Qld Astrofest "We're Home" Thread

[[1ponders]]

I'll take some time this week and write up my usual post event monologue, but just to get the ball rolling.......

I had a great time. Not as much clear sky as last year but that just gave more time for socializing :D I think at last count there was something like 25+ IIS members there. Next year I think there might be a few more members. A number of us were more than happy to sing the praises of IIS. I was surprised how many still weren't aware of our little site.

[[1ponders]]

Here's a few images to get you into the feel.

1. The h0ughy Hutch :thumbsup:
2. Allan Meehan and his fantastic IIS shirts.
3. Lynne and Jake, Coombellkid's (Rob) family
4. Xeelee (Chris) and Dad (Mike)
5. Astroron at Argonavis' 25" Peter Mead Truss Dob
6. DaveO (Dave :P ) and Argonavis (Bill)
7. Astro_south (Andrew) and his 12.5 Truss
8. jjjenettie (Jeanette) and Jack

[xstream]

Welcome home Paul.
Nice pics mate, but I don't see one of the bearded burbler with the beanie. :lol:

[[1ponders]]

On Saturday night there is a traditional feast, followed by the drawing of the Door Prize (25x100 binocs donated by York Optical) and the raffle tickets. While we didn't win the 10" Lightbridge or the Binocs or the Zenithstar 80, of the 30 prizes up for grabs IISers took home 20% of them, with both mickal555 and CoombellKid getting two prizes each :thumbsup:

1. CoombellKid (Rob)
2. mickal555 (Mickael)
3. Gargoyle_Steve
4. CK and Jake
5. jjjnettie
6. Lightbridge
7. Eddie T's fantastic mounted poster and Zenithstar (in box at right end)
8. York door prize binocs

[[1ponders]]

He was there John, :D I think that sneaky h0ughy might have grabbed one or two :lol:

[[1ponders]]

After we finished stuffing out faces it was time for photos :)

1. Gargoyle_Steve, Nightshift and drmorbius
2. (facing camera from left front going clockwise) Astro_south, Daniel (converted :D ), Bob (probably converted :lol: ), h0ughy, astroron, Xeelee and Mike
3. Dennis (making a point)
4. Yours truely

[RB]

Welcome back Paul, we missed you guys.
Glad to hear you had a great time.

Looking forward to more reports and pics.

[acropolite]

Yep welcome back, keep the gossip flowing.

[[1ponders]]

Sorry I can't Phil. I promised Dennis I wouldn't :rofl: ;)

[AstroJunk]

In my brief appearance (24 hours starting at 8 pm on Friday!) I managed to bump into a few of you – and even in the chaos of setting up in the dark young Jake got a peek at 47 Tuc through the 20" (I think).

I took this photo at 7:45 on Saturday morning of the IIS corner. It was impressive how much of a presence the online club made at the event – great stuff.

[[1ponders]]

Here's a few long exposure fixed tripod shots (45+ sec) I snatched on Thursday? night. You can tell the areas where people are imaging.

Lights??? what lights???? :P


And a couple of the ISS pass on the 20th

[venus]

Welcome home guys, great to hear and see that you all had a good time:)
Oh and is that 'orion' nebula there in the third across from the top in the night shots?

[[1ponders]]

Hi Venus, no that is looking towards the southwest at Eta Carina and Crux (cut in half, center top)

[drmorbius]

Great pics Paul,

What a hoot! It was great to meet many of you and put faces to the names. While it got a bit cool at times, Mini-Moribius and I had a terrific time.

And I think we can all be proud of the calibre of people that represented IIS... I was certainly proud to wear my T-Shirt.

[33South]

From the pictures it looks like you guys had a great time, they also put more faces to names.

Maybe next year if petrol is still under $2 or I get rid of the V8(not really).

[venus]

thanks Paul, still looks awesome no matter, how did the 'dark skies' compare with 'Lostock'?

[gaa_ian]

Good on you guy's & Gal's, I will have to put this one in my Calender for next year
I was busy setting up our new 18" Dob, so I will have to come next year to see what a 30" is like !
Apo Fever !!!

[jjjnettie]

I'm not saying a word about the Dennis Incident.

[Dennis]

Picture this – a band of drizzle wafts in from the SE so everyone rushes to cover up their ‘scopes. Most used tarpaulins and plastic sheets – but Paul, no, not our Paul; he’s used a tarp, poly sheet and a Ralph Lauren blanket, all wrapped around his G-11.

Everyone except the hard core IIS Team decides to retire for the night. I keep flitting back ‘twixt IIS Team and ‘scope, hoping to grab the Tarantula in a sucker hole.

Now, under the dim red light of a diffuse torch, half an eye on ‘scope and NGC2070, simultaneously dodging Houghy’s green laser light show, I happened to strike up a conversation with Paul, only he didn’t seem to be responding. Daft bugger I thought, perhaps he’s been dazzled by Houghy’s antics with the laser, so I politely continues chatting – one way. Suddenly Paul’s voice appeared. Only it was from off stage left. Way left - Boy, he’s a good ventriloquist thought I. Flicking on my red led torch I suddenly discovered I had been talking to his wrapped up G-11, which in silhouette, bore a striking resemblance to Paul. There, the story is now out.

And what’s more, the G-11 was a more interesting conversationalist! :whistle:

Cheers

Dennis

[[1ponders]]

Hmmm....compared to Lostock.....I'd say it is better than Lostock but I find that it is very hard to get a really dark site anywhere within a couple of hundred kms of major city/light polluters these days (I grew up under dark country skies so I have a pretty severe yardstick to measure dark skies agains now :P ), it seems to be more a grey colour these days. However having said that the scorpio/sag region literally glowed! It was stunning. BUT it was nothing compared to the Friday from last year. That sight was unbelieveable at 2:30 in the morning.

[[1ponders]]

Better lookin' too Dennis :lol:

[RB]

:rofl:
Sorry Dennis I couldn't resist, (but you did say Picture this!).
That was hilarious.

[RAJAH235]

ROFLMAO.....Mmmmmm, I wonder how many more 'resemble their t'scopes in the dark'? Sort of like, 'Owners looking like their pets'......:P :poke:
Glad you all had a great time...:D L.

[venus]

still jealous, sounds like what a 'star' party should, 'dark skies' 'telescopes' and a whole lot of 'fun' sorry I missed it........

[Gargoyle_Steve]

Although the clouds Saturday night have been mentioned previously, of the 4 nights I saw there (Wed thru to Sat) it was really only a partial inconvenience Friday night, and a few hours Saturday night that got clouded over. The days were pleasant, generally sunny, and we really didn't see any dew on the scopes at all, the driest viewing I have done since getting my dob about 4 months ago.

In addition to great viewing generally we were also treated to some great meteor activity at various times, one or 2 quite spectacular amongst them. One I saw in the extreme north was moving slow, very bright and intense, like a great yellowish magnesium ball. It only seemed to travel a short distance, but took a long time to do so!

I also came home with a great visual memory of the Milky Way on Wed night (?) stretching in all it's glory literally bisecting the sky and stretching completely from the southern horizon all the way to the northern - not only were the incredibly bright areas of the galactic band so visible but the vast dark areas stood out in comparison so well too.

After the feast Saturday night both Dr Morbius and I both had brand spanking new ep's purchased that day we were eager to try - his new 35mm (?) 2" widefield, and my new Hyperion 17mm, so even though it was clouded over we sat steadfastly near our dobs, eps's warmed and at the ready, drinks in hand (purely to ward off the cold) waiting for the sucker holes... oops, I mean waiting for the sky to clear totally.

In the meantime we had a spirited and hilarious conversation (inc drinks and nibbly's) with Dennis (nightshift), and Chris and Mike (Xeelee and his Dad) who also had some brand new gear to try out (VERY nice 99% reflectivity diagonal, and a microfocuser?). Topics of conversation ranged widely indeed, but in truth the chance to chat and have such fun was part of Astrofest that made it so special. Jeanette (jjjnettie) dropped by along the way too and joined the chat for a while.

Eventually the sky did start to show fuzzzy stars here and there briefly, we stuck in there knowing that if we had faith it would clear further.

Which it did. Then clouded. Then cleared again. And so on. Frustrating, but still quite sufficient to give our new ep's a good work out. (and Yes I do highly recommend my new Baader Hyperion ep, I think worth every cent I paid for it!) I spent some time examining the areas of the SMC and LMC (switching each time as a cloud band moved across).

I gave it up around 1 am after all as clouds appeared to be settling in again, but Randall (the good Dr Morbius) came out of his tent around 1:30 am to see a clear sky again, and I believe he then put in another 90 mins observing.

My congrats go out to the team of organisers for this event, and to the camp managers who manned the kitchen lunch and dinner time, without which I would not have been able to survive 4 days on the $5 "Hamburger and Chips" special (delicious!).

Even though the IIS team were broken into 2 "groups" - each camped and observing on the 2 separate fields basically - I think we still had a great team spirit happening, with people walking around and keeping in touch.

One final note: The IIS separate photo had approx 24 people in it while the individual pics of each of the "proper" associations had significantly less people in their pics.
:D

IIS Rulez!!!!

[iceman]

Great pictures, looking forward to seeing more and hearing more gossip and stories! Let's see the group shot! :)

Great story Dennis, for a minute I thought you were gonna say he was asleep while you were talking to him :)

Seeing pictures of a big star party always brings back great memories and makes me look forward to the next one.

[Striker]

hahaha Andrew....well done.

I hope next year I can stay for a few nights instead just a day visit like this year.

[[1ponders]]

Speaking of seeing someone asleep at the scope, that honour can go to Allan. :lol:

At some point during Wednesday night (? it's really a bit of a blur) I heard something that I though was thunder. Upon looking around the sky and not seeing a cloud anywhere I spotted Allan Meehan sound asleep, snoring away on his newly purchased bintel (they were a great hit wavelandscott :2thumbs: ) black observing chair. Boy they must have been comfortable. The Sealy Posturpedic of observing chairs. :lol:

[astronut]

What a motley looking bunch:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: I hope you all had a good time, welcome back.
Please post reports:thumbsup: John.

[h0ughy]

well I will post dome happy snaps, here is ponders in full flight, and the "official " group photo. I will post more later and a short story

[Dennis]

Here is a group photo of most of the attendees. The IIS community is scattered amongst the group - can you spot them?

Cheers

Dennis

Minolta DiMage 7Hi, 3 images auto stitched. Resampled to 2180 x 600. Saved as jpg with heavy 70% compression. File size 145KB

[Argonavis]

Gargoyle Steve had one of the black observing chairs, and I can attest that they are very very comfortable, worth every penny. I was initially skeptical that they were better than the many wooden observing chair creations around, but they genuinely are. If you want to sit comfortably for hours, there is no substitute, it just has to be these. They really are comfortable enough to sleep on. Some of the wooden chairs were being sold for $80 at Astrofest, but you get what you pay for.

[Striker]

Thats a great shot Dennis....could do with some flats but not bad at all.

Doesn't that bloke with the red holden jacket stand out out in the back row....lol

[RB]

You really love your reds don't you Tony?

Imagine if this was taken with a modded camera......:rofl:

[Dennis]

Hi

Here is a 270 deg panorama of the lower observing paddock at Camp Duckadang. This is where the giant dobs usually gather.

Cheers

Dennis

Minolta DiMage 7Hi, 7 images stitched using Autostitch. Resampled to 3455x600 with a whopping 85% jpg compression. File size 136KB.

[Striker]

wow Jenette...they are awesome images....the second one is a bit hard to see...actualy their all very hard to see.....lol

[Nordo]

I think their fabulous photos Jeanette - just need a touch more exposure.
I thought Paul's last set of photos included shots of Jeanette walking passed in her Ansett coat - until I looked a little closer:rofl: .

I would like to thank everyone from IIS for making feel so welcome, and tolerating my ignorance. I ordered my 10" GSO dob today:D . So when is the next Cambroon party Ron?????

Talking of Astroron, I hear he gave Brian Schmidt (the guest lecturer on Gamma Ray Bursts) a real ear full on space according to Astroron:doh: .

As for Astrofest as a whole - I think Tony and Anne-Louise are very special people and with the committee must do a massive amount of work leading up to Astrofest and , of course, during the whole event. Amazing people.
Thanks again everyone.

[astroron]

Hi All, I only arrived home a few hours ago, stayed at a friends place Sunday night to do some further observing , but it rained:D I was tired but happy for having a great astrofest, and meeting all the other iceinspacers.:thumbsup:
I seemed to have got the job of showing the sky to newbies and visiters, and I had a lot of great conversations with people in the dark and in most cases still don't know what they looked like:rofl:
On Friday night we had a visit by a cow that had lost its calf, Rob(coobala Kid) played cow cockie and reunited the mum and baby to the great relief of the people who were awake as it would have been worse than a bull in a china shop if it had run amoke, with about a hundred grand or more dollars worth of scopes and equipment on the field:eyepop:
Saturday night a great discussion was held in the observing field whilste waiting for the clouds to clear with a few drinks flowing the topic was the nature of the big bang and the light that has travelled the 13,7 billion light years to the present day and the age of the universe, and its expansion which in the end the verdict was that nothing was provable beyond a reasonable doubt, but Dr Ian Wilson a retired proffessional astronomer tried valiantly to express to a certain very mystified person:shrug: (not me) the current theory,but to no avail, the discussion was a lot of fun all the same.:rofl:
As has been said by other members some observing was done with Steve(gargoyle) and and I observing till about 3 0clock before I called it a night:thumbsup:

[firstlight]

Hi everyone,

I hope that everyone got home alright from the Astrofest.

I would like stories and photos from the Astrofest for the webpage if anyone would like to contribute. Send your happy-snaps 300 pix wide 72 dpi (it will save me a lot of work). If you send some astro shots, send them 1024 px wide (long axis) at 72 dpi. Please include a caption, identify people in images, all the standard stuff for astro photos.

I hope to work on the pages over the next few months, and your help is most welcome.

Cheers for now
Tony

PS Anne-Louise says that registration for 2007 Qld Astrofest should open in January. The dates for next year are August 6th to 12th.

[astro_south]

Good news on the 10" Nordo. nice to meet you and all the other new faces up there (and of course seeing the old faces). I had a great time with the only downer the clouds on Saturday night. The company was excellent, the food was great (and I won't mention the forests a couple of IIS'ers where cutting down in the wee hours ;) ). I should also thank my wife for letting me go up for two nights - with a 15 week old bub in the house I was lucky to go at all. Hopefully next year I will make it for most of the week (if not all :2thumbs: )

Didn't get many photos - this one shows my scope, but more importantly in the background (just behind my scope) is Paul's G11 - the site of Dennis's chit chat with the equipment ;) :D ... very funny

[CoombellKid]

Hi everyboby,

made it home safely, I was going to head straight out to Leyburn but
I thought that might be pushing the missus a lil. Many thanks to Tony
and Anne-Lousie for putting on another excellent event. Even though
we did get a bit of cloud and seeing all the scopes covered up on Sat
night was a lil depressing. But hey! along came the Houghy & Paul laser
extravaganza trivia show. We did in fact get some lovely skies earlier in
the week. I came home with lots of goodies, Lynne has seems to have
claimed the PST. Thanks to Astroron, Lynne now wants a 16"+ dob :D,
she thoughly enjoyed your tours of the night sky, even threatening to
join this group :eyepop: (not sure if that is a good thing or not :lol:)


It was great to see a big IIS contengent there, we were probably one of
the largest sub-groups there spread over two observing fields. I have to
admit that I too mistook Paul's G11 for him, marching over to chat to him
and finding it wasn't, must of been that hat he was wearing. However I
never chatted to it:lol:

regards,CS sunny days

Rob

PS: To the organisers Tony & Anne-lousie consider us prebooked for next
years 2007 event, it will be all 4 of us :D.

[mickal555]

Heh, I bought one of those..

I had a great time :D
Raffle was great!:D:P

Gonna come up for the whole week next time :D:thumbsup:

[Davelrkn]

Hi All
What a great well organized camp. Congrats must go out to Tony &Anne-Louise for their work during the camp and also to the rest of the Committee for the continued success of this event.

It was great to catch up with the IIS group that were there &put a face to a name and the ones I did'nt well there is always next year.

Dennis don't feel to bad with what happen to you I will let the group in on a situation that happen to me

Cannot remember exactly when but was around about the middle of the 90's up there when we had white fluros in the dinning room with the windows black out as they are today.The Committee later changed tored fluros due to people coming out after a coffee break and not dark adapted had a couple turn to soon rouning a corner straight into the brick wall
What happened to me after comng out from a coffee break into total darkness and at that time were the walkin fridge is now was the doorway we used to go outside.I stood for a few minutes and remembered seeing the outline of several mops hanging on the wall of the building about eight to ten feet away and knew if I followed along the line of mops to the end would be able to find my way to open space.So of I went touching the mops and working my way along the line of around 10-12 mops when the last mop spoke to me.I knew by the voice that this was female and said what are you up to.I just said sorry I did not see you there and tried to explain myself.

To this day I do not know who it was nor I hope they know who it was that made contact with them or maybe they do know????

Regards
Dave

[mickal555]

:lol::eyepop:

:rofl:

[alan meehan]

hi guys ,were back home again just like to thank everyone for such a good time in queensland, good friends great skies hard to say if it was as good as last year but it sure looked good to me.very good pics everyone,cant wait for next year.:D

[alan meehan]

they sure are comfortable stellar chairs NO i wasn,t snoring.....:whistle:

[jjjnettie]

I'll try that again.;)
Here are some piccies I took with the camcorder.

[jjjnettie]

Check out the unique apeture cover featured on the dob at the front of the picture.:rofl:

[drmorbius]

:D That'd be mine (not the dog... the scope!). Scooter (the dog) belongs to Morbius Jr. One of our more unique Dob mods...

[wavelandscott]

I'd kinda lost track of this thread over the last few days...glad I picked it back up.

Thanks all for the positive comments on the chairs...I am a bit biased but I agree :thumbsup: ...

Souunds and looks like everyone had a grand time!

[h0ughy]

Mate after a elderly Astronomer saw me on mine he tried it and then bought one there. Awesome chairs. Thanks for importing a life saver:thumbsup:

[[1ponders]]

What was it Gerald said h0ughy????? One of the best astronomy accessories he'd ever bought? :D

[h0ughy]

yep even better than that new atlux mount
:thumbsup:

[wavelandscott]

Guys, you are making me blush...:ashamed:

[Dennis]

At a spritely 76 years, Gerald wasn't the oldest at the Astrofest - someone arrived on Saturday with their dad, a mere youngster at 94, who then went on to win one of the raffle prizes at the astrofeast. :thumbsup:

A timeless Universe and an ageless hobby that embraces all and sundry.

Cheers

Dennis

[h0ughy]

I must say I had a ball. Met some very friendly people, some strange ones, and some fruitloops. I am bitterly disappointed that the all nighters cabin does not live up to its name. I seemed to be the only one doing this for some reason, most abandoned the field early. in hindsight, Saturday night should have been pristine as well. would have saved a lot of personal heartache for me by packing up early. My only quip- I did not get a photo of Dennis in his costume

[jjjnettie]

I wish that I could have had more time to spend with you all. 2 days and 2 nights is not long enough.
Did Paul ever post his 12 minute exposure of M20?

[h0ughy]

:P :P :P

[jjjnettie]

He made me do it! :whistle: