Teetering at the telescope

Last night our local astronomy club organised an informative mini-conference on telescopes, binoculars, astrophotography and video-astrophotography, followed by practical viewing through 8" (mine), 10" and 12" telescopes.The location was Rocklands, a well-appointed resort/conference centre down the southern end of the Peninsula with a view stretching from Muizenberg on the left across the Cape Flats, False Bay and the Hottentots Holland mountain range and ending at Hangklip - spectacular at any time of the day or night.

Guest speakers regaled us with their vast knowledge and experience in astronomy, observing and in some instances, just the technology of the instrumentation available to amateurs who wish to look out into the universe and appreciate our infinitesimally small place in it. We of the southern hemisphere have by far the best night sky objects to observe as we are tilted towards the centre of the Milky Way, while the northern hemisphere points more into the outer realms beyond our galaxy. The waning moon currently rises in the early hours and so it was a perfect night for viewing as far from the lights of the greater Cape Town metropole as possible.

Except, of course, for our old friend, the Cape Doctor, which was blasting through the southern Peninsula, bending the trees and whipping up dusty whirlwinds in the passageways between the buildings. Railings sounded like Pan pipes as the wind whistled and sang through them, and hats disappeared as they were torn from heads. It was the kind of wind no sensible person would venture out in.

You can perhaps imagine the scene: a telescope needs to be kept absolutely still to enable you to focus steadily on the object you are viewing through a very small eyepiece. The telescopes are rather large tubular devices and not in the least aerodynamic! I had to brace myself in quite an aggressive stance (thank goodness for Tai Chi training, which is all to do with the legs!) and grip the handles while locating Jupiter or 47 Tucanae, and then step away from the telescope, keeping it steady with both hands and endeavouring not to let it tip one millimetre either way, to allow someone else to peek through the eyepiece! Surprisingly, it did not go too badly and everyone got to see at least three well-known objects, along with millions of other stars flashing by when the wind wobbled the scope!

The camaraderie and cheerfulness of the participants seemed to match the strength of the wind, possibly because being buffeted around en masse can be quite amusing, and there was much laughter and repartee.

I can highly recommend such an outing to anyone who is even slightly interested in looking up and outwards. Somehow it directs you away from the cares of life here on earth and is restorative for the soul!