CAMBROON JAN 20th 2007

[astroron]

:hi: The first Cambroon Astronight of 2007 will be held on Saturday 20th Jan.
Those astronomers who are not going to Lostok and are starved of observing, here is the chance to recharge your batteries:D
Lets see if we can give Lostok a run for its money and have a big turnup:lol:
For the new members of iceinspace from South East Queensland who would like to attend look for directions on this forum or are:welcome: to contact Paul (1 ponders) or me by Pm or email.
Please indicate if you are attending.:astron: :stargaze: :thumbsup:

[[1ponders]]

We'll be due for a clear night by then :lol:

[astroron]

Come on Paul be more positive and say we will have clear skies by then:lol: :lol:

[Gargoyle_Steve]

Count me in Ron, will be good to catch up with you and Paul (you ARE coming Paul I assume?) Randall are we going to see you there?? Wes, Chris & Mike, etc, etc? It's been 6 month since Astrofest, let's make this a great night!

I've got the bugs worked out of the 12" dob now (sort of) and to be honest it needs a night of great viewing under good dark skies to show me what it really can do. (Sadly my little Meade has just developed a 'bug' of it's own - intermittent, but frequent, complete loss of azimuth motor. I'll try and dismantle the electrics soon and see what I can see.)

Looking forward to seeing lots of familiar faces there, and perhaps even some brand new ones!

Steve

[astroron]

:hi: Great Steve it will be good to catch up with you. Fingers crossed for GOOD WEATHER:prey: :prey: :prey: :prey: :stargaze: :astron:

[davewaldo]

If the weather is good I will be there!

I have only ever had my 10" Dob out in semi dark skys so it will be great to see what it can do also! It will be good to see you guys again.. My astronomy interest has exploded into a full on hobby since my last visit to cambroon!

I think I might be having some issues with collimation so it will be great to get some advice too!

I look forward to it!

Dave.

[astroron]

:hi: Dave it will be good to see you again,catch you in a fortnight:thumbsup:

[NewToStars]

i'm going to try to turn up. i'm a newbe to all this. so would be good to get some advise and possibly some help with my 8" dob, if it needs adjusting in anyway.

be graet to catch up, and see space through bigger telescopes or better ones also :D

[jjjnettie]

Count me in Ron.

[astroron]

:hi: :welcome: I look forward to welcoming you to our South East Queensland group, if you need any info how to get here and need somewhere to crash let me know.:thumbsup: astroron

[astroron]

:cool: jjjnette, fingers crossed for good weather:thumbsup:

[stephenmcnelley]

Ron, i want to, but can not attend.
Local enthusiasm here obliges me to be present, but i would rather be at a better dark sky site and learning. Weather is getting a bit heavy up here today, i suspect last night was the best of it for us for a short while, and the weather condition might follow through to the south and a bit west in the next week or so.... finally, the seasonal northerly influence is kicking in.

Hope all goes well for your astro night on the 20th,
we will take it as it comes up here.
Steve:)

[astroron]

:thumbsup: Steve, Hopfully catch up with you in the future.
Good luck with your AstroNight.:) Ron

[jjjnettie]

Hey Ron,
Do you think your mate up on the hill, the one with the lights, would let us all go up to his place to get a better view of the comet?

[astroron]

:hi: JJJ I dont think it would make any difference as at 18:30 on the 20th the comet wil be at 233 degs South West at an altitude of 16 degs just were there is a a 20 deg hill:(
Depending how bright it is on the 20th? if it is still naked eye we may be able to see it befor it goes behind the hill.
I will scout around to see if there are any better vantage points.:thumbsup: Ron

[jjjnettie]

:thumbsup:

[Xeelee]

Careful Paul you might jinx the whole night :scared: :D

Count me in!!

[[1ponders]]

:lol:

I promise not to buy anything else this week.....maybe :D

[NewToStars]

got me dob today. finally arrived in the mail.
hopefully i'll be there.

[drmorbius]

Happy New Year Ron,

I'm going through some serious observing withdrawal as a result of the silly season, so I'm planning to be there. It'll be great to catch up with everyone again.

cheers -- randall

[NewToStars]

hey few questions.
how long does everyone hang around for.
what will i need to bring. equiptment wise, food drink, etc?

thanks

[astroron]

:hi: NewToStars,If the weather is good quite a few people stay all night, you can bring a tent and camp,or sleeping bag and mattress and sleep in the lounge on the floor or on the veranda.
Bring your own food as we usually have a BBQ ,and drinks, I supply the tea and coffee.
bring warm clothes and footwear and as you stand around quite a bit it can get quite cool, also a camp chair
There will be a variety of scopes and bino's so you will be able to get lots of info.
Most of all bring your scope;) :stargaze: :astron:

[Nordo]

Happy New Year to Everybody:jump2:
I hope I can get to Cambroon.
I'm playing cricket on the 20th at Yandina. What's the shortest route to Cambroon from Yandina?

It will be good to see everyone again, and to give first light to my 13mm Stratus and my Orion 2" deluxe barlow:D (Chrissy present - To John, with love, John).

[Argonavis]

insect repellant

[astroron]

Thats only because the mozzies like you:lol:

[astroron]

:hi: Nordo,look forward to you joining us on the 20th.
Go to this site and put in the details and it will tell you the quickest way to get here.
www.whereis.com.au
Cheers Ron:thumbsup:

[Nordo]

Thanks Ron:)

[NewToStars]

i'm definately going to turn up to this. i've had my first taste of saturn and i want more.... hmm.. those early morning planets is what i want.

any chance, if i don't have a 2X or 3X barlow lense in time i could borrow someone's on the night so i can really see what my scope is capable of.

cya's there.... i assume people are turning up from about 5:30pm onwards

[jjjnettie]

I have a spare barlow you could borrow. What's your name by the way?

[astroron]

Anytime after 15:30 will be ok, it will give you a chance to set up and also look at other scopes and talk to everyone,and have the BBQ out of the way before it gets dark.:thumbsup:

[NewToStars]

my name is Jason..... or Jase

[Nordo]

Definitely need to be there and set up before sunset to catch comet McNaught. I think I will be struggling to get there in time, depending on when my cricket match finishes. Hope everyone doesn't mind a bit of BO (maybe Yandina cricket ground has showers:whistle: ).
Another good reason to turn up early is to get to meet everyone. Once it gets dark, everyone is just a shadowy figure.
BTW, buy or make a red torch if you don't have one. So far I've made do using a normal torch with 6 layers of red cellophane tied over the lens with a rubber band. Not perfect but it helps you see what your doing, and helps prevent you tripping over 1Ponder's tripod while he's taking a sequence of images:scared: .

[NewToStars]

i work till 4. so 5:30 will be the earliest i can get there. should only take 40mins to get there from Redcliffe.

[Xeelee]

Sorry guys I can't come this Saturday. I have found out about a birthday party that I must attend.

Will endevour to make it on the Sunday evening if that okay with Ron??

Chris

[Gargoyle_Steve]

Shame we won't catch you Saturday Chris, but hopefully sometime soon!

Jase if you're coming from Redcliffe I'd say you have more than 40 minutes drive ... it takes about 30 minutes from Maleny to Ron's place, especially first time when you're not sure where you're going, and I would think you would have more like 40 minutes or so to get to Maleny (if you go that way)

Still thats not a problem, local sunset will be around 6:40pm at Ron's so you have plenty of time to get there in the light anyway, just not so much time for daylight chat.

Look forward meeting you there, and meeting any other recent additions to the Cambroon family, and I'm definitly looking foward to catching up with old friends again.

Roll on Saturday!!

[Nordo]

I just realised that due to the hills around Cambroon, the sky may still be fairly bright when the comet is visible. ie, the sun has gone behind the nearby hills, but is still illumunating the sky. Would that be right Ron?
I have too many trees to the west at my place to be able to spot the comet so far:mad2: .

Astroron:hi:
Do the hills hide Saturn? I tried to view Saturn last right, but all of the low north was obscured by cloud.

[NewToStars]

i got saturn last night around 10pm. wasn't very good seeing though.

[astroron]

:hi: Nordo, Saturn rises about 30 minites after it's official time due to the hill in the east:thumbsup:

[Nordo]

I have yet to see Saturn. With my barlow I can get down to 4.5mm, but that might be a bit beyond my 10" dob. Still, there's heaps of other things to see in the summer skies - and this is my first summer:) .

:thumbsup: CSCSCSCSCS:thumbsup: (that won't put a curse on the night, will it?)

[NewToStars]

i just bought a 2X barlow and 6mm EP from york optical yesterday. so i can now get 400X mag. tried looking through last night, but conditions just weren't good enough. .but 240X mag with my 10mmEP barlowed is sweet.. but still. conditions weren't great.

weather looks fine for this weekend.. shouldn't be cloudy, but there might be a bit of wind around. it's still a bit far away to tell for sure though.

[astroron]

:hi: Chris, Sunday is OK weather permitting:thumbsup: Ron

[NewToStars]

anyone know if the weather will be good tonight. or will everyone be turning up what ever the outcome, apart from a torrential downpour.

[astroron]

:hi: Jase Most people don't turn up if it looks like it's going to be cloudy, but it has in the past it has been cloudy down the coast and Brissie and clear up here:) , most people play it by ear.
I don't know what the weather will do tonight, I have my fingers crossed that we will get some observing in:prey: :astron: :stargaze: :thumbsup:

[[1ponders]]

I'm packed already :D I'm hanging out for a night under the stars. It has been sooooooo long.

[Nordo]

Jase
Nothing beats a nice clear dark sky:D . But if your new to astronomy (not just new to IIS), then you would really enjoy a night at Cambroon - even if the skies are cloudy. I'm very new to astronomy, but the regulars at Cambroon have taught me so much. Plus they're a great bunch of guys as well:screwy: .
I normally bring some warm clothes (even if it is hot on the coast), some food (BBQ food if you like), viewing equipment (even binos work well in Cambroons dark skies), and yourself.
BTW, there is a donation box there to help cover coffee, tea, etc.

[jjjnettie]

I'm just about packed and ready to go.
Must have a Nana nap before leaving, I expect to be up most of the night.

[davewaldo]

Hi Ron,

Any chance of a quick weather update before we head out there?

Whats the sky doing at the moment?

Dave.

[[1ponders]]

Well it looked like Dob city at Ron's last night. I've never seen so many 8 and 10" dobs in one place at one time. Ron, Jeanette and I left to image the comet at around 6ish and only Gargoyle_Steve (and Don and Joy) and drmorbius (and mini-morbius) were there as well. Not very threatening for my GM8 with SCT and ED80 mounted.

It was a different story when we returned around 8:15ish. My poor little GM8 looked like it was under siege by a veritable field of mini white and silver hot water heaters, all pointing in the same direction and performing little ballet pirouettes as they simultaneously swung and tracked DSOs. It was quite poetic, if not a little bit threatening to the lone black eq mount sitting in the middle of that syncronised horde. :poke: ;)

All in all it was a lovely night meeting new faces and catching up with old. We played Russian roulette with the cloud for awhile (with some stunning views at times) until everyone started to head on home around 12ish. It was nice to finally catch up with Saturn and get my gear out in the field for the first time in 3 months if only to shake a few storage bugs out of it.

We did manage to catch quite a few shots of CMcN and here are a couple hot off the press. The second one is just to give those who haven't seen it a perspective on how bright it is, we had a visit by the local bush fire brigade during the imaging session.

Thanks everyone for a great night and thanks again Ron for making your place available. :clap: See you all again next new moon. :thumbsup:

[jjjnettie]

Fantastic night!
It was terrific to catch up with the old hands and welcome the newcomers.

The clouds were a bit of a problem, but there was enough clear sky to keep us going.
Though everything else in the sky paled in comparison to viewing the comet earlier in the evening.
I took lots of photos, but just about all of them are too grainy to post. Especially when you have pictures like the ones posted in the Images thread.

I think the problem with the camera is that the batteries, which get very hot with continual use, are too close to the CCD chip. A design problem with the camera. Time to save up for an external power supply for it.
Thanks for the hospitality Ron.

[jjjnettie]

Here's those photos of Saturn I took with the DV camera.
It's a good comparison between the two scopes I think.:thumbsup:
Thankyou for letting me use your equipment.

[Dennis]

Fantastic Saturn images jjj - well done, I'd almost forgotten about him with all the cometary hype.

Cheers

Dennis

[astroron]

Considering the cloud hanging around South East Queensland there was a good turnup at Cambroon last night with Paul(1 ponders) Jeanette (JJJnettie)
Jason(newtostars)Davewaldo and friend?,Steve(Gargoyle Steve), brother Don and Julie,Dave(Nordo) Drmorbius and little morbius and a friend Gordon.
After over an hour of being overwhelmed by Comet P1 Mcnaught returned to as Paul Remarked a field of Dob scopes of all sizes from Little morbius"s4" through 8" 10"12" and 16".
The BBQ which was started late ,(because we were away comet hunting )went down a treat and was enjoyed by all who partook.
The newbies seem to enjoy themselves and promised to return in the future.
I hope to go and do a bit more comet hunting tonight:thumbsup: :astron: :stargaze:

[NewToStars]

thanks guys for putting on a great evening...... shame those clouds came across, we had some awesome conditions there in amongst them.

thanks for the initiation too for the directions to get there.. hehehe. I knew it was at Cambroon, but i didn't knwo where to go once there..... i found ya's.

i learnt heaps and can't wait for the next one.

[Zubenel]

HI Giys ,
Sorry i couldn't make it on Saturday but Sunday night didn't disappoint.
Oh that Comet. Hold me me down cause having this much fun could seriously affect my health!!! Words are not enough!!
Can't wait to get the photo's back tommorrow. I'll have a go at posting some:shrug:
I enjoyed the tour with your 40mm Mike and Chris. Thanks. :thumbsup:
CHeers for Now . Zub

[Zubenel]

Hi Ron ,
On the way home this evening after our failed attempt at Eastern Mary valley road , i spied the Said Comet whilst driving , just before the Knob. ( Didn't see 30" pete). We all got out of the car and as plain as day there it was!!:thumbsup: Spewing light into the heavens like a fountain.We just caught the nucleus , before it set and with the Glass house Mountains to the side . What a sight. All the billy's saw it including Levi ( 2 year old) So the trip wasn't a total waste after all. ;)

Cheers Zub

[astroron]

Great Wes,Pistol Pete turned up at 20:35, all the usual reasons for being late;) Glad the family got to see the comet. :thumbsup: Ron