Robert Burnham Jr introduces Burnham's Celestial Handbook - Volume One: "If astronomy is the oldest of sciences, surely amateur astronomy may rightfully claim to be the oldest of scientific hobbies." Continuing, he says: " … considered as a collector of fine and precious things, the amateur astronomer has a great advantage over amateurs in all other fields …(he) has access at all times to the original objects of his study; the masterworks of the heavens belong to him …"

The morning of 7 September 2002 dawned grey and cold. The prospects of an impact from Asteroid 2002 NT7 seemed a great deal better than a clear sky that night. If I was a gambling man I would have lost my money!

The first star enthusiasts began arriving at around 5 pm – just when the last wisps of a stubborn cold front melted away. Paul (I’m on a first name basis with everybody, please excuse my omission of surnames) received an ETX 90 from his wife as a birthday gift about a year ago. He decided to join us for the star party to learn a little about the ETX’s uses and discover what there is out there in the night sky to look at. We showed Paul where to check for batteries in the ETX and how to set his tripod to a declination of 26° south. He was thrilled to see such a fine and crisp image of a 52% illuminated Venus. He was even more chuffed to witness his scope tracking the object, perfectly centred in the field of view, for over an hour.

Wendy travelled all the way from Kimberley to attend the star party. She purchased a 4 inch Meade refractor and Autostar Controller from a Pharmacy in Kimberley about 6 months ago. Unfortunately, Astronomy 101 is not offered as a credit for pharmacists in pharmacological studies. Consequently Wendy wasn’t given any back-up service or advice from the pharmacists. They did however, have a range of products to remedy any ensuing headaches which the new equipment might have inflicted on her. She was extremely grateful for the help and advice so many of our members gave her. She looks upon her equipment with new-found glee and we silently covert her dark skies in Kimberley.

As usual, the observatory was a hive of activity; at one stage we had about 10 enthusiasts huddled around the 10 inch, all clamouring for a quick tour of the top sites. John and I breathed a sigh of relief at the extra effort we put into reinforcing the flooring joists and those few extra 8 inch nails we sweated over. The extra effort to ensure that the concrete column (on which the telescope is mounted) was completely independent of the floor, is now paying huge dividends.

7 pm and wisps of rogue clouds began to roll across our starscape. It was time to light the fires, crack open something cold and refreshing and engage in little light banter around the subjects of telescopes, eyepieces, observatories and basset hounds.

After dinner, and almost perfectly on cue, the clouds rolled away and our vista was reopened. With around 35 visitors, there was an amazing array of telescopes in use. Tony’s Chinese refractor was a crowd stopper and one of the visitors was a little concerned about the real nature of Vincent’s camouflaged bazooka-looking reflector.

Old faithful targets were enjoyed: The double of alpha Centaurus, glorious Omega Centauri, the Lagoon and Trifid Nebulae in Sagittarius, open cluster M7 and the amazing butterfly cluster M6 in Scorpius. M4 was particularly well resolved that night as well as a host of other globular clusters in the Scorpius – Sagittarius complex. The colourful double, Albireo in Cygnus was in great form and newcomers were delighted to recognise the nebulous swan-shape of M17. 4 planets were bagged that night: Mercury, Venus, Uranus (which continues to suffer the butt of all jokes) and Neptune.