 10x50 binos, and an airline carryon 10 inch dob built by Eric Shrader.

The first part of the trip was not expected to be observing time since the moon would still be just past full. I did make a quick survey through the partly cloudy skies from Christchurch on December 26. The first thing I noticed was that Achernar and Canopus, which dominate the south at this time of year were truly high in the sky. These stars, which can be seen down near the horizon from Hawaii at this time of year, were almost approaching the zenith from Christchurch, which is at latitude 43 south. Mars, on the other hand, was way down in the distant north below the upside down Orion.

A few days later we were in the capital, Wellington, at the south end of the North Island. There is an astronomy complex, the Carter Observatory, in the botanic gardens above the city, easily accessible by cable car. I went up with my daughter on Saturday December 29th, but the observatory was closed for renovations, and the public program, which is still on, was cancelled that weekend, presumably because the whole country shuts down from about December 20 to January 10. Sort of like Europe in August, combined with Christmas and New Years -- everyone is on holiday.

I first set up the scope on New Year's Eve (December 30 back here in behind-the-times California). The sky was incredible -- the stretch of the Milky Way through Carina is far brighter than what we are used to. After an initial scare when the split tubes wouldn't separate because the inner sections got threaded onto the lower sections backwards, I set up on a partly cloudy evening. The first target was the enormous Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). I got the scope lined up on 47 Tucana right away. Clouds rolled in for a while, but I was able to get a view of the Tarantula Nebula in the LMC before shutting down for the night.

The next night we were in Queenstown, an Aspen-like resort. Our hotel didn't have an obvious observing site nearby, and I was too tired after a long drive to wander around more looking for a place. This turned about to be fortuitous as it was partly cloudy, not favorable for navigating a dob around unfamiliar precincts. We were on the south end of town and had a south facing balcony so it was very very dark. Soon a quick peek with the 10x50s turned into a fullblown bino session. The sky was set up very similarly to page 24 of SkyAtlas 2000, with page 25, on its side, just below.

I started with the LMC but a bright volunteer open cluster soon caught my eye. This turned out to be IC 2602 aka the Southern Pleiades. A quick shift to the left and there was the Eta Carina nebula. In the binos Eta Carina showed an L shaped dark nebula with a narrow waist in the middle. There was a bright open cluster below which turned out to be NGC 3532. Both it and Eta Carina were visible with the unaided eye. Two other open clusters in the area were NGC 3766, which was quite condensed looking and the largish NGC 3314, above Eta Carina.

Going back to the LMC I spotted the Tarantula Nebula and saw what appeared to be a cross shaped nebulous patch nearby. Sweeping east I saw NGC 2516, an open cluster in Carina and then dropped down and identified NGC 3293 a tight little cluster to the left of Eta Carina.

Going back to the LMC I saw what appeared to be the nebula NGC 2014, which looked like a dual object. The companion must have been the neighboring nebula NGC 2020. Another nebula in the LMC, NGC 1966 seemed to hang off a bright star. NGC 1786, a globular cluster in the LMC was big and bright even in the binos.

The best object this night was the Coal Sack dark nebula just SE of Crux, the Southern Cross. It is enormous with several discrete black pools in a broad lake of darkness. Easy to see with the naked eye, once you know the spot. NGC 4755, the Jewel Box open cluster, was very compact, but seen clearly in the binos.

I also easily saw NGC 48333, a globular cluster in Musca (that's right Musca). I ended the night with IC 2391, a large and sparse open cluster and NGC 2669 a dimly seen open cluster, both in Vela. No telescope this night -- every one of these objects was spotted with 10x50 binos from a comfy chair on a balcony with a refreshing beverage close at hand.

Did I see anything we the telescope? Or did the long white cloud, Aotearoa, crush my dreams? Part II will reveal the answer.

Andrew Pierce