... Train No.61 Moscow — Cherkessk arrived to the last station strictly under the timetable. Fifteen minutes later, we, a small group of Moscow amateur astronomers, loaded our backsackes and cases to a bus and went along the green streets out of this small town. We leave for Zelenchukskaya village. One and half hour-long trip is very picturesque: the road runs along rapid Kuban river and then meanders through the foothills along the bottom of Great Caucasus range. Every minute a new landscape opens in front of our eyes. Magnificent Elbrus, the highest mount of Europe (5633m), rise its mighty snow-covered head above the nearby peaks. Soon at the green background of the foothills a little white dot became visible. It is the giant dome of the 6-meter BTA telescope, not long ago the largest optical telescope of the world. It is the final goal of our travel and now only 30 kilometers remain between that point and us. Soon, changed one more bus, we are going from nice and quiet Zelencukskaya village along the Zelencuk river valley between mounts, covered with woods. Half of an hour later we entered town of Nizhny Arkhyz.
This tiny settlement located in picturesque small valley between the mountains on the Zelencuk riverside. The nice beaches, covered all the slopes around it, gives it the second (Russian) name — Bukovo (Russian word “buk” = beech). Here locates the centre of the SAO scientific complex (you can visit it on site 
http://www.sao.ru) with the laboratories, workshops, garages and apartment houses. From here astronomers going for observation up to the mountain top where the optical telescopes locates or going down to giant radio telescope RATAN-600, located below (halfway from Zelencukskaya to Bukovo). Joining new change of the serving staff which going “to the mount”, and sitting in a duty bus between vessels with a liquid nitrogen (for cooling the CCDs), we went up a 16-km-long serpentine road. As the road reaches the summit, a huge white dome comes into sight. It covers from daylight the 6-meter telescope BTA (Russian abbreviation for Large Azimutal Telescope). Soon other, smaller domes became visible. Besides of SAO there are two more observatories here.
One of them is the artifical satellites tracking and observation centre of Moscow “Astrophysics” Laboratory. Another is North-Caucasian astronomical station of the Kazan University (NCAS of КU). Here we'll live for nearest time.
Now, the last part of a 1700 kilometer-long way is over. The time of implementation of the dreams is coming…
Small observatory of NCAS was the final point of almost all our Caucasian expeditions. This station located in about a half of kilometer from BTA and other scopes of SAO. We are grateful to their stuff for kind care and assistance. we were supplied with all necessary. For habitation we got few cabins, in which the university students usually lives. The Station has a laboratory house equipped with a computer, dark-room and which became a place of our day-time work, dining and rest.
The main instrument of the station is 40-cm Carl Zeiss lens astrograph. Its black dome ennobles above a small crest, on which it is located. Unfortunately, last time the Station, almost all work of which was based this high-quality instrument, is not so intensive, as earlier.
... The fuss of accommodation is over, the telescopes are taken from cases, assembled and adjusted. The first night coming. Southern sky, so long-dreamed, now above us, in all its glory. All the telescopes, cameras, binoculars in are aimed to Southern Milky Way and the air is full with excitement of people delightedly staring into the sky. Soon, the excitement is over, and the observing began…
The sky here (altitude 2050m) is very dark, and the observation often carries out on a theoretical limit of instruments, and sometimes outside it. Some nights has unique transparency. It is due to the place is practically free of light pollution (The closest noticeable source of it is Zelencukskaya, 25 km away from a observation cite). М33 galaxy (6,3m) in Triangulum, often using in other cites as the indicator of sky darkness, was easily seen here with unaided eye every moonless night, and some sharp-eyed observers sometimes catched M81 galaxy (7,9m) only with eye. A 15-cm telescope easily shows the stars fainter than 14,5m, while 35-cm one — the galaxies up to 15,7–16m! But unfortunately, early in summer the weather here is quite unstable and due to often clouds and dew some expeditions had only about 60% of total observing time. But autumn and winter time is very good period for long observation sessions.
Each participant of expeditions usually had own observational program, but, of course, no one did deny itself in pleasure to admire the sky splendors, which in the clear and dark Caucasian sky looked absolutely in a new fashion. During first expedition on SCAS a nice 35-cm Dobsonian, constructed by Andrei Ostapenko — chairman of Club, was left there and all people had coming to SCAS used it. Many guests of us, including SAO astronomers used it. All of them will remember the amazing views, given by this instrument for a long time. For example, the galaxy М51 and M104 or Ring nebula, М57, look just as in the photos! And it is difficult to find words to tell the impressions of even from a quick sight on Orion nebula, М42 or Hercules globular cluster, M13. By the way, using this reflector even unexperienced observers found such difficult object, as Horsehead nebula.
Very dark sky allows to get very interesting result even with small instruments. It was one of favorite kind of observations of authors. We found that the sky conditions difference is better noted just with such instruments. An 80-mm f/10 reflector was found as a surprisingly powerful scope. After some practice we had glimpsed with it galaxies and star clusters as faint as 11,5. One of our favorite telescopes, 110 mm f/7.3 Newtonian, Mizar (Russia-made, named TAL for export), surpassed all expectations. For example, author Andy Ostapenko with it observed faint (13m) galaxies in Cetus, i.e. not high above horizon (NGC 255, NGC 470, NGC 474, NGC 532, NGC 533). Also we used two large army binoculars TZK and, of course, smaller ones (20x60, 10x50 and 7х50). With it we usually observed large and faint nebulae (North America (NGC 7000), Pelikan (IС 5067, 5068, 5070) and Cirrus (NGC 6960, 6992–5) in Cignus, NGC 2174 in the Cemini and Helix (NGC 7293) in Aquarius). California nebula (NGC 1499) with pair of 50mm binoculars is not bad result. Using other very good Russian telescope, 150-mm INTES (f/10 Maksutov-Cassegrain) Leonid Alikhashkin found galaxies not brighter than 13,5–14m! This telescope easily resolved the doubles with 0,8» separation and allowed to find Pluto (13,7m — we don't know other case of Russian amateurs observed Pluto visually with so small scope).
A lot of time we spent observing Solar System objects. Now we especially recall one night of summer expedition (on July 4–5). The moon has gone before midnight and we could pick Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uran, Neptune and Pluto, and also the periodic comets D'Arrest, Jackson-Neujmin (when was found it's magnitude was 14m) and Clark (it's declination was -35° !). Some days later Venus became visible. On orange disk of Mars, despite of its small size (that time its diameter was only 4,5"), the 35cm telescope easily show a large bluish polar cap and some dark greenish “seas”. A phase of a planet was well-definite too. It is necessary to note, that due to atmospheric turbulence near Pastukhov Mt., especially just after sunset, the observation of weak details on planets is a problem, but at the moment of good seeing very impressing show opened. Jupiter amazed with an abundance of details and variety of colours (it was especially good with 15-cm long-focus guiding refractor of Zeiss astrograph, while this type of a telescope always has the greater contrast of the image, than reflector). Equatorial zone of the planet had distinct bluish color, equatorial belts was- brown with reddish hints, temperate belts — grey and brown; the numerous fine details could differ from grey-bluish and greenish up to dark brown. Leo Alikhashkin in INTES at 300x could consider disks two largest of four Galilean of the satellites of Jupiter — Ganimed and Callisto. It became possible due to high quality of optics of the instrument, as the diameter of disks of them is small, 1.1" and 1.2", accordingly.
Saturn attracts a special attention: this was time of a series of passages of the Earth through a plane of planet's rings. Almost all this period the planet seemed ringless the Earth observer. During June trip the plane of rings had an inclination from 2 up to 3° and to line of sight, making a ring practically indiscernible even in 15 or 25cm reflector. Their presence could be defined only by of thin black strip of shadow on the planet's disk. Only 35-cm telescope at magnification 160x and higher allowed to catch a thin black thread, stretched to both sides from a planet. Sometimes on extensions of this line outside of disk were suspected three tiny light spots in each side — three main rings of a planet showed itself in such manner. The observers have fixed interesting, though known, fact: when the observer look on the ring side, not lit by the Sun, the rings (just at this time and the observation), looks as a negative image: their parts which are usually looks lighter, became darker, and contrary.
Due to small opening of Saturn's rings it was possible to catch some rare phenomena in it's satellites system. One this events, Titan, the largest satellite, passage in front of planet's disk, remembers now as a good luck. Titan looked a dark round when slowly entering on a bright planet's disk. But as it completely came there, it became visible, that in comparison with the coal-black ring's shadow, Titan has distinct reddish-brown color. Some observers noticed the hints of irregularities of the Titan's disk albedo. When Titan has left the disk and went to the black background, it became a usual yellowish star again.
The traditional interest of the Moscow amateurs to comets has determined the special attention to these objects. Result of this work — a lot of visual brightness estimations of three above mentioned comets, and also comets deVico and Bradfield. The nice comet deVico, shining as 5m, has a tail of few degrees in length, became the perfect award for everyone, who saw it.
All expeditions always had two main tasks. If the visual ones is th first, the photographic is the other. It always is interesting to take the astrophotos of the real dark sky and, by the way to test of new emulsions, of lenses and cameras quality. Except for the 40-cm Zeiss astrograph we used 155-mm Wright camera, designed and made by Anatoli Sankovich and Russian-made telephoto lenses Rubinar 500/5,6, ZМ-6А (both F = 500 mm), Jupiter-21 (200mm f/4) and Jupiter-37 (135mm f/3,5). Usually the lenses were piggyback mounted on the astrograph tube, that allowed to have the guaranteed high quality of guiding is and made the unnecessity to carry one more heavy mount.
Usually, for astrophotography we used the color negative films Fujicolor HG400, Fujicolor HG800, Kodak ProFoto 400, Fuji Sensia 1600, and also on black-and-white Kodak Т-Мах 400 and Kodak Т-Мах 3200. Also we tested some of domestic black-and-white emulsion. With fine-grain of them the impressing results were received. For example, the Wright camera, despite of modest focus of 690 mm allowed on a film N-400, Kodak Т-Мах 400 to register galaxies up to 17,5m! The measured star images size usually was no more than 15 micrometers. Perfect results showed and Rubinar. Its resolution usually find within the limits of 15–20 micrometers, that allow to make about tens of remarkable shots with it.
Keenness by favorite business did not prevent us to delight with wonderful and majestic surroundings landscapes. A panorama of mountain chains lit with the first rays of the sun, noise of the mountain river, the grass and the branches of trees covered with причудливым patterns of the hoarfrost, rich greens of a wood and blossoming alpine meadows, unusual silence around and hot sun. All this was absolutely unusual for eyes and ears of moscovites.
Walking around on a mountain slopes one can meet variety of wild animals: not only usual wild boars and hares and even a rare red deer. Such walks with binoculars and camera brought us a pleasant variety of impressions and helps to relax after everyday “night works”. The earby forests is full of of fine small birds, and often low above a domes hungs eagles of many kinds: huge vultures with two-meter wing-span and it is a lot of others, is smaller. Sometimes ТZК allowed to examine the rare white-head bald-eagle. During the winter expeditions we often catch serene days to go brown.
All observatories are located on northeast spur of a Pastukhov mount (2700 м), and its summit often was the aim of the hike of many people coming to Bukovo. This 3–4 hour-long rise is not hard and the way to there is very nice, so many members of Club could try it. Nearby of Bukovo there are ruins f ancient Alan settlement and of the early (Х a.c.) christian monastery. It one of first christian churches in territory of Russia.
The SAO is the main centre of ground astrophysical and astronomical researches in Russia. So it was very interesting to visit BTA and RATAN-600 telescopes. A diameter of the primary mirror BTA 6,05 м, and Ciclopean size truss tube and mount make unforgettable impression. Some of us has fortune to even to sit in a observer's cabin in the main focus of a telescope, on 25-meter to height above the primary mirror. The special emotions were caused by spectrographs of the telescope occupying a four-storeyed room in one of racks azimutal fork. During excursion on RATAN-600 we saw how the Sun observation and spectra processing made.
Now in Club the while new, interesting plans are preparing, the new telescopes are made and we dreams about new astro-adventures under magnificent, high Caucasian sky.
Olga Abbakumovskaya, Andrei Ostapenko?