Whilst in Rubyvale, the motel I booked us into also had a small observatory for stargazing sessions, which was very convenient.
Mick, one of the motel owners, ran the session for the three of us at 7:15pm on Saturday night 16th Sep. He had this really cool astronomy laser to point things out to us in the sky. He firstly pointed out Alpha Centauri, the third brightest star in the night sky and the brightest star that could be seen that night. He also pointed out the Southern Cross (Constellation No.1) and showed us how to find the South Celestial Pole using them both.
He pointed out Scorpius (Constellation No.2) named for its shape of a scorpion but also told us this constellation is known by Polynesians as Fishhook, and specifically the fishhook of Maui from Moana. I was able to get a fairly decent picture of it on my iPhone, the second photo below I have placed the constellation lines on top.
He then pointed out Sagittarius (Constellation No.3). Although you could not see the full constellation he pointed out 'The Teapot' asterism which you could see clearly. This is a familiar pattern of stars located in the constellation Sagittarius, forming the shape of a teapot and making for one of the most recognisable summer star patterns. He also pointed out Corona Australis too (Bonus Constellation No.4).
Looking through the telescope itself we were shown Alpha Centauri, some Dark Nebulae within the milkyway and Butterfly Cluster (an open cluster of stars in the southern constellation of Scorpius that resembles the shape of a butterfly).
But probably the most interesting thing to look at through the telescope was Saturn. It was so amazing to see Saturn and it's rings. I wish I had a photo of what we saw but below is an image from the web, which may look fake, but it was very similar to what we saw. Overall, it was a very cool and interesting experience.
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