PRejto
17-11-2013, 05:31 PM
I'm sure SWAP and ASAE need translation in the land down under. Luckily I have been able to combine work and astronomy with a trip to my former home of Tucson! The Arizona Science and Astronomy Expo debuted in Tucson last year and this year has returned bigger and better with the addition of a new program called "Southwest Astrophotography Seminar" or SWAP.
SWAP was a large success and the brainchild of imagers Warren Keller and Alan Traino. About 100 were in attendance for the 2 day event which included terrific lectures by the likes of Adam Block, Craig Stark, Don Goldman, Bob Denny and many others. Sponsors included several that I saw at AAIC just recently including FLI, OPT, Planewave, Atik, Starlight Xpress, and many others. There was an impressive array of equipment at the conference before the expo!
The expo is amazing. I've not attended any other events in the USA of this nature so there may be larger gatherings of instruments, but this didn't leave much to be desired! Just about every major telescope maker was represented and there were accessories everywhere. Sadly there was no way to get a good shot of the entire room full of gear. Highlights for me were personal conversations with Dan Bisque and Richard Wright of Software Bisque, Yuri of TEC, and Roland Christen of Astro Physics. One of the photos shows Yuri posing with his custom built Maks. There was a gorgeous TEC180 for just US$19,000. I had to take a very deep breath being a refractor nutcase. I also picked up my new Trius camera from Hutech. One product really caught my attention. It's a new mount by iOptron (CEM60) that promises to come in two versions with a payload of 60 lbs weighing only 27 lbs. The standard version is your normal geared mount, but the upgraded version includes full encoders and on the bench has a measured PEC of .3. Now sit down because the indicated price is around $4,000.00. When I asked how that could be possible I was told it is because they have totally designed and are manufacturing their own encoders. The 10Micron mounts looked pretty incredible, but so is the price!
The expo was highlighted by two exceptional speakers. The first was the brilliant UC Berkeley astronomer Alexi Filippenko who was involved with two of the teams that won a Nobel prize for the discovery of the accelerating universe. Filippenko is charismatic and very very funny. It doesn't hurt that he looks a bit like a young Robin Williams either. He started the lecture with a comparison between cosmology and cosmetology and put up the advertisement (see photo). It was a great lecture that was not only informative but hysterical at times. Later in the afternoon we heard from Story Musgrave, a retired astronaut who flew missions on all of the 5 shuttles and was responsible for the repairs made to Hubble and the failed mirror. I kid you not when I tell you that this guy was not only an astronaut but a brilliant mathematician, aircraft mechanic, Marine, MD of Neurology and Psychology, commercial pilot, balloon pilot, and former director of the largest computer in California (at UCLA) back in the days before transistors. Now "retired" he is a professor of landscaping and has a 10 year old daughter that he is determined will go up to space with him in the Virgin Galactica. I'm sure I skipped a few things, but the list of achievements is just staggering. His speech was designed to be motivational (another of his list of endless jobs) and it surely was.
Tomorrow is more of the same. I'll report on it if it is interesting!
Photo below: Story Musgave
SWAP was a large success and the brainchild of imagers Warren Keller and Alan Traino. About 100 were in attendance for the 2 day event which included terrific lectures by the likes of Adam Block, Craig Stark, Don Goldman, Bob Denny and many others. Sponsors included several that I saw at AAIC just recently including FLI, OPT, Planewave, Atik, Starlight Xpress, and many others. There was an impressive array of equipment at the conference before the expo!
The expo is amazing. I've not attended any other events in the USA of this nature so there may be larger gatherings of instruments, but this didn't leave much to be desired! Just about every major telescope maker was represented and there were accessories everywhere. Sadly there was no way to get a good shot of the entire room full of gear. Highlights for me were personal conversations with Dan Bisque and Richard Wright of Software Bisque, Yuri of TEC, and Roland Christen of Astro Physics. One of the photos shows Yuri posing with his custom built Maks. There was a gorgeous TEC180 for just US$19,000. I had to take a very deep breath being a refractor nutcase. I also picked up my new Trius camera from Hutech. One product really caught my attention. It's a new mount by iOptron (CEM60) that promises to come in two versions with a payload of 60 lbs weighing only 27 lbs. The standard version is your normal geared mount, but the upgraded version includes full encoders and on the bench has a measured PEC of .3. Now sit down because the indicated price is around $4,000.00. When I asked how that could be possible I was told it is because they have totally designed and are manufacturing their own encoders. The 10Micron mounts looked pretty incredible, but so is the price!
The expo was highlighted by two exceptional speakers. The first was the brilliant UC Berkeley astronomer Alexi Filippenko who was involved with two of the teams that won a Nobel prize for the discovery of the accelerating universe. Filippenko is charismatic and very very funny. It doesn't hurt that he looks a bit like a young Robin Williams either. He started the lecture with a comparison between cosmology and cosmetology and put up the advertisement (see photo). It was a great lecture that was not only informative but hysterical at times. Later in the afternoon we heard from Story Musgrave, a retired astronaut who flew missions on all of the 5 shuttles and was responsible for the repairs made to Hubble and the failed mirror. I kid you not when I tell you that this guy was not only an astronaut but a brilliant mathematician, aircraft mechanic, Marine, MD of Neurology and Psychology, commercial pilot, balloon pilot, and former director of the largest computer in California (at UCLA) back in the days before transistors. Now "retired" he is a professor of landscaping and has a 10 year old daughter that he is determined will go up to space with him in the Virgin Galactica. I'm sure I skipped a few things, but the list of achievements is just staggering. His speech was designed to be motivational (another of his list of endless jobs) and it surely was.
Tomorrow is more of the same. I'll report on it if it is interesting!
Photo below: Story Musgave