18th South Pacific Star Party: 14-16 May 2010

[Paul Hatchman]

I'm pleased to announce that registrations for SPSP 2010 are now open.

As usual, we got some good talks lined up, the Astro-imaging competition, the Telescope, Accessories and Software competition, workshops, vendor displays, the swap meet, nightly sky tours and much more.

So please come along and help celebrate our 18th brithday.

There is more information and registration forms available on our web site at http://www.asnsw.com/spsp/index.asp (http://www.asnsw.com/spsp/index.asp)

If you've any questions, please ask away.

Hope to see you there,

Paul Hatchman
President
Astronomical Society of NSW.

[Paul Hatchman]

The rules for the 2010 SPSP Astro-imaging competition are now available.

See http://asnsw.com/spsp/imagingcomp.asp for more details.

[tlgerdes]

Now that we are 18, does that mean we can legally drink alcohol there?;)

[multiweb]

Alcohol and rocketry.... nasty! :lol:

[marc4darkskies]

A single category for the astro-imaging comp?? :confused2::question::shrug:

[tlgerdes]

The reasoning behind is this, it is a peoples choice award. People will choose based on a lot of different reasons. We want entrants to put a little explanation around their photo, what they used etc. The human mind can make very subjective decisions when context is put around a scenario, ie a fantastic photo taken with $20,000 worth of equipment versus a really good photo taken with $2000 worth of equipment, people will make different choices for different reasons.

This is the reason we are also offering lots of place getters to the comp, 1 person 1 vote. The greatest photo might get 99% of votes, but the next 4 places are decided by the other 1%

[Paul Hatchman]

Just a quick reminder that the early registration discount ends on the 23rd April. Please register in the next week if you want to save some $$$.

Cheers,

Paul Hatchman

[Paul Hatchman]

You only have one day left to register and receive the discount. If you are attending, please register ASAP.

Thanks,

Paul Hatchman
President ASNSW

[Paul Hatchman]

Hi All,

Registrations close at 5pm on Friday 7th May. If you would like to come along, please register as soon as possible.

Hope to see you there,

Paul Hatchman
President ASNSW

[space oddity]

Hey, now that the star party is an "adult", we may partake in adultery;). .......under the stars, with the milky way looming way overhead........
see you all there
s od

[gary]

With some luck, the recent run of fine weather will continue at this weekend's
South Pacific Star Party. It's going to be cold at night, so for first time visitors,
the best advice is to pack as if you are going to the snow fields. :thumbsup:

Wildcard Innovations has been a proud sponsor of the SPSP for many years
and we are proud to be a sponsor again this year.

Lachlan MacDonald will be there with a 30" SDM scope available for sky tours
courtesy of the Three Rivers Foundation (3RF). So if you don't have a scope,
still come on up as there will be plenty of aperture to share around. :thumbsup:

Please drive very carefully and we look forward to seeing you there.

Best Regards

Gary Kopff
Managing Director
Wildcard Innovations Pty. Ltd.
20 Kilmory Place, Mount Kuring-Gai
NSW. 2080. Australia
Phone +61-2-9457-9049
Fax +61-2-9457-9593
sales@wildcard-innovations.com.au
http://www.wildcard-innovations.com.au

[iceman]

I so wish I could be there - the weather is looking very nice (but yes - very cold!).

Good luck guys, have a great time.

[h0ughy]

I concur - i wished i was there. we had cloud in Newcastle last night until it was too late (for those who have to work). i sit here broken hearted knowing that Alan, Dennis Zambellis and the rest of the guys from NAS are having a ball.........

[spacezebra]

:sadeyes:

I curse the FA cup!

Have a great time guys - looks like the weather is going to be Fab

Cheers Petra d.

[shahgazer]

Good luck guys

How I wish I can fly back for the SPSP this year! Just couldn't get enough 'fund' for the trip this year. 30" SDM scope scope sounds very tempting. :evil:

The biggest scope that I've ever managed to observed with and play around was the 25" at Ozsky at Coona last year.

And I can still vividly remember the first thing that I saw when I stepped out my motel room at Coona, the CoalSax!!! :eyepop:

BTW, Gary,how's the Ozsky event this year?

[madwayne]

I'll get in first with a post mortem.

Two fantastic nights had by all, three nights for those fortunate enough to be there Thursday night. We had clear cloud free skies, a complete back flip from the weather from last year, and also a very good turn out of participants.

Congratulations to ASNSW for putting on this fantastic event. Also my own personal thanks to a few people, Paul Hatchman and John O'Brien for offering me up their phone numbers in case of bad news on my sick father (fortunately all is well at the moment), to Barry for organising the imaging field and cutting up the fire wood to keep us warm during imaging runs, to the winners of the various competitons run in conjunction to the star party and to all the people on the imaging field for their friendly companionship (including Fred and Michael for their interesting debates at 3am :lol:) over the weekend.

Well done ASNSW and see you next year.

Wayne Madsen

[qld]

hi the spsp was a great success with clear nights everynight th temp was mild for the site and the birthday cake (18th birthday)was sensational,prizes were also sensational as were the speakers,,,especially Trev from Broken Hill
who is a regular on this site .Well for those of you who did not come your absence was noted as there were no queues for showers etc, oh and the astros were up to the high standard set by previous spsp.
Beats me why people dont support events like this where all the money raised goes back to the Astro community in every way an the manufacturers and suppliers who sponsor these events can be encouraged to develope or:thanx: import better intruments
can see for themseles

:thanx:

[gary]

Hi Shah,

Thanks for the post and hope you have been keeping well.

We really wish you could have been there but we appreciate that making the
trip from overseas is a considerable expense particularly when you add the
overheads of transport and accommodation.

As has been mentioned, the weather was the complete opposite to last year
and the night were beautifully clear. The temperatures hovered just above
freezing but the warmth and comfort of the freezer suits made that simply
a statistic and the cool air certainly helped with mirror cool down times.

I believe there were well over 300 attendees.

Courtesy of the Three Rivers Foundation (3RF), Lachlan MacDonald
and Tony Buckley had transported a 30" and an 18" which were made
available for sky tours in addition to the club scope which Lesa Moore
operated. Lach operated the 30" on both nights attending to perpetually
long queues and Tony operated the 18" on the Friday night and Mai and I
gave Tony a well deserved break and operated the 18" on the Saturday night.
There were plenty of "wows" from atop the ladder as we showed them objects
such as Omega Centauri, The Tarantula, The Antennae, The Blue Planetary,
Saturn and many, many more.

Lach and Tony were fresh back from Armidale, where along with the help
of John Bambury, had hosted an observing night there with 500 attendees.

Special congratulations to Lesa who was honored with Life Membership of ASNSW
and also to Scott Mellish who was also recently awarded with Life Membership.

Scott had also designed this year's T-shirt. Emblazoned with the famous
ship of Jason and the Argonauts, Mai and I particularly liked it! :thumbsup:

Attendee Phil Hart was left with the problem of how he was going to transport home the
Celestron SCT he won in the lucky door competition in his already fully loaded
car.

Congratulations also to the lucky Argo Navis discount winner and thanks
to all the other sponsors.

Every year the astrophotography becomes better and better and Mike Sidonio
took home so many awards that most others would probably have trouble lifting them
all up at once! :lol: Congratulations Mike! :thumbsup:

At the end of the prize giving, attendees were asked to stand.
Then they were asked if they had attended only
one SPSP to sit down and so on until a small number who had attended all
18 were left standing. They were asked to come forward and to give accounts
of the first SPSP's - like how they would ride there on horseback or in hand cranked
automobiles armed with their speculum mirror telescopes. :lol:

The volunteers did a fabulous job and they made the event go like
clock work and it had a relaxed feel about it. Thank you to all the people
who work behind the scenes to make it the success it was.

The spit roast really hit the spot before venturing out into the cold air on Saturday
night. Whilst having dinner, it was interesting to look back at the photos taken
from previous SPSP's. Many familiar faces, some distinctly younger than
they look today and some sadly no longer with us at all.

It was great to be out on the observing field during the day time and soak up the sun.
The lower camp ground was abuzz and the astrophotographers set up around the
house with their arsenals of computers and equipment made it look as if Mission
Control had relocated to Wiruna.

It was great to catch up with so many people and to meet some new ones as
well. Kelly and Juanita were probably the two who had traveled the furthest,
some 2400km, all the way from the Yukon in Canada at 63 degrees North.
Another attendee had come from Japan.
Trev from Broken Hill was there and he recounted the excitement of being at
the Kecks. It was great to spend some time chatting with Trent and Julie and
to Don Huggup. We always look forward to seeing Monte and Bruce Wilson.
Rob Greaves had brought his HF transceiver and with the help of Lach
climbing the tower, they strung up a dipole. On Saturday morning I chatted
with Rob up in the house whilst the squawking of SSB transmissions from
amateurs around the world went on in the background. Rob had attempted to
make contact with amateurs at the Texas Star Party but had no luck
on that morning and there were many factors working against it, including the
state of the ionosphere during a sun spot drought.

Looking through the solar scope that Michael Chaytor from Bintel had set up
outside the meeting hall revealed several distinct prominences but little in the
way of sun spots.

Best Regards

Gary Kopff
Mount Kuring-Gai

P.S.

Shah, this year's OzSky event was fantastic and we were lucky to have
many great nights of observing. Hope to see you back here in the near future.
Failing that, it has been many years since I was in K.L and as we discussed
I am sure I would be flabbergasted by the changes so it would be great to
visit you guys one day.

[telecasterguru]

Thanks to everyone for once again putting together a great weekend of first class star gazing. It was fantastic. I look forward to seeing everyone again next year.

Frank

[RobF]

3 fantastic nights weather and company. What a great star party. Thanks to everyone involved in organising the event!

Many happy memories and pics to take home.

[Satchmo]

I was another great event. I've attended every one in the last 18 years.

On Saturday night I spent most of my time around Paul Hatchmans excellent 20" F3.7 on a tracking platform. My favorite eyepiece was the 17mm Ethos with Paracor. There were never any lines, just a ring of seats around the scope and a very peaceful 'vibe' . At most one step to the eyepiece in any part of the sky. I think a setup like this is about as close to optimal for the visual observer, when all things are taken in to consideration. Only a true binocular view could raise the bar for this experience.

It was noticeably quieter on the main observing field ( although lots of telescopes) with the bulk of the serious imaging rigs having congregated around the house at the back of the property. I guess the imagers don't have much to do while their gear is taking exposures, leads to a lot more social talk and buzz, while the visual guys are either looking for or observing objects.

[Phil Hart]

thanks everyone for a great SPSP!

this was my first trip to Wiruna and the SPSP, but if you can rig the weather and the prize draw like that i'll be back every year! ;)

was great to meet more astrophotographers and IIS folks on the photo field and see this very nice and dark ASNSW site. three clear nights in a row allowed for some ambitious photo projects.. now i need another weekend to get stuck into the processing..

Phil

[strongmanmike]

Yes, one of the best SPSP's I have attended :thumbsup:. Actually I have attended 7 SPSP's now and only last year was a wipe out, it is usually pretty kind weather wise with at least one of the two nights clear.

I arrived early and had a great night on Thurday night with lone use of Paul Hatchmans 20" F3.8 when he ducked off to have a coffee for a couple of hours :D. With its compact design and that nifty little Argo Navis in control it is an incredibly user friendly scope that gave amazing views under the pristene skies above Wiruna - a welcome change for an avid imager, Thanks Paul :thumbsup:.

In the end this electronic eyed imager didn't do a single bit of electronic eye imaging or even visit a computer screen on the field :lol:..after using Pauls 20" on Thursday night I utilised a 12" Meade on the two other nights and a few other scopes on the field - what great fun!

I am also glad so many enjoyed the astroimages on display and went to the effort to vote for their favourite image, it is always a great feeling when you know people enjoy what you do over so many long hours both at the scope with your camera :camera: and in front of the puter afterward :question: :bashcomp: :rolleyes: :screwy: just to get'em right

SPSP is a great event everytime :thumbsup:

Mike

[Rodstar]

Sounds like it was a great success, what a shame I missed it.

I am trying Duckadang this year for a change of scenery.

As it turns out, I had such a bad headcold last weekend; I would have been miserable had I come.

Hope to see you all at SPSP19 next year.

[Quark]

Have to agree that the 18th SPSP was a bottler.

It was the 6th for our family and most enjoyable. Caught up with a few IIS'ers, RobF, Gary & Mai and finally met Michael, loved his outstanding image of the Helix. Always look forward to having a chat with Lesa Moore and catching up with Don, Les and the other ASNSW regulars.
My son reckons its worth the trip for the doenuts from the scouts during the nights. As usual the spit roast and food from the scout tent was really excellent and it was a bonus that the nights were clear.

Regards
Trevor

[IanParr]

What a great great Star Party!

Three nights of glorious clear skies and no wind which was Good Karma well earned after last year.

The observing field was a delight with zero light issues allowing three nights of full dark adaption and the instruments to take full advantage.

The Imaging field was a buzz of good fun and serious imaging.
Barry and Trevor, take a well earned bow. Excellent job

The quality of entries in the Imaging Competition was outstanding despite an unseemly show of gluttony when it came to the awarding of prizes.

Full credit to Paul Hatchman and the ASNSW volunteers who worked so hard to make the SPSP 18 our best Star Party ever.

And a special nod to former President Les Sara for the vision to push the party back into May. Despite such a chequered history when May pays off it really pays big!

And a special thanks to our guest speakers, Trevor Barry, Dr David Deboer and Dr Peter Tuthill for their first class presentations.

Which all makes it a hard act to top (until next year).

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thanx: :thanx: :thanx:

[multiweb]

It was great! Thanks to all who made that possible. Had a ball. So true about May. Thanks Les :thumbsup:

[strongmanmike]

Gee Ian, that's a bit harsh :shrug: what exactly do you mean by this comment?

It was a popular vote, the final results had nothing to do with me. The awarded images weren't even displayed at the presentations...so, how should one have acted in your opinion..?

Mike

[Paul Hatchman]

A very big thank you to everyone who attended and thank you all for your kind comments. We had such a great crowd and that makes it so much easier for us.

Just a reminder that you can submit any feedback via our website http://www.asnsw.com/info/contact.asp or via email to StarParty@asnsw.com

If you'd like to see something different in the program let us know and we'll seriously consider it. And if something went wrong on the weekend, please let us know about it. Don't assume someone else has already told us!

We do try and improve the facilities each year and your feedback helps us to know where to best direct our efforts.

Thank you all once again and I hope I will see you all again next year.

Paul Hatchman
President ANSW.

[Paul Hatchman]

You are welcome! I can't even remember now what kept me occupied during the Thursday night (probably getting the generator working?), but I'm glad someone was getting good use out of it. :thumbsup:

[IanParr]

:help:

Mike,

That w a s a c o m p l i m e n t !

Best Rosette ever!!

;)

Ian

PS Rumours of a ban from future imaging competitions are greatly exaggerated.

PPS THAT WAS A JOKE.

Just let your images do the talking.

I'll shut up now. :D:D

[strongmanmike]

Joke huh...? Hmmm? Well if you had written it more like that the first time it would have been much clearer :rolleyes:....I can usually pick poor humour and when somone is being a little facetious :question:...because I dish so much of it out myself and yes I get missinterpreted on ocassions too.

:thumbsup:

Mike

[Greg Priestley]

Hi all

All of the "official" photos that I took from the SPSP are now accessible from the home page on the ASNSW website http://www.asnsw.com/

Cheers
Greg