Blue Mountains - CANCELED

[mental4astro]

Canceled

[MortonH]

I'm free but no transport! :help:

[AG Hybrid]

I hope to be there

[ariefm71]

Me too

[Wavytone]

update: nope forget me, other priorities.

A pity as our little boy has noticed the stars in the night sky from home, he's fascinated - and he's not even 2. Wants to go outside every night to look up as it gets dark.

Dad has decided to build his first dob.

Good luck, all.

[JRC]

Thanks Alex for organising and for the note

I'm a maybe - I suspect I have some other tasks but you never know

[mental4astro]

Fingers crossed for steady seeing and good transparency. But I'll take just a clear sky all the same :)

[killswitch]

Will try to make it!

[sharptrack2]

Figures, I have company tomorrow evening. Will have to settle for LP'd backyard if I get a chance. Will be spending some quality time with the stars tonight though.

[mental4astro]

CANCELED

Sorry everyone, something has come up and I am obliged to have to cancel this event.

Alex.

[AG Hybrid]

Disappointing. Haven't had a dark sky fix for about 5 months. On top of that we finally have decent weather.
Maybe a visit to MT Blackheath is still open to us? Not sure if anyone wants to go though.

[Star Catcher]

Hi Adrian

Welcome to come along to a semi dark sky fix at Linden tonight. :)

Ted

[AG Hybrid]

At linden Observatory? Is that place open to the public tonight?

[AG Hybrid]

Alright. Edison and I will come to Linden if they are happy to have us.

[killswitch]

Yeap will see you there Ted

[Star Catcher]

No problems. We are here already. Skies are ok. See you here.

[MortonH]

Hey guys, how was the night at Linden?

[bigjoe]

I'd like to know also, as I would like to go along soon enough; work and SWMBO permitting.

bigjoe.

[AG Hybrid]

It was good. A lot's changed since I was last there. Lots of tree's removed. Also the 30 inch is up and running and working like a charm. Had some decent seeing for a while. Got some great views of Jupiter through the 30 and our scopes. A shadow transit followed by the GRS - top stuff. Met a lot of new people as well. Club house is now opened and stocked with tea and coffee. Relatively speaking quite a lot of observing space too.

Is the sky as good as the airfield? Not even close. But, its still semi dark and the Magellanic clouds are easily naked eye. Only a 45 min drive for me from Toongabbie. East to about 40-45 degrees above the horizon is washed out but the rest of the sky is good. The view north is completely unobstructed. Made cruising through Leo easy. That being said had trouble seeing the mag 13-14 galaxies. Darker sky's needed for that. Sombrero galaxy looked surprisingly detailed as it rose over the Sydney light dome.

All-in-all a decent site to head to when the airfield is unavailable. I'll be joining the club. Access to a 30" scope is worth the price of admission.

Also met Arief and enjoyed the views in his Tak CN-212. Also spent some time using someones (can't remember his name) Tak TSA102 - what a scope! I under stand why people are willing to pay the premium.

[killswitch]

We had a fantastic time at Linden. Good turn out and the 30" was out.

The drive was considerably shorter and on sealed roads. Skies were completely clear till a bit cloud started to appear after 2am.

Seeing changed throughout the night but was able to see Jupiter with cracking detail in the bands and the GRS.

As always Adrians dob had fantastic visuals as did the taks around us. You would have fit right in Morton.

[MortonH]

Joining the club sounds like a good idea. The membership form suggests you need a proponent to endorse your membership application. Need to find an existing member!

[MortonH]

Cool. Managed to see some detail in Jupiter from home with the Tak but seeing was variable like you said.

[AG Hybrid]

I'm sure Ted (Star Catcher) will be happy to help.

[mental4astro]

Anyone tried to spy out the supernova in Centaurus A?

[ariefm71]

Had a fantastic time at the Linden observatory. Many thanks to Ted for accommodating the three of us on such a short notice. Forgot to do the SQM reading but if Coona is a 9 and Sydney cbd is 1, the airfield would be a 7-7.5 and Linden would be a 6-6.5. Also many thanks to Adrian for letting me test your eyepiece collection, now I know what eyepieces I want!

As Adrian said, the 30" dob is worth the price of admission. Best view of the Tarantula ever!

Arief

[Steffen]

I'm happy to oblige :)

[MortonH]

Sounds good. :thumbsup:

[Star Catcher]

Happy to help with endorsement as well, I didn't even know it was a requirement on the application form :)
Ted