The Sky at Night

Hi All,
I'm usually not able to stay up very late on a Sunday night to watch the sky at night, so I tape it and watch it later on in the week, I only saw it there a while ago and it was about the VLT in Chile, amazing telescopes.

A number of people there had a little observing session a short distance from the scopes and listening to their descriptions of what they could see made me green with envy, :mrgreen: as they could see the Magelanic clouds and 47 Tucanae etc....

Has anyone here gone below the equator and seen these objects?

Not yet - but I've just found out I've gotten time on Keck next April, so I'm looking forward to seing some far southern objects then

Brian

Hi Dave,
The ecliptomaniacs have been to Madagascar twice (once for a total solar eclipse in 2001) and in April this year just for pleasure.
We have seen the Large and Small Magellanic clouds, the Coalsack and all the other goodies the southern skies have to offer. The big advantage of Madagascar is that light pollution is virtually unknown, apart from the capital city Antannanarivo, where they have lights everywhere, just like most capitals.
This year, we were there for 2 weeks in April and the first week of May and managed to see a partial solar eclipse at sunset on April 19th, two naked eye comets, Comet 2001Q4 Neat and Comet 2002T7 Linear and a lunar eclipse on May 4th. Plus all the usually spectacular animals and plants that Madagascar throws at you from all angles.
We were also in South Africa in Dec.2002 for the total solar. But of the two I must say that the southern skies of Madagascar take some beating. I have never seen the Milky Way in such clarity. It looks like someone got a tin of white paint and splashed it across the sky. Truly memorable.
The two naked eye comets this year were particularly hard to find in the sky because so many stars are visible that they get in the way!
Add to this the green flashes at sunset and the Moon and Venus rising out of the sea with both reflecting on the Mozambique channel at the same time and you have a really unique setting for astronomers. We also saw the zodiacal light on our first trip in 2001.
We are currently planning a return trip there in August 2005 to see....... well just about as much as the place has to offer. I remember sitting on a sand bank of the Tsirihibina river this year, under a full moon, reading a book by the moonlight! It was a guide to the southern skies and we were naming the stars to the boat crew who had brought us down the river. They wanted to know all about the night sky and were particularly interested in the planets. They spoke no English and only a little French but wanted to learn from us. The language barrier presented no problem, you could point and give them a name and they would repeat it and write it down. Many diagrams were drawn in the sand, Jupiter and its moons for example. A really brilliant experience and one which is within everyone's reach with a bit of planning and monitory cost cutting at home here.
Sorry for the long reply but you got me going on my favourite country when you mentioned southern skies!
Kind regards,
Brian Seales

:mrgreen:

Just to add a bit to what Brian said. One of the most memorable observations I made in 2001 (apart from the eclipse - I wasn't in Madagascar this year) was of the zodiacal band. It took me a while to recognise what I was seeing - I knew that one of the bands of light across the sky was the Milky Way - so what the hell was the other one!?!?

If you get the chance, do try and go to a southern hemisphere dark site. I've even heard great reports from non-astronomical friends who spent time in the Australian desert.

someday, I'll head to the southern hemisphere.
It would make you want to get up and live in those areas.