March is always a busy month at Rushworth Observatory, and this year is proving busier than most.
Following an Introduction to Astronomy evening at the Community House in early March, local astronomer Cass Alexander last week conducted the frst two of fve fully-booked observatory sessions that show visitors some of the wonders of our autumn night skies.
The sessions begin with a naked-eye overview of the sky, including the Milky Way, constellations, satellite galaxies and planets. (Observatory sessions are mostly held on moonless nights to avoid faint-object washout from lunar glare).
Colour differences between stars are demonstrated by viewing Rigel and Betelgeuse in turn - the frst is vivid blue-white while “Beetle Juice” is faming orange-red.
The telescope is then nudged across to the nearby Great Nebula in Orion, a magical swirl of gas, dust and stars where the radiation from newborn suns causes great pillars of hydrogen gas to glow eerily. The nebula flls the entire eyepiece view, and everyone who sees it for the frst time is
thunderstruck by its majesty.
The spectacular globular cluster 47 Tucana was shown next, the telescope and dome slewing round to bring this glorious starball into view; once again, it occupied the entire feld of view.
Moving across to the Large Magellanic Cloud, the telescope then revealed the mysterious Tarantula Nebula, another stellar nursery best seen from southern latitudes.
“Oohs” and “Aahs” abounded when visitors were shown the mysterious constellation Carina, an area rich with galaxies, gas clouds, and massive, unstable stars that will soon explode – including the 100-solar mass star Eta Carinae shown below.).
Objects around the Southern Cross were viewed next, including the beautiful Jewel Box open cluster and the double star Alpha Centauri.
The evenings wound down with a peek at two optically-close galaxies in the constellation of Leo (M65 and M66) before the fnale – a crystal clear view of Saturn, its majestic ring system and several of the planet’s moons.
Planning has already begun for a winter session at the Observatory, so stay tuned!
