Cambroon 24 Feb

[astroron]

I have had a few inquiries about next weekend 24th Feb?
The Moon sets at about 23:00 and is First Quarter! even so there is still plenty of time to socialise and do Astronomy for the night.
I know that a few people are chomping at the bit to do some Astronomy, so if there is enough interest we can have a night next weekend.
Let me know if you are interested.:thumbsup: astroron

[NewToStars]

i'm interested.. was itching to get out this weekend. and would be great for all those people who had to work...

comon really. who works on a saturday night. hehehehehehe.

[[1ponders]]

I'm itching....but I have a cream now :P

If it's fine Ron I'll be there with bells on.

[astroron]

Lets all hope for some good weather:prey: :prey: :prey: :stargaze: :astron:

[Gargoyle_Steve]

Well usually with me having 2 weekends out of 5 off I end up with either the weekend before, or after, new moon off - sadly this month I work the graveyard shift Saturday and Sunday nights on BOTH weekends, so I'm still going to miss catching up with many of you.

(in fact I'm at work now typing this - shhh, don' tell my boss!)
;)

As stated previously Ron I will call you later today (Sunday the 18th) or Monday sometime - weather permitting, and with your good graces, I hope to see you for some observing Monday night instead. (Tueday if Monday is clouded out perhaps?)

Cheers folks!

[astroron]

Steve! Look forward to catching up in the next couple of days cheers Ron

[Gargoyle_Steve]

Well it's rare in life sometimes, but occasionally mistakes DO go in your favour.

There has been some confusion at work re the roster - apparently I am now completly rostered off next weekend (the 24th, etc) anyway! So with luck I may be making 2 trips to come see you this week Ron which I think would be superb.
(Did you get the pm I sent you last night?? Occasionally I have troubles when hitting "submit reply" on this pc at work.)

I'll give you a call tomorrow after I wake up - won't be getting home from here until 7am so I'll need to grab a few hours sleep anyway. If the skies are looking clear I'll come see you anyway providing that still suits you. If next Saturday goes ahead and skies are clear I may just have to consider that a bonus and come along again to catch up with others.

[Gargoyle_Steve]

Feb 24th just happens to be the peak of the Delta Leonid meteor stream too I believe. Not a major stream but possibly worth a look anyway.
It's all good!

[drmorbius]

I'm interested Ron, but I won't know for sure if I can make it until that morning... so you can pencil me in. :P

[davewaldo]

Sorry Guys but I won't be able to make it... I've been booked out for photoshoots and retouching for the rest of the month!

Bring on the March new moon!

Have fun and I hope you get a great nights viewing!

Dave.

[Xeelee]

I can go weather and homework permitting

:party2:

I can't wait!!

[Odlaw]

I dont think iI can make it but things may change depending on work

[jjjnettie]

I'm a definate maybe Ron.

[Nightshift]

I'm in if the clouds are out! Oh, and no snow, ice, wind, rain, sleat, lightning, fog, drizzle, floods, earth tremors or dust storms. (I feel like I left something out???)See ya around 3 if all goes well.

[Gargoyle_Steve]

Tornadoes maybe Dennis? :thumbsup:

As a prelude to next weekend, and to perhaps wet your appetites: we had a small gathering at Ron's Monday night after all : I took my mate Gavin (not a forum member - yet) out to Ron's for an evening of social viewing, as did Graham from the forum here.

The clouds pretty much vanished prior to sunset, right on cue, and according to online sources there was NO jetstream within hundreds of kilometres of us. Things were looking good!

While Ron fired up his new-fangled propane burning SMOKELESS bar-B-que Gavin and I had a look at a very slim moon crescent sitting just above the main hill to the west (before it disappeared rapidly) along with Venus which was blazing like a mighty beacon just a little above.

Anyway we cooked dinner (Graham was dining on what looked like cheese & biscuits - did you have any wine with that Graham?) and once our food was ready Ron, Gavin and I dined at my observing table out near the scopes, looking up at the glorious stars as the heavens literally came alive for us. We were spotting satellites at this primo time of night at a rate of up to one every minute or so, Gavin drew our attention to one in particular and just as he did it gave us a tremendous intense white flareup for a few seconds. It would have been quite worthy of the Hubble, and it was better than any Iridium flare I have personally witnessed, quite spectacular indeed!

The viewing that followed dinner was very good mostly, with patches of cloud floating around at times but not intrusively so, not at this time anyway. The LMC blazed brightly even as the western sky still showed signs of the last hint of daylight fading out, the SMC was also clearly & unmistakably visible at this early stage.

Over the next few hours we had some wonderful viewing indeed: I saw more colour in Saturn, and I mean all of Saturn, not just the bands, than I have ever seen before. The entire globe stood out distinctly as a yellowish-tan colour compared to the more blueish white of the rings.
Ron managed to make observation of the last of the 24 Herschel galaxies that he has been working his way through of recent times. Omega Centauri has never looked so blatantly visible naked eye as it did to me that night, in fact I remember later in the evening how it still stood out clearly even through a wet haze across that part of the sky.

Graham sadly was having problems again with his new-ish camera (hope your phone call to the vendor went well Tuesday) so his evening was somewhat spoiled by that. :doh:

I have never seen a man with such perseverance as Graham has showed with various obstacles over the last few months - it doesn't matter what problem has arisen he has steadfastly worked around / moved through it. I'm sure that the results he will soon be achieving will be a testament to his determination.

Clouds did start moving in a bit more regularly as the evening moved along, Gavin left around 10:30 -11pm as he had to work the next day. The rest of us watched as Antares slowly rose through the gunk near the horizon and eventually we managed to view the new Scorpio nova between the trees as it cleared the horizon. We were hopeful that as it rose higher out of the swampy air we would see it naked eye but sadly the moisture / cloud continued to rise as well, preventing a naked eye view after all. By the time Jupiter rose it was clearly not worth even aiming a scope in it's direction for the wavering haze.

Graham left somewhere around this time(?) leaving Ron and I chasing the clear sky in between hazy fuzzy areas that grew larger and larger. I think we abandoned the scopes around 1am or so and talked while watching the skies (mostly with with God's own bino's) for another half hour before deciding that it was time to call it quits. A wet sky had been suddenly joined by very serious ground fog moving in as well.

All in all some excellent viewing with numerous meteors through out the night as well, good companions, fine dining under the stars - what more could a man want?

Hope to see you all Saturday!
:thumbsup:

[Nightshift]

Allright.... Who bought something NEW????? I've had it with this weather, Ron, looks like a no go at this time (5:30 Friday night) but I will make a decision by mid day tomorrow, I have three other people coming with me now that are all new to the hobby, one has equipment the others (father and son) are along for a look see. Hope it improves but will call you late morning unless it's pouring rain (forecast).Hope to see you all mid afternoon. Cheers, Den.

[NewToStars]

i heard we are in for a couple of showers tomorrow but it's suppose to be fine for sunday.

so far i'm still going... assuming it's not raining or overcast still at 4pm tomorrow.

[astroron]

:hi: If we all wish hard enough it will be fine;) :thumbsup:

[astroron]

:hi: Steve, a good report. It was an enjoyable night even though Graham had his problems.
Saturn was fantastic:eyepop: lots of detail and very crisp at the best seeing moments:thumbsup:

[drmorbius]

Sorry guys (and gals), but I won't be able to make it :(

Ron, I'll have to catch up with you next time... hope you get clear skies.

[jjjnettie]

I can't make it either. My first day of work is on Sunday. Don't think they'd appreciate me turning up with an Astro-Hangover.

[NewToStars]

wow. look, clear skys tonight. though the weather forecast is predicting rain, rain and more rain.

saturn looks good, but not great. ... can only see 1 moon. though the tv and house lights are on.

fingers still crossed for tomorrow night

[astroron]

:thumbsup: jjj I was wandering when you where going to start work:)

[Gargoyle_Steve]

Didn't you turn up late at your last job on the first day due to star gazing Jeanette?
:zzz2:

Is that why you needed this new job perhaps ;)

Good luck with it - I hope it goes real well for you.
I'll try to save you some spare photons in my light bucket.

[jjjnettie]

:ashamed: Could have happened to any dedicated observer Steve.

Have a great time Saturday night everyone. Clear Skies!

[NewToStars]

so far so good....

ron, hows it looking up there at the moment.. is that westerly cloud looking threatoning, or do you think it won't come over.

i'll prob come up tonight around 5:30 - 6pm.

cya's all tonight who ever is turning up.

[[1ponders]]

I'm afraid I'm going to have to pass tonight unfortunately. Other duties call.

[NewToStars]

wasn't a bad night.. not 1 cloud in the sky until 10pm, then all our primary mirrors fogged over. at 6am this morning there was thick fog on the ground and raining.

saw some really cool clusters and galaxies while we still had clear sky's and i think we counted 15 satelites in about 10 mins.

saw some cool metiors too.

[astroron]

Not a bad turn-up considering the uncertainty of the weather,Steve(Gargoyle)brother Don,and friend Greg and young daughter 8years old with own telescope and bino's, jason(newtostars),Chris(Xelee)and Dad Mike.Another Mike and wife Kathy, and yours truly
After a bbq and some good conversation we started to observe with Saturn, the moon, Venus and M42 and some views of Comet where had with the 16" and bino's.
The Leo Triplet and other galaxies were observed, Eta Carina and clusters in the area were a target for old and new observers.
Clouds rolled in about 23:00, just after the moon went down but we were able to observe intermittently till midnight.
After a chinwag and coffee called it a night around 01:00:astron: :stargaze:

[jjjnettie]

Glad you all had a good time.