Observing at cosmos 2008

Many thanks to the lads who made Observing at Cosmos possible on Saturday night, after a little trouble with the obsessionator with a loose bolt supporting the primary mirror which was fixed using a spanner from Bob (many thanks Bob), we had a good long night starting around 10.30 and finishing around 4.40.

Here is a list of what we had a look at through the scope
whirlpool galaxy, M3, M4, M5, M9, M10, M12, M13, M14, M35, M53, M64, M65, M66, M80, M81, M82, M85, M92, M99, M104, M107, M108
and many many galaxies in Virgo, so many it was almost impossible to be certain what we were looking at, but I do distinctly remember finding 2 interacting galaxies near M58. Looking at a good atlas today I've pinned these down as ngc4567-4568, aka the Siamese Twins, these 2 galaxies were easily seen joined together.
At one stage we had 9 galaxies in the field of view at the same time (I need to bring a better atlas next time).
At the end, we finished up with the ring nebula, veil nebula and stopped at Albireo in Cygnus, at this stage the sky was brightening in the east so Michael and I decided to call it a night.
Thanks to Ken for letting us have a look through his 16" lightbridge earlier on in the night, its a fine scope and showed some great views of M51.

If anyone wants a free chart of the Virgo Cluster you can get it here:

media.skytonight.com/documents/PSA_Chart_C.pdf

(Sky & Telescope released it free to correct a minor error in early editions of their Pocket Sky Atlas.So it's ok to download and print.)

They also released another chart free for the same reason:

media.skytonight.com/documents/PSA_Chart_55.pdf

So not much observing done then Dave
Now that's what i call a productive night and
thanks for the report Dave.

Plenty of observing myself, despite not being out as late as Dave and Mike! The amount of telescopes on display was great, and at least 20 folks partook in the observing, with some others coming and going. The helicopter 'thing' was an experience. I've got some photos from the night I'll post up here soon.

Bloody typical!! The Weather Gods Stymie me no matter what.

Was all set to pop down on the Saturday night earlier in the week. Would have taken some organisation in work and chopping and changing shifts. I wouldn't so much have been going for the Lectures, cause I am afraid being so new to the hobby, it would all be way over my head. I would have been going moreso for the Observing session and to meet you guys.
Well when I saw the forecast I never bothered re-organising work and shifts. Come Saturday morning when it was too late to organise anything of course the Sat images showed the prospect of beautiful skies. Typical!!

So you can thank me for the Weather. Had I gone, you could be guaranteed it would have been cloudy.

I definately make the effort for Whirlpool.

Bloody typical!! The Weather Gods Stymie me no matter what.

In retrospect, I can't remember the last time BOTH nights at a Cosmos event were washed or clouded out. We always seem to have at least one night where we get some observing in.