Cambroon 3rd May

[astroron]

The AstroNight for May will be on Saturday the 3rd as New Moon is on Monday the 5th.
See you all here :astron::stargaze:

[Gargoyle_Steve]

Looks like we'll be doing a major change to our roster between now and then Ron, so once I know what I'm doing I'll let you know.

[[1ponders]]

I'm in. Fingers crossed for the weather.

[davewaldo]

I'm in.... hopefully will be my first night of imaging!

[drmorbius]

Hey Ron,

I'm keen, I just need the social director to approve my leave request first.

ttfn -- randall

[DJVege]

Hope i can make it Ron! It will also be my first night of imaging if I can make it out there!! :)

[drmorbius]

I don't know Ron... Sounds like you're going to have to set up Cambroon with an imaging field soon... ;)

[astroron]

Randall,Paul ( 1 ponders) and I already discussed the very subject;), and I was going to mention it at the next observing night.:thumbsup:
Ron

[Gargoyle_Steve]

Err .... further down the hill perhaps?

;)

[[1ponders]]

Yeah that's what we thought Steve. The dobs should be fine down there . ;)

[Davros]

Hey...............shafted, and i havent even been out to Rons yet. :P

[astroron]

I think you misunderstood our conversion Paul.:P you have it A** about face:rofl::rofl::rofl:
As the ad says get down the bottom:lol::lol::lol:
Ron

[[1ponders]]

Might have to bring the rideon over and carve out a bit more area. ;)

[astroron]

Your :welcome:I"ll even shout you a cup of tea or two;)

[jjjnettie]

I'll be there with bells on.
The Eta Aquarids will be happening before dawn.
With a ZHR of 30 in the days before peak it could be worth staying up all night for.

[WeeGraeme]

Hi, All.

I would have liked to attend something like this, but I don't finish work until 5 pm that day and I start work at 7 am the next day. On top of that, it looks like it's a 2 hr trip each way.

Are these normally all night events? Or are they nightfall until a particular time usually?

[jjjnettie]

Some people stay all night, others leave early because of work or family commitments. Either way it is well worth the effort to come along.

[WeeGraeme]

Thanks. I'll keep my eye open for the next one and hope that work allows me to attend. If I got off on time, I wouldn't be there before 7. It's nothing to have to work 2 or more hours overtime either, which means I'd get there at around 9. Then I'd have to leave at around 10 or so. Better to keep my eyes open for a time when I know I can definitely get there.

[drmorbius]

I know... let's put the imaging field on the other side of the bridge... :D

That'll save you travel time too, Paul...

[[1ponders]]

The Cambroon Caravan Park and Astronomical Center. :D

[Davros]

Yay, i got a leave pass so i'll be there.

[davewaldo]

Thats great Mick! I hope to see you and big Blue there. :)

[DJVege]

And already my cousins are trying to hold another birthday party on next weekend! :( That's what you get when you're Indian with a million cousins!!

Ah, don't worry...I'm still comin!! :thumbsup:

However, what can I bring for dew prevention? Some kind of massive umbrella? (That will have to be moved a lot). I hate dew!

[Gargoyle_Steve]

I'm VERY pleased to say I'll be there for sure!!!
:party2:


We've implemented our new roster (it rolls out as of this Monday) and under the new Grand Scheme I'm rostered off right across that weekend, from 7am Friday morning until 5pm the following Monday.

Looks like there's a great group assembling already, very much looking forward to seeing you all there!
:hi:

[davewaldo]

Thats GREAT news Steve!

It will be good to catch up with you!

[AlexN]

Count me in!

Got heaps of new toys that have been begging for a dark sky location for a proper test!

[drmorbius]

Woo-hoo... my leave request was approved.

Look forward to seeing you all... :thumbsup:

[jjjnettie]

First in best dressed for the prime spots.

[astroron]

It will be great to see you again Randall:)
You will have to wear a name tag to let me know who you are,as it's been a while:P
Ron

[drmorbius]

It has indeed Ron... I'm really looking forward to catching up.

And BTW... I'm the tall good-looking one... :D

[[1ponders]]

....in the dark! :rofl:

[astroron]

Funny:lol::lol::lol:
Ron

[Gargoyle_Steve]

Looks like we'll also have 5 of the current 6 Barambah Camp committee members on site ... we have some issues to discuss if we get a chance.

I'll post some bits and pieces in our private area in the meantime, and I'll pm you all so you know when I've done that.

[batema]

Looking forward to it. Will be there. Could someone let me know if the bridge has reopened. If not where do we turn instead Thanks Mark.

[astroron]

Hi Mark,the bridge is still closed, read this thread it has all the instructions how to get here .
It is advisable to get here about 3 oclock or there abouts so as you can find it in the daytime and you can also check up with other members and have a bit of a chat.:thumbsup:
Ron
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=30345

I will try to put some signs out, but don't bank on it, as the last lot got destroyed, one by a car and one by vandals.
Just follow the instructions and you can't go wrong.

[[1ponders]]

I'd better get there early then. ;)

[Nightshift]

Attention Ron and Paul, yes Paul I know your not too sick as you have posted just an hour or so ago, LOL.

I have built that cable for you Ron, the trouble is, i dont know if i'm coming on saturday or not yet, I'll have to wing it. Paul, could you drop in to my office on Friday and pick it up to take to Ron's please?

I am not working Friday and your not here today or tomorrow, so the best bet is that I will leave it on my desk, you know what it looks like.

Thanks guys and I may see you on Saturday.

Cheers.

P.S. Randall, no red wine. :lol:

[[1ponders]]

Np Dennis.

I am too sick!!!! I'm just taking a precautionary day to make sure it doesn't get too bad. :) Sort of like a mental health day that bureaucrats take .;)

[drmorbius]

No worries Dennis, I promise not to share my red wine with you...

[Gargoyle_Steve]

After witnessing at close range the great afternoon (and the terrible evening of observing afterwards) that you pair and your red wine had at Astrofest last year, I have only 2 words for you both :

" cow tipping "

:lol:

Lucky you don't run any livestock Ron!

[AlexN]

:lol: Cow tipping.... Dems was tha days!!!

[jjjnettie]

Cow tipping???
Is that anything like Cow Pat Lotto?

[AlexN]

Basically... cows sleep standing up.... if you are really really quiet, you can sneak up on them and, well... tip them over..

Obviously when they wake up they are usually not the happiest of cows...

[drmorbius]

Hmmm... Cow Tipping requires red wine. Sure you won't change your mind Dennis? ;)

[Nightshift]

Hmmmm, no cows close by, but I have invented a new sport, one that improves your chances of using your green laser for guiding, its called imager tipping, works the same way, and when they wake up they are cranky too. :whistle:

[Davros]

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl ::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

[Xeelee]

Gee, you don't watch this forum for a few days and you lose the plot completely....

I am looking forward to utilizing the coming weekend for a great nights viewing.

Hope to see you all there and hope your all well (PAUL!).

Chris
(The Original Barambah Talking Port-a-loo)

[Gargoyle_Steve]

At least you made sense when you were talking Chris, and I always enjoy observing with you and Spartacus but never more so than at Barambah on that final night when there was just the 3 of us there.

Anyway, you eventually came out of your green nylon closet! ;)

Looking forward to seeing everyone, old friends and new, this weekend!

[007Borg]

Hi Ron, we'll be coming along again and should be bringing a couple of newbies. Sounds like a good crowd for Sat.. :thumbsup:

To those "cow tippers".... ever try that big metal one alongside the B'Hwy to Brisbane ?? After a few bottles of red I'm sure it would start to look real :lol:


Shaun

[drmorbius]

What???? Metal??? No wonder it wouldn't tip over...

[[1ponders]]

See ya soon Ron. I'm leaving in about 5 min. Looks promising :thumbsup:

[Davros]

Unfortunately i am staying home. A trip to the dentist has left my a very sore person with a much emptier wallet. :sadeyes::sadeyes::sadeyes::sadeyes ::sadeyes: Hope you all have a good night and remember it didnt happen without pictures and comprehensive reports. I've got to live vicariously through this machine instead of being there.

[AlexN]

Just wanted to say thanks to Ron for hosting the event and thanks to everyone who came and enjoyed the dark skies and eventually the dripping dew!

I had an awesome weekend (still going... skies back home are still light polluted, but theres no dew..)

[[1ponders]]

Wow, what a turnout. Somewhere between 15 and 20 different scope setups, and the crowd was probably somewhere around 30 - 35 people (kids included ;) ) at one stage. While the night was a bit iffy with intermittent cloud and finally fog (great fun with the prohibiteds and a certain little whirly bird ;) :lol: ) it was fantastic to catch up with old and new friends. I didn't get much imaging done myself (only one session that I am yet to process) but it was great to help the budding imagers on the field. We'll out number them dob users one day :lol: (Actually I think we did ....once :P )

Thanks for putting up with us all Ron, and as usual providing a great venue for the get together.

[astroron]

We had a fantastic turn-up, as Paul said over 30 adults:eyepop:I also counted 19 scopes but I am sure I missed some as they where set up after I finished my count. It was hard to tag numbers as people where moving about and some even turning up late, and enough kids to have a football team(soccer) with some wildlife as well keeping us company.
the clouds were a bit of a pain ,but most people got quite a bit of observing done as well as the imagers doing their thing to various stages of success;)
All in all a very enjoyable Saturday night:thumbsup:
Ron

[Davros]

:sadeyes::sadeyes::sadeyes::sadeyes ::sadeyes::sadeyes::sadeyes::sadeye s::sadeyes::sadeyes::sadeyes::sadey es::sadeyes::sadeyes::sadeyes::sade yes::sadeyes::sadeyes::sadeyes::sad eyes::sadeyes::sadeyes::sadeyes::sa deyes::sadeyes::sadeyes::sadeyes::s adeyes::sadeyes:
No photos, sounds like everyone had a good time though. One way or another i'll get up to your place one day Ron.

[astroron]

No worries Dave, you'll make it one day.:)
AlexN, has taken a few photo's, and will probably post them in the next few days.:thumbsup:
Ron

[AlexN]

Here's a few pics from the afternoon, I think they show the diversity of setups and give a fair idea of the turn out of scopes, people and wildlife.


Enjoy.
Alex.

[Davros]

Wow, thanks for the pictures. Very big turnout.

[drmorbius]

Great pictures Alex. It was a terrific night.

It was great to catch up with old friends and make new ones. Highlights of the evening for me was:
First light for my new 10" GSO dob and 13mm Baader Hyperion :thumbsup:,
A visit from the one and only talking portaloo,
Having a good ol' chat with everyone after the fog rolled in,
The sinister blue helicopter of death...:scared:And let's not forget the "mysterious object"... what was that high altitude, 10 second strobe that never moved??? Stay tuned...

New moon at Cambroon (sounds like a song) was a top night and a big thank you to Ron for sharing his patch of dark sky.

[davewaldo]

A Big thankyou to Ron for another great night!

Also another big thankyou to Paul for teaching me a few tricks ,mainly how to drift align :thumbsup:

It was a great night, and although I got very little observing or imaging done, it was great to catch up with everyone and to learn a lot about my setup.

Cheers!

[jjjnettie]

Some photos from Saturday.
Thanks again Ron.

PS. I think I left some clothes at your place.

[jjjnettie]

And more photos.

[astroron]

Thanks for the photo's guys:thumbsup:

PS. I think I left some clothes at your place.
PPS jeanette the jeans don't fit me :lol:
Did you leave some specs?
Ron

[jjjnettie]

No I didn't leave my specs behind.
I had a horrid feeling that I left my jeans on the roof of my car.
But that means I'll HAVE to come along to the next new moon night.

[AlexN]

oh no.. not another awesome night at Rons.. how ever will you deal with that! :)

[Gargoyle_Steve]

Speaking of which....... ;)

I went back to Ron's place Thursday night again for a quiet night of observing, I can tell you his field looked decidely empty with just 2 of us there instead of 35-ish people and 20 scopes! I thought I'd tack this on here as I don't think it needs a thread of it's own.

I didn't arrive until the sun was already behind the hill, so it was a quick set up for both of us as daylight faded away. The moon looked great in the NW sky as darkness grew, a quick peek through the scopes showed some great detail with the earthshine so strong we could not only see Aristarchus clearly but many lunar features were easy to locate.
:astron:
While standing there chatting Ron looked up and we caught a very bright though unknown satellite heading east over our heads (Ron said he'd checked, none of the "usual suspects" were passing over that night), this one easily compared to many ISS or HST passes in brightness.

Anyway we went inside to let the scopes cool and to get our warmer gear on and have some dinner, emerging later to a spectacularly dark and clear sky. There were none of the hovering clouds that lingered on Saturday night, though the lower stars were twinkling a little earlier on.

Anyway Ron and I had a great nights viewing which was partially spent chasing down some northern galaxies that I can't usually see from my home due to trees, a couple of prime examples being the Whale (and it's faint and very near-by neighbour who shares the same field of view, but whose identity escapes me presently) and the Antennae galaxies.

I also observed the Sombrero later on and found it to be unusually bright and clear. I also checked out one of my new best friends, M46, for a while, the planetary neb within was clear and succinct, and best views were obtained through the 13mm in my Hyperion range. Good thing you've got one of those now hey Randall?
:thumbsup:

I also finally pegged the name of an open cluster (NGC2516 apparently, thanks to the Identify function in my Argo Navis) that I've often enjoyed observing. It lays in the western end of that great piece of sky that runs from Crux across through Carina and into Vela, etc. NGC2516 lays in the lower western end of Carina, a little over a degree west and slightly south of 2nd magnitude Avior for those who know it,and at mag 3.? is easily visible naked eye from many sites.

I can recommend this cluster to beginners and more experienced observers alike, it has a pleasant range of stars of varying brightness and colour, and some intriguing small runs of quite small faint stars, one particular group of 4 forming a slightly bent line of decreasing magnitude with the first 2 stars making one of the closest pairs I have seen.
(The image below is taken from this page, all rights reserved by them, etc:
http://www.freewebs.com/starsurf/constellations/carina.htm)

Anyway ... there was plenty of observing of lots of old favourites too - the Tarantula & Carina nebs, Omega Centauri, Saturn & Jupiter, etc, plus a small smattering of Planetaries and other less-visited (by me anyway) open clusters. All in all a well rounded night with some lagging Eta Aquarid meteors to keep us on our toes, but the eventual arrival of the fog a bit before 1am slowed our observing. We oulled up chairs in the dark and just chatted then until about 2, finally deciding the 6° temps and fog were signs that it was time to pack it in.
:zzz2:

One final note - I had to get up at 6:05 and go outside in the cold and fog to "water a tree", luckily I had my new freezer boots beside the bed so at least my feet were warm even if the rest of me was chilled as I did the deed.


Great night Ron, looking forward to the next one!

[AlexN]

sounds like you had a great night! I remember the night I got up to Rons' on friday the 2nd.. Much as you said, the field is a bit sparse with only 2 scopes. Quiet also...

To quote the movie 'The Castle' "Hows the serenity!?"