Blue Mountains - Katoomba Airfield April 13th

[mental4astro]

Hi all,

Rod at the Airfield's given the ok for us to use it on Saturday 13th of April. Fingers crossed for a good, cloudless evening - we need the photon fix! :scared2:

Access to the Airfield is via Medlow Bath. Head into Station Street and hang a left onto Rutland (also called Grand Canyon Rd). The Airfield is 4km from this intersection, with the last 3km being unsealed, and can have errosion damage. On entering the Airfield, turn left at the entrance and head past the "No Entry" sign, and turn right at the buildings to the main runway. We use the concrete slab on the left just before the runway proper. The picture below will help with the route through to the set up slab. The picture below shows the way to the slab on entering the Airfield.

We are welcome to stay overnight as there is plenty of space in the office building. Hmmm, being April, it might be time to fire up the combustion heater in the office - possibly the most popular place during winter, :cold:

The Airfield is a total BYO situation: your own power, food, water, etc. There are loos for the ladies and kids.

The Airfield enjoys a 1020m elevation, which does wonders for toning down the sky glow from Sydney. This is one of the highest observation places within reasonable distance from Sydney. And not being surrounded by farmland, and on the top of a rocky plateau, dew is very rarely a problem.

Come for a couple of hours or stay all night :)

Mental.

[MortonH]

I shall be at Lostock attempting to get a photon fix. Hopefully we will both be successful!

[AstroJason]

Count me in again, hopefully less clouds this time which means I will try stay the entire night.

[AG Hybrid]

:thumbsup:

[vic4loc]

Sorry cant make it in April, will be in Europe.

Victor.

[GeoffW1]

Hi,

Sounds good, I intend to be there

Cheers

[killswitch]

Count me in

[GeoffW1]

Hi,

To those who have been there, what would you reckon the Bortle rating of this place to be? About 3?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bortle_Dark-Sky_Scale

I am curious because I've purchased Astroplanner and I can make such a setting apparently.

Cheers

[AdamJL]

G’day folks. Haven’t posted in a million years, but if alright, I’ll come along to this. Might bring a couple of fellow newbies who are keen on learning about astrophotography too!

[mental4astro]

Hey Adam, mate, look forward to seeing you there, and the fresh blood too, :D .

[Wavytone]

Geoff, I'd say Katoomba Airstrip is a 3.5 on the Bortle scale. Aside from the east (washed out badly by Sydney), overhead and to the west, clouds are dark but the zodiacal light is not easily discernable. On a really clear night after a thunderstorm it could make a good 3, but I haven't been so lucky there.

A bit further west, Hargraves lookout on Shipley Plateau IMHO is easily a good 3, possibly a 2 on some nights; the zodiacal light is easily seen there. Clouds are just black holes and on the western horizon you can see airglow. But the east is no better than 4 or 5 for the same reason as the airstrip.

[mental4astro]

On good nights, yes I'd say 3. M33 was a naked eye object, though easier to spot it's full extension with averted vision, but definitely there with direct vision. The LMC also shows a lot of structure, with distinct mottling of the Tarantula.

I also agree that Hargraves is darker, but, man, it is no where as comfortable as the Airfield in winter! Never been as cold as the night I went there mid winter. My bones ache with the thought of that night. Fantastic sky though.

[Wavytone]

I'm going to be interstate, so once again I'll miss.

But I just had a nice evening with my scope out at the north turramurra golf course, the seeing was excellent and the Milky Way just visible...

[Manav]

Alex - Im in as long as its clear night! Scopeless as always :/

[mental4astro]

So far looking good for Saturday, :)

[GeoffW1]

A bit of cloud is OK, just a bit. :D

[AG Hybrid]

Ill be bringing 1 extra, maybe 2 new people who want to check it out.

[Steffen]

I'll be at IISAC, hope to see you all again at Katoomba next month.

Good luck with the weather!

Cheers
Steffen.

[AdamJL]

Really looking forward to tonight :)

See you folks there!

-Adam

[seeker372011]

I would like to come check it out tonight, but maybe stay for only a few hours.

What time do people get there?

Narayan

[hickny]

I'm hoping to get there around 5pm. Sunset is at 5:35pm so just enough time to set up. When I last spoke to Mental4Astro (Alex) he said that he couldn't make it. I'll bring the gift for Rod and we can pass the hat around like usual.

[seeker372011]

Just looked out the door.. Fluffy cloud starting to build up....hope it dissipates

[AdamJL]

Are you near the airfield Narayan?
Weather should be different up there (could be better or worse!). I wonder what the temperature is going to be. Time to bring out the winter woolies.

@Peter - what's the go with the donations for Rod? No complaints, I would just like to know what to bring :)

Should be there closer to 730 I think - we'll only be leaving here at 6 unfortunately, and I have to drop by somewhere to pick some gear up.

[seeker372011]

I am nowhere close to the mountains but it is looking increasingly grim over western stdney

[AdamJL]

Could be a bit of cloud up there:

http://www.weatherzone.com.au/nsw/central-tablelands/katoomba/detailed-forecast

50% at most with current forecast. I hope it clears up!

[hickny]

I pick up a slab of his favourite beer which usually costs around $45-$49 and depending on how many of us turn up we split the cost. Generally it works out at about $5 per adult.

[AdamJL]

Great, thanks for the heads up Peter!

[AstroJason]

Hey guys Ed and I are here but the gate is closed. Rod know we're coming tonight?

[Manav]

I'm heading out @ 7:30pm should be there by 9:30pm. See you guys then!

[hickny]

Here is a link to a few of the photos I took last night.
It was wonderful to meet the new people and re establish contact with old friends. It looks like Saturday 11th May has the moon 1 day old. Mark it in your diary. Hope to see you then.

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?p=965987#post965987

[AdamJL]

It was good to meet/re-meet you folks again too :)

Thanks for letting me and my friends see through your scopes as well! That was fantastic. I hope to post some pictures soon.

Dave, Steve and I left at 4:20am. I'm very tired :zzz::zzz:

[AstroJason]

Very tired as well but had a such a great time again, can't wait for the next one.

[lacad01]

Looks like you guys had a great night. Fingers crossed if the field is available in May would love to catch up

[Wavytone]

Wow.. that's late !

I'd suggest next time consider a few hour kip till sunrise, then drive home - even sleeping in the car you'll be OK and it will be a lot safer !

[Wavytone]

Let me guess... it was clouded out again right ? :rofl:

[killswitch]

It was quite clear actually except for some thin high clouds that went past.

Heres some of my pics from that night

[Wavytone]

Aah very nice - looks like you had a blow-in ?

[hickny]

Hi killswitch(Ed),
Your photos are amazing. I want to find out what settings you used.
Well done.

[lacad01]

Ditto, good shots Ed :thumbsup:

[killswitch]

Thank you :)

I used a Nikon D800 with a 10.5mm f2.8 Nikon Fisheye lens and a Tokina 16-28mm f2.8 lens.

Settings were 30seconds f2.8 ISO3200 and processed with Adobe Lightroom.