Although Circumpolar South has many treasures, its nearest equivalent to Polaris is Sigma Octans (s Oct), an obscure 5th magnitude star which is not even on the pole anyhow.
In consequence, polar alignment for southern observers is not as easy as it is for northerners who have it made in the polar alignment department, despite how much those in northern climes may feel deprived in other areas of astronomy.
Exciting news has just broken that the Hubble Space Telescope has confirmed the existence of “Murrell 2” - a 19th magnitude planetary nebula whose starry nucleus is located precisely on the South Celestial Pole (SCP) in Octans.
Murrell 2 was first suspected by ace observer Andrew Murrell when observing under 10/10 seeing and transparency conditions at Coonabarabran last January with a 25” Obsession telescope and a rare “OII” filter.
Imaged later by the 20” AAT Schmidt Telescope during a routine Near Earth Asteroid Patrol, the object showed up as a star surrounded by a diffuse cloud, but a Hubble image has confirmed its nature as a Type II Seyfert Planetary.
This discovery has generated much excitement amongst Astro-Imagers seeking a more precise method of polar aligning their telescopes.
As a result, ASNSW Astro-Imagers Monte Willsin and Mike Sunsurfski plan to construct a prototype guide scope capable of reaching 19th magnitude with ease.
Preliminary tests suggest that applying cold camera techniques to conventional visual optics when used in conjunction with an OII filter may work well.
By filling Monte's surplus Takahashi FSQ-106 refractor tube with surgical alcohol cooled to precisely 3°C, point sources of light seemed to be tightly contained, with the central star in M57 (The Ring Nebula) easily seen when using inverted vision.
It is considered that a similarly configured 150mm refractor should easily reach 20th magnitude, and as 3°C is close to the average evening temperature at the ASNSW site at Wiruna for much of the year it should therefore be relatively easy to maintain the system temperature at, or very close to, 3°C.
Mike Sunsurfski proposes, in the true spirit of research, to first conduct qualitative trials comparing the performance of surgical alcohol against other forms of alcohol including Vodka, Schnapps, and Pink Gin to detect any variations in the optical transmission quality of the various fluid mediums.
ASNSW members have long believed that the ingestion of such fluids during observing sessions (strictly for medical conditions and anti-freeze purposes, of course) can significantly affect visual perception and recall of observations.
Some readers may dimly remember a spirited discussion at Wiruna at midnight one New Moon weekend on whether the forthcoming total solar eclipse was due the following weekend at First Quarter or the subsequent weekend at Full Moon.