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(Reprinted with permission from Tom Koonce of The Antelope Valley Astronomy Club.)

Have you ever headed out on a long trip and wished that you could do a little star-gazing once you arrived at your destination? But perhaps you have thought about the logistics of traveling with a telescope like the inconvenience of getting your telescope equipment through airport security, potential damage to the telescope, or maybe been daunted about what eyepieces and accessories to take? This article could help you to stop worrying… and start packing.

I had a unique opportunity to travel “down under” to observe from the dark skies of south central Australia, east of Melbourne, and then from the large island of Tasmania located off the southern tip of Australia. I knew I had to take a telescope with me or I’d certainly regret it. Major airlines fly into Melbourne, but only small “regional” airlines fly into Tasmania, so the amount of baggage I could take on the three week trip was strictly limited to a total weight of 23 kg (50.7 lbs). My astronomy setup would have to fit into an already limited volume that included work attire, a bulky jacket, shoes, shaving kit, notebooks of work materials, and a laptop. While the observing portion of this trip was secondary to the business portion of this trip, it was still very important to me personally and deserved careful planning ahead of time.

Planets
Mercury
Venus rise 8:27am – set 9:16pm
Jupiter rise 9:24am – set 10:56pm
Uranus Times not available
Mars rise 6:48pm – set 7:49am
Saturn rise 10:16pm – set 9:21am

Moon Madness
Full Moon Feb 7
Last Quarter Feb 14
New Moon Feb 21
First Quarter Feb 29

Our Star
Rise 6:44am
Sets 5:41pm
Day Length 10:56
Elevation 39 degrees
The above times are based on the new Moon

DSO’s
NGC 2362, NGC 2264, NGC 2244,
NGC 2185, NGC 2301, NGC 2440,
NGC 2438, NGC 2506, NGC 2355,

The M’s
M74, M77, M31, M110
M32, M33, M52, M103
M34, M76, M79, M78

Comets
P/2006 T1
C2009 P1

The Rocks
Asteroid Astraea