January Observing Report

No telescopic viewing for the first half of the month due to a holiday to Australia! However I took my binoculars and had some great views of the Southern skies. They really are treated down under with Orion rising up to 80 degrees altitude in the sky! (upside-down). Sirius actually reaches directly overhead. Finally seeing the Southern Cross was quite a moment and there were a plethera of deep sky gems just North of it showing in the binoculars.

On coming home to sub-zero temperitures at night, it was quite a shock to the system, however I have already managed some observing and photography. Venus was my first target which showed as a very nice half phase at 120x magnification. I also had a quick gander at the Andromeda galaxy as always. I've got my first widefield shot of the Pleiades star cluster which im very pleased with.