Nundah Star Party help needed

[OneCosmos]

Last year I used facebook to organise what I assumed would be a sparsely attended public observing night at Boyd Park in Nundah. Obviously, given the inner city location, the moon and the planets were the primary targets. The event was extremely well supported and we believe there were around 300 people in attendance and the scouts put on the obligatory sausage sizzle.

Even though we did have about ten scopes present the queues were too long.

I am planning to hold a second session now and the date set is Saturday 7th September. The choice of date is determined by the fact that I want it to be a Saturday and the moon, Jupiter and Saturn should be visible in the early evening.

I would really appreciate anyone in the community that may be able to come along with their scope. I’m sure we will achieve similar to larger numbers this year and more scopes than last year would help make it successful.

Please PM me if you’re able to come along with a scope.

[OneCosmos]

The date is now definitely set for Saturday 7th September (weather permitting). I would live to hear from anyone who can help by bring a scope along. The last event was very well attended indeed -some 300 people so the more scopes the better.

Cheers,

Chris

[OneCosmos]

The event is now well and truly locked in and is going to be a bit disappointing without s few scopes.

I plan to take both of mine -the SDM 16” and the 152mm APM refractor big I can’t man two scopes for a public observing night so if anyone fancies turning up without s scope to facilitate people using one of them that would also be appreciated.

Chris

[JeniSkunk]

PM sent, Chris

[rrussell1962]

I'm in again Chris. Happy to bring the Obsession or operate one of your scopes.

[JeniSkunk]

Your 18 inch Obsession and my 5 inch SkyWatcher tabletop, would make for an interesting contrast in scope sizes and capabilities.

[Suzy]

Hi Jen,

If your 5" tabletop has a red dot finder, the kids should have a lot of fun using it themselves (providing you allow, supervised). My 4" is a hit with the kiddies, I sit them on the ground with it and away they go, being super rewarded for finding themselves.

The date just misses Saturn grazing the Moon (Brisbane) best at 1am on the morning of the 9th. Lucky people in some Aussie states get the occultation.
But we in Brissie will get our full show on Sept. 12th, just around the corner yipeee :D !

All the best with your event Chris, if you want to do a shout out to promote further via our facebook page, send me a message there. I'm always up for supporting & promoting astro events around Aussie :)

[gaseous]

Should be OK to bring the 20" dob.

[JeniSkunk]

A red dot finder is a standard accessory with my 5 inch collapsible Dobsonian.
Using it to line up on anything much above 70 degrees alt is an exercise in contortion.
I have my 5 inch set up on an old wooden kitchen chair.
For me, getting down as low as you describe, is an impossibility. Arthritis in the knees and ankles.

[OneCosmos]

Hi everyone,

It has been such a busy day and so I’ve only just looked at my post again and it is great to finally see some activity; I was getting concerned. I’m looking for as many scopes as possible -you can’t really have too many and last year it was astonishingly well received and supported. This year promises to be as good or better.

Soon I’ll look to compile a list of names and contact details and scope details too.

Thanks everyone, much appreciated.

[OneCosmos]

Fantastic. Thanks.

[OneCosmos]

I’m sure anyone of us can happily align/find for you?

[OneCosmos]

Absolutely yes please. I’m not concerned really with the numbers of the public turning up because Nundah is quite a community, my main concern is making sure there are enough scopes.

[OneCosmos]

Thanks Richard. I’d rather ask someone unable to bring a scope to operate my dob (I’ll be with the 6” refractor), so please do bring the 18”. Too valuable to omit.

[OneCosmos]

The Facebook event link is:

https://www.facebook.com/events/726116097818356/?ti=icl

To view it I suspect you have to join the Nundah Northgate group but it is simple to join just give me and astronomy as the connection and you should be allowed in. I think I can send invites too. I post updates there for everyone to see but I will communicate with scope owners via email once I have s list.

[OneCosmos]

The date just misses Saturn grazing the Moon (Brisbane) best at 1am on the morning of the 9th. Lucky people in some Aussie states get the occultation.
But we in Brissie will get our full show on Sept. 12th, just around the corner yipeee :D !

Actually I thought the occultation of Saturn was on 12th August:

https://astroblogger.blogspot.com/2019/08/occultation-of-saturn-monday-12-august.html?m=1

[JeniSkunk]

The post from Suzy, I'd replied to, was about setting up the scope, on the ground, for children to learn to use the red dot finder.
No way I can get down that low.
The other problem is trying to use the finder, working against approaching Dobson's Hole. There's no real way around it. It's why I'd like to get a SkyWatcher Virtuoso 90mm Mak Cass, because I can use the 130mm Newt on the Virtuoso. Set it up, and GO-TO.

[OneCosmos]

[QUOTE=JeniSkunk;1439839]The post from Suzy, I'd replied to, was about setting up the scope, on the ground, for children to learn to use the red dot finder.

Ah In my talk I will mention both collimation and the red dot finder but a demonstration isn’t possible to a large group but all the people showing using nests can perform those tasks with people watching. I’ll have the refractor so neither are used.

Peter Robbins has kindly agreed to man my 16” s SDM abc can show people with that.

Chris

[JeniSkunk]

At lower alt degrees, mine is pretty easy to use for such a demo.
Crane the neck, so head is resting on the right support locking bolt, close the left eye, and the right eye is looking straight through the finder.
It's only once you move up past about 60 degrees alt, that the contortions in trying to use the finder, becomes an issue.

Checking Stellarium, it looks like it'll be too bright to see much till at least 6:00pm - 6:15pm. I have Stellarium set to do LP of Bortle 8, since that pretty well matches how little I can see, and on Sept 7, I can barely get the pointers visible at just on 6:00pm.

[Doolsduck]

Chris did you put the request on the Brisbane Night Sky and amateur astronomy enthusiasts FB page? Sure you'd get people from that. I myself could bring a scope but it would probably only be a 4SE and I don't think that would be very helpful.
cheers
Michael

[OneCosmos]

I’m not a member. Just requested membership which is pending

[OneCosmos]

I thought it worth giving an update on this event. I think, so far, we have about 19 telescopes committed, which is great, but, potentially, given the number of people that may turn out, not necessarily sufficient. Essentially, more the merrier.


If you are able to bring a scope along please do contact me via PM.


Cheers,


Chris

[OneCosmos]

Things continue to progress well and although I’d still like more telescope volunteers we do have sufficient to put on a good show. By all means contact me if you can be available with scope.

Saturn and Jupiter last night looked quite simply painted on the lens of the refractor with pin sharp perfection that doesn’t even look real. Nundah typically has unusually good seeing.

Chris

[JeniSkunk]

Yeah, the past few weeks have been pretty good for viewing them. I like using my 6.5mm Saxon Cielo HD eyepiece for viewing them, even though I have to constantly adjust the scope to keep them in the eyepiece.
That's a downside to a manual scope, you have to do the tracking yourself.
At the evening, that means I'll have to be constantly making sure my scope is on target.

[OneCosmos]

With just 5 days to go I thought I’d provide a quick update. We now have around 18 telescopes confirmed which is a great outcome.

Obviously no idea how many people will turn up to view but I suspect in to the several hundreds so it will be a busy night!

Don’t let the fact that we have 18 scopes dissuade you from turning up with yours though. The park is very big and can accommodate any number. Every additional scope will reduce queues.

Chris

[JeniSkunk]

Tonight is it.
Really looking forwards to things.
See you this afternoon Chris.

[JeniSkunk]

Thanks very much to Chris and everyone else who was able to make it to the star party to help make it a great success!
:)

Here's some photos from early in the afternoon at the Nundah Star Party

[croweater]

Excellent shots Jenifer. Looks like a good time. You got a good spot for your heritage 130. Right near the BBQ. :thumbsup: Cheers,Richard. :)

[OneCosmos]

The evening was a great success although numbers were down on last year. We had perhaps 200 people come along. We had close to 20 telescopes in operation and I would like to thank all those people who helped out by giving up their time to make their telescope and expertise available.

As well as providing an opportunity for the good people of Nundah and surrounds to view the moon and the planets it seems to have spurred the planning of similar events in other suburbs which is great to see.

[JeniSkunk]

Chris, one thing I learned from the star party is, I need to get some of those battery powered LED strips for the chair I use to set my scope up on.
When I was buying a sausage from the sausage sizzle, I needed to look carefully to see where my scope was, as it was in a nice pool of dark with few people around.
Having those LED strips on the legs, set to red, and low brightness, would have made finding it a bit easier.
:)

[mental4astro]

Great to hear the event was a successful one, Chris :)

I'm very glad to also read that you had a great deal of support from the astro community as well! :astron:

Nice pics too, Jenifer :)

Alex.

[JeniSkunk]

*mutter grumble
In other people's posts, auto-INcorrect is doing its usual work on how my name is spelled.

[OneCosmos]

Thanks Alex, yes it was very successful and I believe the public who came along had some fine views through some fine scopes.