2026 OzSky Star Safari wrap up

[Dan Smiley]

I attended the week-long OzSky star safari in Coonabarabran, Australia which finished up on Saturday 3/21/26. We had 5 1/2 good nights out of 8 (I came a day early) so overall I was quite happy. Over 30 attendees enjoyed the dark southern skies with about a dozen scopes on site, ranging from a 4"Televue refractor up to two 25" dobs. As usual, the Aussie volunteers provided expert guidance, maintained the scopes, gave lectures and even made 2 bbq dinners. There were quite a few first timers and even some complete newbies to astronomy, along with a number of veterans (this was my 5th OzSky).

I logged over 80 objects, mostly new to me but with some familiar eye candy mixed in. Among the highlights:

NGC 1532+ 1531 Eridanus

interacting galaxies, excellent view in 18". 

NGC 1566 galaxy Dorado

Wonderful view of the "Spanish dancer", with two bright spiral arms in this classic face on with a 25"

N49 SNR in the LMC

Wow, a bright, compact supernova remnant in the LMC! At 189x in the 25" with OIII, cup shaped with variations of brightness and hints of more structure. Stunning object.

Sensory overload part I

NGC 1850 region in the LMC

There are over a dozen NGC objects within a 1/2 degree here, but I was centered on 1850/55/58/60. NGC 1850 is an unusual young globular cluster only about 100M years old.

 Wonderful sparkly field within 1/2 degree, all in another galaxy!

Sensory overload part II

NGC 1955/68/74

The "sextant arc" section of the LMC is a chain of gorgeous emission nebulas and open clusters with nebulosity. A fantastic field. I observed with my roommate Paul using an 18" - we may have invented a new astro game "NGC birthday bingo" when we realized our birth years were included in NGC 1955, 1968 and 1974 ;)

Sensory overload part III

NGC 3576/3603/3590 Carina 

NGC 3576 is a complex of emission nebulas. Also known as the "statue of liberty" nebula, images tend to burn out the wonderful contrast of sections visible at the eyepiece (there are 6 NGC numbers for pieces of this complex). The effect is of a "mini eta Carina" nebula, with dark lanes fanning out between sections of glowing nebulas - beautiful. But wait, there's more - NGC 3603 and 3590 are two OC's nearby with more nebulosity. Within one degree, visible at low power, a great field!

1679 galaxy Caelum

unusual structure, within triangle of stars

3717 galaxy Hydra

dramatic view, edge-on with bright center with star at end 

2451 OC Pup

mesmerizing central mandala-like pattern, this object is actually two clusters at a line-of-sight orientation

TW Hor carbon star and galaxy

nice two for one, deep red  5.7 mag carbon star with 12th mag galaxy PGC 11984 at 5' which shows surprisingly well

3347/54/58 Antlia group

3 galaxies in a compact field with different morphologies make an interesting view

He 2-7 PN in Vela

Took two tries but definitely got this small planetary in a distinctive row of faint stars. Responded well to a UHC filter, however no sign of lobes or elongation visible in some images.

beta Muscae double star

Very bright and tight at 3.07-3.98 mag and 0.7'', this was fun to split in an 18" on a night with some high clouds but good seeing

5189 "Spiral planetary"

revisited this amazing object in a 25" with filter, strange and fascinating shape. If you know the "double bow knot" on Mt Tam, you get the idea.

attempted but did not see:

The Fourcade-Figueroa Shred (ESO 270-17)

This is the leftover shred of stars of the galaxy that collided with NGC 5128 (Centaurus A), which I learned about at one of the lectures. With the help of some volunteers, we zeroed in using one of the 25" scopes, a trapezoid of stars nailing the spot. This is quite a faint object with a rich star field complicating observation. One volunteer thought he saw something and another didn't. I did not see it but I'm including it anyway because it's a fascinating object to think about, plus it has a cool name.

Overall I had a great time at this year's OzSky. I know quite a few TACo's have already been, but if you've ever wanted to see the southern skies - and who doesn't? - I recommend this event.

[Ted Hauter]

Incredible!

If I went back to Australia I'd probably stare at 49 Tucanae the whole time...

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[Ted Hauter]

See! I meant 47 😅

[Akarsh Simha]

I think the entire Eta Carina region is a sensory overload. The region is heavily extincted here in south India, but I still managed to see some structure in the Statue of Liberty Nebula and NGC 3603. Actually I didn't resolve the OC in NGC 3603 -- the entire thing just appeared as a stellar point. Apparently I'm not alone and this OC was actually given a Henry Draper designation. I'm preparing my observing report.

The LMC and even Musca are too washed out from here although above the horizon.  Beta Muscae of mag 3 was only intermittently visible to averted vision. I could not pick out globular cluster NGC 4833 despite trying, but I did pick out an IC planetary nebula. I'm surprised you didn't mention the Tarantula Nebula. I was amazed at how bright it was despite being so low in the sky here at 13 °N, to the point where I was able to see some structure. The most frustrating part was that beta Doradus, which is a ~4th magnitude star, was virtually invisible, so the Tarantula was extremely difficult to find. I couldn't see anything else in the LMC.

My results with the Spanish Dancer were also subpar in comparison -- I only picked out hints of the northern spiral arm in my 12-inch.

What I've experienced has been an excellent teaser of what you've experienced, Dan. I'm raring to go to true southern skies soon!

Regards

Akarsh

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[Dan Durkin]

Fantastic, Dan! Perhaps the clear skies of 2026 will make for a greater SFAA presence Down Under in 2027.

[Akarsh Simha]

I pondered for a moment why they hold OzSky in March when an Australian observer told me that clear skies are practically guaranteed in July (you know why I asked that question), but then I realized it's the LMC. Although with the longer winter nights and ample number of extragalactic material available outside of the LMC / SMC, still seems like a good idea. Have to figure out the large-telescope-for-rent situation, though.

On Wed, Mar 25, 2026 at 3:54 PM Dan Durkin <dan...@dalleradurkin.org> wrote:

Fantastic, Dan! Perhaps the clear skies of 2026 will make for a greater SFAA presence Down Under in 2027.

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[Steve Gottlieb]

Even in late March/early April , LMC viewing isn’t great as it’s sinking pretty low in the sky after a couple of hours. Much better timing is their Spring (November)  

-- Steve

On Mar 25, 2026, at 4:09 PM, Akarsh Simha <akars...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Ted Hauter]

I can vouch for that. The November 2012 eclipse sky made in near impossible to choose what to look at. Plus it's all upside down.

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[Dan Smiley]

@Akarsh there is a special total solar eclipse OzSky planned for July 2028! Four minutes of totality about 1 hour drive from Coona, with four nights observing. 

our group photo 2026