Teaser_Ex Article

Hi all

This morning we made some changes to the structure of the IceInSpace Community Forums.

The forum re-structure is the first in a number of changes you're going to see here at IceInSpace in the coming months, as a result of the feedback and answers gathered during our IceInSpace Community Survey 2010.

The changes today were designed to better focus the discussions and topics, encourage more beginner participation, and to improve the general layout of the forums and sub-forums.

Please read the announcement thread for more information, or to give your feedback about the changes. You can of course go to the forum home page to see the entire list of forums.

Thanks for reading.

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NACAA, the National Convention of Amatuer Astronomers Inc, is holding its 24th bi-annual convention this year, 2010, in Canberra ACT over the Easter long weekend, April 2-5.

It's looking like another great event, with a excellent range of guest speakers, workshops and activities for amateur astronomers. The theme for this years convention is "Astronomy in the On-Line Age".

Check out the programme for a full list of activities, and here's a few highlights:

• The inaugural John Perdrix Address by Dr Tom Richards
• Two workshops on Friday April 2 covering the new version of the VStar variable star analysis software package from David Benn, and expert advice on high-resolution planetary imaging from Anthony Wesley
• Hristo Pavlov will convene the Fourth Trans-Tasman Symposium on Occultations on Monday April 5
• A tour of the new Mount Stromlo Observatory prior to the BBQ on Sunday April 4
• An excursion to the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex at Tidbinbilla on Monday April 5
• Dr Simon O'Toole will talk about the hunt for exoplanets and the role of amateurs
• The entertaining Dr Charley Lineweaver will talk at the dinner on the question of life in the universe
• Dr Daniel Shaddock of the ANU will talk about detecting gravity waves

Check out the NACAA 2010 site for more information, including how to get there, accommodation options etc, and when you're ready, you can register online.

For discussions on IceInSpace, head to this thread. 

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Hi all

I've added two new Total Solar Eclipse articles to the Projects and Articles page.

• Total Solar Eclipse - July 11th, 2010 - Observing / Imaging Guide
• Total Solar Eclipse - November 13th-14th, 2012 - Observing / Imaging Guide

They are now also moved to a new "Celestial Events" section in the Articles list.

The November 2012 eclipse in Cairns is the first one for Australia since the 2002 South Australian eclipse, and it's going to be an absolutely huge event.

I'd really recommend to start your planning now, as any accommodation in the area is likely to be almost booked out already, or will get more expensive the longer you wait.

Good luck!

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Professional and amateur astronomers, educators and all astronomy enthusiasts worldwide are invited to celebrate the Universe in April 2010, during Global Astronomy Month - an international project that builds on the achievements of The International Year of Astronomy 2009, by combining a wide array of activities with the possibility of sharing experiences in real-time!

The unprecedented success of 100 Hours of Astronomy (100HA) in April 2009 showed what could be accomplished by a highly motivated and energized international community of passionate people, creating even greater enthusiasm for a follow-up experience. As challenging as it may be to follow the historic success of 100HA, Astronomers Without Borders (AWB) has set the bar even higher, inviting astronomy enthusiasts worldwide to celebrate the Universe for an entire month!

Taking place during April 2010, Global Astronomy Month (GAM2010) is a community based effort aiming to achieve international collaboration and more interaction between participants than ever before. The primary idea of GAM2010 is to share ideas, experiences and successes, allowing communities that organize their own events to carry their ideas and inspiration forward.

GAM2010 includes the most popular events for both astronomers and the public: telescopes will be available for the viewing of the Moon, Saturn and other objects, not only at observatories and planetariums, but also in public locations; dark sky observing of distant objects, Messier marathon, Lyrid Meteor Shower observing parties and events for the annual celebration of Astronomy Day (April, 24) are just some of the activities planned; special events by IYA2009-created global programs, observing with telescopes controlled over the Internet, webcasts and podcasts of special presentations, exhibitions, public competitions, astrophotography contests and workshops and much more will ensure that there is something for everyone.

Now is the time to start planning!

If you're part of an Astronomy Group or Society, start organising your events for April and let the GAM2010 team know - with cross promotion opportunities we can really get the word out there and make GAM2010 a great success.

For more information, the following links will help:

• GAM2010 Website
• GAM2010 Blogs
• Follow GAM_2010 on Twitter
• Become a Fan of GAM2010 on Facebook

And of course keep tuned to IceInSpace as we will happily help promote your local GAM2010 events.

For any specific questions or to let the GAM team know about your ideas or events, please contact the Australia/NZ regional contacts:

Australia
Donna Burton
National Coordinator for Australia, Astronomers Without Borders
(This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it)
+61 2 6842 6255

New Zealand
Mike White
National Coordinator for NZ, Astronomers Without Borders
(This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it)
+64 21 100-7170

For discussion on IceInSpace, add your input to this thread.

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The Central West Astronomical Society is proud to announce the 2010 CWAS "David Malin Awards".

As usual, this year's competition introduces new ideas, concepts, and innovations with the view to making the competition more exciting, relevant and contemporary. The competition this year will have three sections of entry - General Section, Open Themed Section and a Junior Section (18 and under).

The General Section is divided into five categories; Wide-field (camera shots), Deep Sky (telescope shots), Solar System Objects - Hi-Resolution (<30') and Wide-Field (> 30') - and a new category for Animated  Sequences.

The theme for this year's Themed Open Section is "The Moonlit Landscape". The Junior Section will have one open category and entries can be of any subject.

Last years exhibition was a resounding success and was one of the premier events of the IYA in Australia. People from all walks of life, and all over Australia, were given the opportunity to view the photographs and appreciate the efforts and skills of the nation¹s finest amateur astrophotographers.

So, start preparing your astrophotographs for the prestigious "David Malin Awards" and share with the wider public the grandeur and beauty of astronomy.

For more information on the competition, and the conditions of entry, see the official David Malin Awards website.

Posted on behalf of John Sarkissian
2010 CWAS AstroFest Organising Committee

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To IceInSpace Members and Guests,

As IceInSpace continues to grow, it's important for us to learn more about our great community - to see what makes you tick. We want to find out more about your interest in astronomy, the type of equipment you use and how often you use it, where and how you do your observing or imaging, and more.

We're also very keen to learn more about how you use IceInSpace - how long you've been visiting, how often you visit, what sections you use the most, and what you want to see more of at IceInSpace.

We want to make sure we're providing you with the right content, the right features and functionality, and ensure we provide you with what you need to get the most of our your IceInSpace experience.

To do all this, we're undertaking our first major market research of our community - in the form of the IceInSpace Community Survey 2010. Your responses will help us make IceInSpace even better and continue to grow even stronger over the next 5 years.

The survey is 4 pages long, consists of 27 questions and should take you about 10 minutes to complete. Your participation in this research is completely voluntary - all questions are optional and you can withdraw from the survey at any point.

Your survey responses will be strictly confidential and data from this research will be reported only in the aggregate. Your information will be coded and will remain confidential.

If you have questions at any time about the survey, please Contact Us at IceInSpace. You can also post any thoughts or discussion about the survey in this thread on the IceInSpace Forum.

Thank you very much for your time and support. Please start with the survey now by clicking on the link below:

IceInSpace Community Survey 2010

Thanks

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In the first week of January 2010, IceInSpace passed another milestone - reaching 7000 members!

What a great way to start 2010.

The last 1000 members has come in only just over 7 months - a fantastic rate of growth and shows that astronomy is alive and kicking and still growing strong.

It also shows that IceInSpace continues to be a great source of information and knowledge sharing - an attribute that only comes through its members sharing their expertise, helping each other, and making this place what it is today.

So thanks to the IceInSpace community for your contributions, your friendships, your questions, your answers, your images and everything that has helped make IceInSpace the largest and most active astronomy site in the Southern Hemisphere, and one of the premier astronomy sites in the world.

Bring on 8000! Tell a friend! If you'd like to share any thoughts on the 7000 member milestone, please do so here.

Did You Get a New Telescope for Xmas?

Are you a new IceInSpace member? Did you get a new telescope for xmas and not really sure how to use it or what to look for?

The answers are just a question away. Please don't be shy - head to the Beginners forum and post an introduction and/or ask some questions. There's heaps of friendly IceInSpace members ready to help you get the most of our your new telescope and to help develop the life-long bond and love for astronomy.

Click New Thread in the top of the Beginners forum to start your new journey in Astronomy and on IceInSpace.

IceInSpace on Facebook

The IceInSpace Facebook page now has over 540 fans, thanks to everyone for embracing the new social media and please share/suggest to your friends. We love Astronomy, and it's only natural to think that everyone else should love it too! :)

New Article and Review

There's 1 new article and 1 new review today:

• One-Off Printed Circuit Board Making at Home
• SkyWatcher 114mm (4.5”) by 900mm Newtonian on EQ2 mount

Thanks as always to the authors for sharing their knowledge and experience with friends on IceInSpace.

Thanks for reading, keep looking up and keep coming back for more news and exciting changes on IceInSpace in the coming months.

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Hi all

With 2009, the International Year of Astronomy, drawing to a close, I thought it's now a perfect time to reflect upon the past year and highlight some of the more popular events, topics and statistics here on IceInSpace.

As a common trend, showcase astronomical events always bring the most visitors to IceInSpace - particularly the general public, and especially if the media grabs hold of it and reports about it on the various media outlets. The four most popular astronomical events in 2009 were:

1. Anthony Wesley (forum member "bird") discovered an impact strike on Jupiter
2. Total Solar Eclipse, 22nd July 2009
3. 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landings
4. Conjunctions, transits and eclipses 

Some of the most popular topics and threads on the IceInSpace Forum are often the ones in General Chat where we get to know each other a bit more. This is reflected again in the stats below, showing some of the most popular topics in 2009:

• Jupiter impact confirmed by JPL
• A Day of Devastation
• Is spelling old fashioned?
• What are you reading?
• I have a confession to make... 

Other popular threads were Star Party threads, particularly the ones about IIASC2009, Qld Astrofest and the SPSP.

During 2009, we passed some significant milestones, including:

• Passing 6,000 registered members (almost 7,000 now!)
• Turning 5 years old in September
• Passing 50,000 threads and 500,000 posts!
• Launching our first IceInSpace Compendium
• Launching the IceInSpace Facebook Page.
• Holding our 4th IceInSpace AstroCamp (IISAC2009)

Some other interesting IceInSpace statistics for 2009 include:

• Over 2,000 new member registrations (a little more than 2008) 
• Over 140,000 new posts (over 30% more than 2008)
• Almost 8,000,000 page views (over 30% more than 2008)
• Over 1,600 sets of items have been bought and sold through the IceTrade Classifieds (almost 50% more than 2008! What GFC!?)
• Apart from the IceInSpace Forum, the most popular pages on IceInSpace were the homepage, the Projects and Articles page, the Reviews page, the Moon Phase page and the Links page
• 47% of people are still browsing IceInSpace using Internet Explorer (55% last year). 2nd is Firefox with 39% (37% last year). Safari and Chrome make up almost 10%. 

I'm really looking forward to what 2010 will bring, for astronomy and for IceInSpace.

On behalf of IceInspace, Terry and I would like to thank everyone for being part of a fantastic year and a fantastic community. We wish everyone a safe and happy christmas and we'll be back with more in 2010!

All the best to you and your families.

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To celebrate Xmas 2009, IceInSpace is running a competition to reward our loyal and active members.

Most of us have collected something at some stage during our life - mostly when we were young I guess. For me it was stamps and coins. I had albums of them, and loved the thrill of getting something new to add to the collection.

What did you collect when you were a kid? What do you collect now?

How To Enter

To be in the running, all you have to do is post a (relevant) reply in the IceInSpace Xmas 2009 Competition - What Did You Collect When You Were a Kid? entries thread.

The members who have replied will go into a draw, and 12 lucky winners will be pulled out of the virtual barrel. You have to post your reply between Wednesday 2nd December 2009 9am, and Friday 11th December 2009, 3pm (AEDST).

For any questions, please visit the IceInSpace Xmas 2009 Competition - Discussion Thread.

Prizes

12 prize winners will receive a Young Collectors Space Coins Album, courtesy of the Perth Mint, valued at $79.95 each.

About the Space Coins Album

Celebrating the planets, explorers and stars of our solar system, the coins are encased in a lavish illustrated album that also includes a fact-packed guide to planets, a DVD about asteroids, two posters and an activity book to help kids retain knowledge about space.

About Young Collectors

In 2008, the historic Perth Mint released Young Collectors – an exciting Australian legal tender coin program exclusively designed for children to inspire their interest in the noble hobby of coin collecting.  Young Collectors is proving to be extremely popular among primary school-aged children, and with parents and grandparents looking to buy traditional toys and gifts with educational value and enduring appeal.

In response to the overwhelming success of the inaugural series, The Perth Mint has released the next chapter in the Young Collectors story.  The 2009 Young Collectors coin series will blast the imagination of children and adults into orbit, with nine Space $1 Coins each featuring a fascinating design – astronauts, rockets, shuttles, probes and many more.

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Hi all

We're offering an end of year discount to move some remaining Astronomy Calendar 2010.

The calendars are now only $13 each (includes postage within Australia), and you can get an additional 10% discount if you order 2 or 3 in the same order.

This sale is only on for 2 weeks, so place your order now!

Benefits of ordering your calendar through IceInSpace:

1. Low cost (10% discount if you order 2 or 3 in the same order)
2. Delivery to your door (within Australia)
3. You support IceInSpace!

Find out more, and place your order from the Astronomy Calendar 2010 Info page.

Thanks for reading.

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