NSW Northern Rivers 2009

[glenc]

It is time for a new season of observing.
When and where shall we meet?

[glenc]

Have been looking at PNe and globulars lately.

[CoombellKid]

Hey Glen,

Another year of astronomy... looking forward to hooking up for some get
togethers. Still wouldn't mind a get together out Tenterfield way. I think
I have managed to con the ex into allowing me kid free new moons :D
as that was a real spanner in the works for me last year... at least while
Hayden in so young. He had his first look at Saturn last weekend.

Been looking at galaxy clusters and nebula myself lately. And making an
all weather cover for the scope. And buying more gear, that 2" astronomik
UHC filter selling in the trade section is very tempting, $155.00 is very
cheap.

Cheers

[CoombellKid]

Looking like it might be good tonight. Hopefully the windy bits will die with
the day. Even the jet stream is singing our tune with one off to the north
and another off to the south.

regards,CS

[Athiril]

Hey guys, I live in Brunswick Heads, where do you guys get together?

I sold my 5" reflector, looking at getting a tracking mount soon just to use with my camera lens (have had some success on fixed tripod with them picking up carina, would love to be able to do exposures much longer :D).

[glenc]

Daniel, we usually met at Rob's place or mine. Rob has a 16" scope and I have a 12".
You are welcome to join us.

[Athiril]

ouch! my scope i sold was 5"... and i imaged carina with a 1.5 incher... (camera lens) >.>

[GrahamL]

Hi Dan
:welcome:

[glenc]

You are all welcome to observe at my place on Fri 24/4 and or Sat 25/4.

[Lismore Bloke]

The weather outlook for the Northern Rivers for the next few days isn't looking too promising.

http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDN10060.shtml

[CoombellKid]

I'll be there, weather permitting



regards,CS

[CoombellKid]

Welcome to the group Dan

regards,CS

[CoombellKid]

The weather is crap, still it was nice to get in a few nights pre new moon

regards,CS

[Lismore Bloke]

Yes, for a few days there the weather and viewing were great. That was obviously our quota and the unstable crappy weather is back.

Oh, welcome to the Northern Rivers group Dan, pardon my ignorance
in not saying Hi earlier.

[glenc]

Welcome Daniel, look forward to catching up with you all.

[GrahamL]

still want to try for next weekend glen?

[glenc]

Yes, next Fri night if it is clear and Sat night if Fri night is not clear and Sat is. I observed from 11 pm to moonrise last night.

[CoombellKid]

I should be good for Friday, will probably have my boy's with me.

Cheers,CS

[glenc]

It looks like it will be clear!
http://ozforecast.com.au/cgi-bin/weatherwrap.cgi?location=Casino&pagetype=forecast
If it is cloudy I can show you an astronomy DVD I received today.
http://www.eyesontheskies.org/

[CoombellKid]

Well if it isn't you can blame me lol

regards,CS

[GrahamL]

well It will have to be saturday for me at this stage if either of you guys are still keen .. my son ( no liscence) is working ... good news is his speeding charge got downgraded ( 6 months now ) .. so another 8 weeks and I'm free :)

[CoombellKid]

I'm still good for Friday, will be dropping the boys over to Lismore
around dusk. then cut back to Glens on the way home.

cheers

[glenc]

Shall see you tonight Rob and tomorrow night Graham. Looks like it will be clear.
Please bring a collimator if you have one. Thanks.

[Lismore Bloke]

I hope the approaching cold front and associated high cloud doesn't spoil viewing conditions for you all. Planning a viewing evening is almost as reliable as buying astro toys when it comes to bringing clouds and rain.

[glenc]

There is some high cloud around at present.
http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDE00902.loop.shtml
We are on the northern edge of it.

[CoombellKid]

I'll see how it is when I leave Lismore, if this high cloud hasn't cleared
off by then I'll just head home Glen.

I have to hang around home Saturday afternoon/night so I wont be out
to play. Besides I have a couple of new astro toys to try out, without
kids and my yard is starting to dry out so I can get the scope on there....

finally got to mow it today.

Cheers,CS

[glenc]

OK Rob.

[glenc]

Should be fine tonight, you are all welcome here. It gets DARK at 6:40 pm.

[CoombellKid]

Didn't make it to your place Glen...too much high cloud and a big bank
of it coming through from the SW. Even the 20x80's had mushy views
when I got home.

G'Luck for tonight fellas, hope it's a good one!

Cheers

Rob

[CoombellKid]

Looks %#&$'n awesome out there tonight. I hope you boy's have ya
light buckets out there cooling. There is jetstream to the SE here but
I think I'm in the clear overhead. Had a quite look for and hour last
night... then had to get my underbelly fix lol. The new scope raincoat
works a treat. The usual bed sheet still has the mirror dewing up by
morning, the raincoat seems to have stop that.

Anyways I'm looking forward to a good shot at the sky tonight... it's
been awhile. Hope you guys are too :thumbsup:

Cheers,CS

[GrahamL]

I was out to 1.00 am last night .. and am feeling a little punished right now .. our bin tipping forklift had another meltdown today and had to
load a few tons of nuts into the elevaters with ye old shove -hell :)

but it looking nice out there .. ok why not :)

you out last night glen ?

[glenc]

Yes, I have been out every night. Great run of clear nights. Paul observed with me last night.

[CoombellKid]

Good night here, although we did have patches of high cloud coming
through at times.

Cheers

[Lismore Bloke]

Thanks for a great night Glen. One of the best nights observing that I can remember. Hardly a type of DSO that we didn't sample, including some I can't see from home. Anyone who can pick out galaxies in Virgo and Leo with a mm EP at 190X has me in awe. Starhopper Extraordinaire!!

[glenc]

Thanks Paul, glad you enjoyed it. The eyepieces were 8mm 190x, 25', 13mm 115x, 40' with UHC and 21mm 70x, 65' field.

[CoombellKid]

Got out this morning around 4:30am. Unfortunately twilight was already
starting to wash out the sky. But I did get a half a look at the Veil and
tried the 7mm on Jup's. Then a couple of roo's scared the living
be-jeee-zus out of me as they took off out of the yard.

A bit cloudly now... looks like a bit of rain coming over the weekend. Oh
well it will give me a chance to install the new focuser.

Cheers,CS

[glenc]

Looks good for tonight. I saw the PN M97 last night with a UHC filter, but the light pollution from Brisbane washed out M108 and M109.

[GrahamL]

Tide gone out ,, out to the west yet boys ?

very clear so far tonight .

[Lismore Bloke]

Was clear earlier, just starting to move scope outside, cloud from south west everywhere!! Curses!!!!!!

We need a cool and dry weather regime, damn soon!!

[glenc]

Nice and clear now, pity about the full moon. Looks like a frost later this week.

[CoombellKid]

Felt fairly frosty out this way this morning brrrr

[GrahamL]

wifes birthday next week which is "usually" the start of the cooler weather.

[CoombellKid]

Tell her we say happy birthday, from the boys out here. Now... you need
to buy her something nice and sweat to gain leverage :thumbsup: for future
astro purchases :D

winters here eh'... a white wonderland out here this morning.

Cheers

[Judith]

Hi guys I am a beginner but keen to do some stargazing with someone who has a telescope and some experience as I have yet to acquire either! If there is something coming up that I could join in on, I would really appreciate it. Cheers Judith

[GrahamL]

Hi Judith

and welcome to IIS

My scope tries to be out most clear nights :).. be good if the weather plays nice next week for a change we could all hopefully meet up somewhere .. what are you other guys up to ??

graham

[CoombellKid]

I'm still on for this weekend, although as usual these days the weather
isn't looking too promising for the new moon. I'll report weather conditions
at 4:00pm here on the 19th and 20th. So check in before you head out :thumbsup:

Cheers

[Lismore Bloke]

Hello Judith

Welcome to the site. There is a wealth of experience, helpful advice and knowledge on tap here and it was largely responsible for renewing my interest in astronomy.

At the moment, the weather gods are not being very co-operative with our efforts to have an astronomical get-together. Cheers, Paul.

[CoombellKid]

Sorry for the late update, had to run my son over to Lismore. Lovely
weather eh' hope it comes good tomorrow but I'm not putting money
on it.

regards,CS

[Judith]

Thanks for the welcome. Weather gods not kind today... in the meantime if anyone's getting a telescope out and doesn't mind a beginner tagging along, drop me a line. Here's to clear skies Judith

[CoombellKid]

Yup! too coudly out here... with rain. 1.5" today so far. I have been
pottering around finally installing the new focuser I brought a few weeks
back. And presently taking a few snaps of some roo's on the driveway
with the new camera.

I think it will be beers and wallabies (the rugby union kind) in front of the
fire tonight.

Newmoon isn't until Tuesday so if anyone is keen and it clears, I'll have
my scope out.

Have a good one :thumbsup:... and GO!!! Italy... I mean Ozzie :whistle:

Cheers

[CoombellKid]

Well what a superb looking evening for a change. I'd get the scope out
but we're pretty wet out here. You need a 4x4 to get up the driveway,
I've torn part of my bumper off just trying to get through yard gate :(
and still needed a tow out there :whistle:. hopefully we have another nice
sunny day tomorrow and a clear evening I'll definitely be doing some
viewing, if anyone is keen for a mid week session let me know. Might be
the last chance this yard sees a scope on it.

I'm going to try a bit of star trail photography tonight. Might have to
resurect the old EQ5 with an RA drive.

Cheers, enjoy the clear skies

[Judith]

I'd be there but I am away for the rest of this week. I'm ready to go if there's anything on the weekend but the forecast ain't great - as usual, it seems! Don't know much about footie - wallabies are little grey furry things aren't they? - but Federer won his first round at Wimbledon!

[CoombellKid]

I could be into a weekend session, shouldn't be too much moonage.
But I will have my boys with me, the youngest is 2.5yrs and is pretty
hands on. Which is cool but a lil attention demanding... lil fellas will be
lil fellas :)

See how the weather is when the weekend gets here. Lovely sky last
night out here.

[CoombellKid]

My first attempt at star trails last night. Wasn't centered very well,
just pointed it in the general direction. It's a single 10min exposure
@ ISO 1600.

Cheers

[glenc]

What time was that pic?

[CoombellKid]

Was actually about 4:20am on the 24th

[CoombellKid]

Was almost looking good out here for a while, but we have some nasty
stuff coming in from the SW. So it will be watching some lil furry things
chasing the French around a paddock in front of the fire tonight. Might
try some star trails again later if it clears

Go the furry things ;)

Cheers,CS

[Judith]

okay I'm lighting the fire too - came back from
sydney with the lergy so tonite not great for me anyway. How do you get all the variables to line up - good health, good weather, enough time, not too much moon - seems to be impossible!! I live in hope.
judith stella

[CoombellKid]

Judith,

All I can say to that is... when they do, it keeps you going through all
the crap times. Seems like ages since I've had the scope out. But this
week is looking good for after midnight sessions.

Cheers.CS

[glenc]

Observed from 1 to 3 am today, no dew, low light pollution - probably due to dry air.
I moved my 12" from the observatory to the garage last week.

[CoombellKid]

I was out about the same time, playing with the camera. But after about
an hour all dewed up, probably due to the fact we still have a lot of water
laying around.

Nice clear skies though :thumbsup:

Cheers,CS

[CoombellKid]

Here's another attempt at star trails from a couple of nights ago.

[glenc]

Nice one Rob. :thumbsup: It is good for finding the SCP. I usually start from 47 Tuc and move to beta Hyi then gamma Oct and sigma Oct.

[CoombellKid]

Thanks Glen

[glenc]

I tried to observe at 3am today but the sky was weird. It turned out to be dust blown in from out west, but I couldn't tell in the dark.

[CoombellKid]

Well the move is on, and we will be gone from Coombell before the end of
the month.

So I'm organising one last session out here on either of the above dates,
weather permitting... we dont seem to be having much luck with that lately.

So if your keen please register your interest in the thread. I'll post directions
over the next week for those who may not have been here before.

Cheers,CS

[glenc]

If it is fine I'll be there.

[GrahamL]

yep :)

[Judith]

me too

[CoombellKid]

Cool, the long range forcast is looking slightly favorable.

Hopefully see you all here.

Cheers

Rob

[GrahamL]

lots of weird looking blue stuff up there today :).. what times the moon up ?

[glenc]

Moonrise tonight 9:25pm, Fri night 2:20am. Gets dark at 6:30pm.

[GrahamL]

thanks glen guess I'll drag the scope out

[CoombellKid]

Long enough to try out some wide field milkyway shots on the
resurected EQ5. Not the best mount to use, but got to be better
than a static tripod.

Cheers,CS

[CoombellKid]

Took a couple of shots over night. Need to learn a bit of image
processing. Anyways a 5min exposure on the engine room of
our milky way with the camera on an EQ5. And a 2min exposure
of the ISS coming through about 4:58am this morning. Had to
jump the fence with my camera tripod to get away from the trees
hence the star trails, the EQ5 was in the wrong part of the yard.

[GrahamL]

great stuff mate :)so your enjoying the astro imageing I guess .

If you get yourself a dinky little refractor I'm sure we could share out those surplus eyepiece thingys you won't needing anymore.:thumbsup:;)

[CoombellKid]

Thanks man :) yeah having a lil fun, nothing serious as I'm more a visiual
type of guy.



See above ^ flattery will get you nowhere :lol:... actually the thought
has occured to me about maybe adding servo-cat and a field de-rotor
to the 16" :)

Cheers,CS

[CoombellKid]

Here's some directions for those who may need them.

Head south from Casino towards Grafton. It is a little over 19kms to
the Coombell turnoff, there is a bus shelter on the corner. Head down
Coombell Rd until to you get to the village. See images from here. You
can make out the driveway heading left from the observing spot.

Now I would prefer that you all park along the road way and not drive
up the driveway A) it's pretty rough and in some parts you may even
get stuck B) I have to move a lot of stuff through there from sunday
and dont need it messed up any more than it is. Sorry about that.

Apart from that and weather permitting. I hope to see you all either
Friday and/or Saturday. I'll post a weather on each day @ 3:30-4:00pm

I have two spare beds if anyone needs them, you might want to bring
a pillow.


Cheers,CS

[GrahamL]

I don't get home till pretty late fridays , so saturday is better for me .

cool outside last night didn't take the scope out though as a little cloud that hung about at dark didn't move on till lateish.

[glenc]

I'll come tonight with two others if it is fine.

[CoombellKid]

Graham, Glen,

Np's :thumbsup:

I'll check back later with a weather report.

Cheers,CS

[glenc]

Rob it's clearing up here. We (3 people) will come down in 2 cars arriving at about 6pm.

[Judith]

Saturday is better for me too so I'll come just before dark tomorrow, weather permitting, if that suits.

[CoombellKid]

Glen, Judith,

No prob's guys.

Weather as it is here at present. Patchy cloud coming through from
the SE, feeding off whats happening on the coast. Jet-stream 170knts
overhead.

Cheers,CS

[CoombellKid]

Glen,

Having another look, are you sure you guys cant come tomorrow?
we have this now coming in from SSE at us wunderground is
predicting 20% chance of rain. And I'm still debating whether to
put the scope out.

What do you think?

Cheers,CS

PS: Oooop's forgot to post the picture :whistle:

[Judith]

wunderground is predicting 20% chance of rain tonite too - will wait for your weather update before setting out. Lovely sky earlier this morning with all my personal favourites - tho cloud came over quite fast. Maybe see you tonite.

[CoombellKid]

I ended up setting up Jakes 8" and had a bit of a look but. Was pretty
muddy up there from the jet stream. Was a lot better about 3am this
morning.

Judith, wunderland has come good, by the looks. In any case I'll post
a weather report about 3:30-4:00pm

Cheers,CS

Rob

[GrahamL]

So did you guys get out last night?

I'll check in later , looking good so far

[CoombellKid]

I did for about 20-30 min, too muddy we had a 170knt jet stream.
And with the threat of rain and eyeballing clouds coming at me
I didn't put the 16" out. When the jet stream is up like that there's
no point. I was using Jakes 8"... wish it had AN, that thing is a neck
killer. Still haven't used his scope for about a year. Better seeing
at around 3am this morning, i was out for about 1.5 hours quite
enjoying reminising with the old 8", it's a good size scope really.

How about you?

Looking good for today, jet stream seems to be easing :thumbsup:

Cheers,CS

[GrahamL]

looking ok my way ?.. I'll be leaving at 4.00 if all looks well from your end ?

[CoombellKid]

All looking good here, there's still an active jet stream. Looks like a
burn off out to my west throwing smoke into the atmosphere. Should
clear by dark hopefully.

All go here :thumbsup:

Cheers,CS

[GrahamL]

see you soon

[CoombellKid]

np's

[CoombellKid]

Thanks for coming guys, great to she Judith there ;), hope we inspired
you a little. And you come again :thumbsup:. Well as the title says that is it for
Coombell hope to see you in Mallanganee :thumbsup:. We observed a number of
the usual show stoppers and glen pointed us to some nice planetaries.
Graham's 22mm t4 with OIII on Eta Carina neb along with that cresent
shaped neb Glen pointed out was fantastic. Unforunately it clouded over
fairly early which put a stop to the session.

Photo (L-R) Rob, Judith, Bucket, Glen, Graham

[Judith]

Thanks guys. That was really fun and inspiring too. Here's to next time at Mallanganee - with cake!
Judith

[glenc]

Thanks Rob, the crescent was NGC3199.

[CoombellKid]

Np's, Cake :) now that sounds yummy :whistle:



Thanks Glen for the NGC, I think that cloud that came through was what
was stopping us nabbing NGC 2573. I'm going to give it another shot
tonight.

Cheers,CS

Rob

[GrahamL]

good luck Rob :thumbsup: that high cloud to the south was pretty nasty to look at from up high from the local lookout probably lucky we got to see what we did . I got home had a cuppa , walked out to watch it trash here in a few minutes before I even got started.

[glenc]

Observed at 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm last night and again at 4:00 am this morning. Nice to see M31 and M42 again.

[CoombellKid]

I was out for a while last night too. NGC 2573 still eludes me, but did
manage to get A & B. Interestingly enough UM has them roughly half
a magnitude fainter. Perhaps being so close together they present a
combined better target. Not disimilar to the Antenae pair through an
8"

Cheers

[CoombellKid]

I would like to try to image M31 using a 250mm lens.

Cheers,CS

[CoombellKid]

I got to see Mallanganee after dark for the first time tonight. There are
two street lights that are in view of the backyard. Luckily the worst of
the two only efects part of the yard. The other is unavoidable but luckily
it sit high in it's housing and you dont see it directly. The big scare is the
elderly couple next doorwho have a couple of very bright backyard
lights, which wash my yards with light : ( they have a couple of those lil
toy type dogs. I must admit I was feeling pretty glum about that
prospect. But as I was leaving the old girl came out and does this
putting the dogs to bed thing and Walah!!!! out goes the lights. So I sat
in the yards for a few minites, lovely clear sky : ) light pollution yeah ok
it's not as dark as Coombell but wow! lovely clear skies. Got back to
Coombell about 9pm pretty misty on the way in and looked up to mush.
Still Mallanganee has neighbors some have fireplaces. so I guess there
will be a few give and takes. But all the same I reckon it was better
seeing up there tonight than down here. Hope to give them a try this
weekend, while there is still minimal moonage.

Cheers,CS

[glenc]

Mallanganee sounds good and bad Rob. It's misty here this morning.

[Judith]

Rob street lights and little dogs are the price you pay for having neighbours with fires! sounds as thought the good will outweigh the bad tho - and lovely clear skies too - that's gotta be good!

Cheers
Judith

[CoombellKid]

Glen, from where I've been living it's a city :lol:

Misty when I got back to Coombell tonight. Still have the scope
setup and was going to catch some photons when I got home.
But the mist wasn't just on the road in it was all over the yard
too.

Judith, I think you might be right :thumbsup::D

Was out there again this evening. Had to let the power guy in and
wait for a delivery. While I was waiting for that, I took a drive up
to Mallanganee Lookout which is on top of the hill you drive over as
you come into Mallanganee. What a gem!!! might have to look into
a trailer and take the 16" up there. You look over pretty much
eveything and can see for miles. A top spot for sunrise and sunset
photography too.

Anyways the move is on :thumbsup:

Cheers,CS

[Judith]

I know that lookout - it is an amazing place. This is gonna turn out to be a great move!

[GrahamL]

good luck with the move mate :).. to add a little perspective , visiting the folks in Brisbane lyra is just visible and the odd other bright star
in the night sky but nothing else, from home I can easily pop
10 /11 mag stuff withjout to much trouble , out your way well from both yours and glens I always notice the dark star filled background .


You could do a lot worse imo ;)

[CoombellKid]

Judith,

I took my GPS out there today with the first trailer load of stuff. The
yard sits at 190m/625ft above sea level. The lookout must be about
410m/1345ft above sea level, the road over peaks about 390m and
the lookout has to be 10-20+m higher. I'm going to take my sons 8"
up there the first opportunity I get :thumbsup:. Still pretty pleased how clear
and Stella ;) the skies are from the backyard.

Graham,

Thanks man :thumbsup: I have about 2 trailers and maybe a couple of car fulls
to go. Had to buy another car battery as mine died today Grrrr $130.00
later.... what happened to them $70.00 cheapies, I dont know. Still the
place is starting to look a bit more homely now that there is a few things
and furniture in there. I think we might be having a few Mallanganee
observing sessions up at the lookout :thumbsup: it's quite a bit of realestate :)
you can see Casino's light dome to the east, along with what must be
Brisbanes to the north. But I dont think it will efect the view above too
much.

Anyways chaps and chapettes I will probably be offline from tomorrow
while the PC is in some box somewhere. And the telephone is transfered,
numbers will remain the same.

I met one of the elderly neighbors yesterday, he is into amateur radio. I
might be dragging him along to to an observing session :thumbsup:

Cheers,CS

[Judith]

Looking forward to a session at the lookout!

[glenc]

We can help carry the 16" up to the lookout. :)

[CoombellKid]

Glen,

Sounds like a plan :thumbsup:



Ok signing off for now ;) ...the phone shouldn't be working when I
get back.

Cheers,CS

[CoombellKid]

Well finally finished the move on Sunday.... boy you dont realise how
much stuff you have until you have to move it :eyepop:. Still unpacking...
but got the Kitchen, bedrooms and office sorted :thumbsup: need to patch the
shed up so I can store the 16" in there and get my tools out of the
house :whistle:. Being single is a wonderful thing.... sometimes :lol: Still there
is a lot to do before we're settled in properly. The best thing is the boys
love the new place. And I really like the new place, much nicer than the
old one. Except you cant pick up SBS or ABC on digital or analog :mad2:
might have to look at Austar since there is a dish on the roof.

We should sort out the next observing session. Who's going to Astrofest
in Queensland?

Cheers,CS

[Lismore Bloke]

Arrived home Sunday noon. 7600k's in 3 weeks, along Oodnadatta and Strzeklecki Tracks and home via Cameron Corner. Two buggered tyres, over 1000 photos. Nikon D50 got dust into it so there will be weeks of Photoshop work to touch up images. Still a bit tired and red dust over everything. I wish I was still out there, not in front of a damn computer. Hope to catch up with everyone when conditions are suitable. Will post some photos soon. Cheers, Paul.

[CoombellKid]

Hi Paul,

Sounds like it was an epic trip. Look forward to seeing some of the
photos :thumbsup:

Cheers,CS

[Lismore Bloke]

I'll try to attach some images. Not sure how many I can use on one post.
Here goes ...

[Lismore Bloke]

Another 8 pics.

[Judith]

great photos - glorious country - makes me homesick! What a fantastic trip - did you get to Arkaroola? They have a couple of nice observatories there.
Cheers Judith

[Lismore Bloke]

Hi Judith,
No, unfortunately we ran out of time. 7600 k's in 3 weeks. Most of the time was spent following the original Ghan narrow gauge railway from Marla downwards. The top part of the Flinders will have to wait for another day.

[glenc]

Thanks for the pics Paul. Welcome back.

[CoombellKid]

Awesome landscape shots. It really does remind you of those Rover
images from Mars. Thanks for sharing!

Cheers,CS

[Lismore Bloke]

Thanks guys. Great holiday, but good to be back. The outback skies were awesome. It's a pity I had no room for any astro-toys.

[CoombellKid]

For those who aren't going to Astrofest Queensland.

Anyone keen for a get together on either the 14th or 15th August.
The moon wont rise until after well after midnight.

Cheers

[GrahamL]

great pics paul :)

I'm hope to get to astrofest again this year and hopefully be able to stay a little longer than half an hour in the daytime:whistle:

[Judith]

I'm keen for a get together on Aug 14/15. I'll bring snacks!
Judith Stella

[CoombellKid]

No worries Judith, I'll have some warm drinks sorted. Milo, Tea or Coffee :thumbsup:




Cheers,CS

[CoombellKid]

Well I had my first shot at the skies here in my Mallanganee
backyard.

As mentioned earlier, the elderly couple that live nextdoor
have a couple of backyard lights that washed across my yard.
I've been timing them mosts nights and they generally turn
them off around 7:45-8:00pm, after saying nighty nites to their
dogs. I seem to get on with them so far, so I dared not say
anything to upset them. So yesterday I decided to setup and
at least get a hour in before moon rise. Well, hey maybe they
saw the scope out in the yard because lights were out at 6:30pm.
I was stoked as it make a huge difference. They did come on
for a few minites a lil before 8pm.

Anyways observed a bunch of stuff, mostly show stoppers until
the moon washed the sky out a lil after 9pm. Luckily we had
a slight easterly wind blowing fireplace smoke from the town
in the opposite direction. Still the local light pollution
doesn't seem to have too bigger impact on the views above,
which is the important thing. Trying to find someone local
who has a trailer they could loan to me once or twice a month
so I can take the scope up to the lookout. I reckon the views
up there would be awesome weather permitting.

A few of the showstoppers viewed; Jupiter, Neptune, Barnards
galaxy, lil Gem, Ring nebula, Dumbell nebula, Omega Centuri,
47 Tuc, M104, M7, M6, the Bug and several more that leaves
my memory.

Cheers,CS

[glenc]

It was nice to have the lights off at 6pm. I look forward to viewing from the hill up there Rob.

[Judith]

Would the scope fit in the back of a station wagon? If weather is okay, we could take it up the hill this w'end maybe?

[astroron]

Hi Rob I have just had a look at this thread :( I didn't realise you had moved house:)even though it is not to far from your last place.
I hope to be coming through that way in a couple of months, so I may catch up with you:)
By the looks of your photo from Coomballa you have put on a bit of beef:whistle: since I saw you last a few years ago
I hope you enjoy your new place.
Cheers :thumbsup:

[GrahamL]

Harsh Ron,very harsh , we all have to bulk up our winter pelts to get through these hard times :)

[GrahamL]

And If the Allblacks don't man up.... with a convinceing win soon ,its going to be the likes of Rob whos going to lace up and try and save the Day.. more bulk the better :) :)

[CoombellKid]

Could do :thumbsup: that's a Stella idea ;). I'll post a measurement of the
height later today. Would love to have a shot at the skies up
there.

[CoombellKid]

Hey Ron,



Yeah just moved over the last couple of weeks. About 40kms west
of Casino now. Would love to catch up, I have spare beds so no worries
just let us when your coming thrtough. Your welcome anytime :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:



Ummm errrr I was married then.... I guess that doesn't say much about
the ex's cooking :whistle:.... but I am thinking about doing something to
get rid of the extra.... they say it isn't easy once your in your 40's :lol::lol:

Cheers,CS

[CoombellKid]

My advice, dont touch the Chips with gravey on top @ Londy's in Casino.....
But the gravey tastes sooooo goood!!!! on those crunchy chips.:whistle:

Cheers,CS

[CoombellKid]

I'll play :D:D:D for sure :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: might die after about 30 seconds,
but I would have a smile on my dial. I'll take the #8 jumper and help
push the Wallabie scrum pack down over their own line. Then feed
the ball to McCraw...etc...etc...

Cheers,CS

[CoombellKid]

Judith,

If your station wagon can fit a mirrorbox height of 73cm in the back.
We might be in luck :thumbsup:

You'd need to get here about an hour before sunset to allow time to
get it up there and set up. Conditions are looking promising for the
weekend.

Here's a photo I took from the lookout the other day when I was
heading into town. It's heavily compressed to get it uploaded on here.

[CoombellKid]

Conditions are looking pretty good for tonight or tomorrow night out
here. There's a bit of a jet stream above that seems to be slowly fading
over the last couple of days. Nice and clear this morning around 5am.
For anyone interested in coming out PM me and I'll send back direction
details.

Cheers,CS

[CoombellKid]

Well we got a first look from the Lookout, many thanks to Judith in
helping get the 16" into the back of her car and up to the lookout.
Judith also supplied snacks and hot drinks :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:. Unfortunately
there were quite a few big burn offs to the west, south west plus
a couple to the north which made the whole area quite hazy. But
we both agreed this was an awesome spot. Looking forward to
a clear night up there.

Judith was amused by some of the nicknames given to some objects
that we observed including, the Ring neb, Spare tyre, Helix, Dark
Doodad, The Dumbell neb, Antenna Galaxy to name a few. Dispite
the haze which limited what we could see, it was a very enjoyable
session with pleasent company.

Look forward to the next session.

Cheers,CS

[GrahamL]

yep fire permits soon ,,so everyone goes crazy lighting fires round now
My manager lit a howler this morning to have it promptly go out :thumbsup:, I think we both forgot a broken main prolly dropped a few hundred thousand litres of water down that gully the end of last week.

So no ones astrofesting this weekend ?
I hope to get up there on friday with a little luck.

[CoombellKid]

Yes!!! looking forward to permit season ;)



Nope! not me this year anyways, may look at it next year. I have my
boys this weekend anyway.

Judith will be offline for a few days, her puter caught swine flu, probably
from a bunch of laptops that came off the Pacific Star last week :whistle:

Cheers,CS

[Judith]

I'm back apart from a few system hiccups yet to be sorted. Swine flu....more like the black death!!!
But had a great night on Mallanganee lookout - there were even fire flies. Here's a photo...
Judith

[CoombellKid]

Good to see you have fixed your puter. Thanks for posting the pic :thumbsup:
you can get an idea of how smokey it was.



Cheers,CS

[glenc]

Your night at Mallanganee sounds great.

[GrahamL]

How was the the dam on the way home glen ?

Couple of the boys from lismore go up to the lookout pretty regularly
Rob ,, pity bout the wallabies sat night we deserved to win that one:thumbsup::D.

Off coffs way for a couple of days, will take the binos but no scope as the wife just refuses to get tied to the racks :mad2:

[CoombellKid]

How was Astrofest QLD this year lads?



Nah ya didn't :D but you do DESERVE to win the next two matches.
Infact I fully support the wallabies in this mission.



Divorced does have it's benifits :thumbsup: not that I'm recommending it :whistle:
btw, hi to the missus :D.

Cheers,CS

[glenc]

The QA was great. We had cloud one night till midnight, and a couple of hazy nights, the rest were clear.
William set up his 25" and Jonathon had his 20". I think there were five 16" scopes. The imaging field was full, visual observer numbers are declining.

[GrahamL]

Yes the numbers on both fields seem to have reversed from a couple of years back Glen.

Stayed down yurigar for a couple of nights , very dark skys when the moon went down , I had a great time with the binos , surprisingly no smoke on that bit of the coast while we were there. Heard A dingo howling in the distance bout 3.am last night while observing ,and came across a coastal emu wandering down the track near digggers camp.

[CoombellKid]

Anyone interested in a session at Mallanganee Lookout on 11th or 12th
of September, weather permitting.


I remember the first year I went to Astrofest Qld when Peter Robins
had his 30" dob there. We had awesome weather most of the week
and it was realitively quiet (punter-wise) before the weekend. The views
through that scope were simply outstanding :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: I came away
with a bad dose of aperture fever.

Cheers,CS

[glenc]

I plan to be there. Are you changing your name to MallanganeeKid?

[CoombellKid]

See you there :thumbsup: might need a lift with the scope



I have been thinking about that... MallanganeeKid doesn't have the ring
CoombellKid did. And MallanganeeLout is toooooo long :lol:

I'll change it sometime, CoombellKid is no longer relevant.

Cheers,CS

[Judith]

I can't make it that weekend :( I am flying to Adelaide to spend a week with my dear old mum - back on the 18th. But its not all bad - I'm told a friend of a friend has some serious gear so I'm hoping for a clear night's viewing while I'm over there.

Have a good night - see you next time!
Judith

Mallanganeeman??

[CoombellKid]

Judith,

No worries, have a great trip :thumbsup: and we'll catch up next time.

MallanganeeMan.... hmmmmm. I'll keep looking

Thank for proposing new nicknames folks :D

Cheers,CS

[dminnikin]

Hi all,
Darren here, met Glen and Graham at Astrofest and was told about this group. Great stuff! Dave (the big bald guy with the nice personality) and myself have been going to Mallanganee on and off for about ten years. Great to hear you guys are doing the same! May not be able to make the new moon in September but we will try for October.

Cheers,
Darren

[glenc]

Welcome to IIS Darren. We plan to set up Rob's 16" at the lookout on 11/9 or 12/9.

[dhancock (Deve)]

hiya,

we'll check again towards the end of next week glen to see if you've confirmed for that weekend. will hopefully see you then weather permitting.

regards.

[glenc]

Welcome to IIS David. Let's hope its clear and not too smoky at the end of next week.

[CoombellKid]

Welcome to IIS Darren and David.

Lets hope the burn offs legal or otherwise have stopped and weather
plays nice. It's a nice spot up at the look out.

Cheers,CS

[CoombellKid]

Well it looks like all the fires that were burning mostly to the west have
gone out. We've had a lil bit of rain over the weekend. Still a lot of haze
through the valleys hopefully it will blow away by the weekend.

I'm still keen, but I will prefer Friday night as there is a Tri-Nations game
on Saturday night. Hope that suits :thumbsup:

Oh Yeah! congrats to the Wallabies last night, a fantastic game it was.

Cheers,CS

[glenc]

I'll come Fri night if it's fine and give you a hand with the scope.

[GrahamL]

I am free friday night but not until around dark which makes it a bit of a mission to make it up your way rob.. what are you up to Paul ?

I'd like to have a look see at your 12 mm sometime:D

[Lismore Bloke]

Friday is a bit hard for me. Saturday would have been better.
Is there something important on Saturday?????

[GrahamL]

Only the rugby Paul , a herd of springboks trampling the kiwis :D;)

I'm good on saturday if anyones keen .

[CoombellKid]

Bring It On!!!!:thumbsup::P

And that would be a flock of kiwi's.... maybe even a mob of Moa's :lol:

Cheers,CS

[Lismore Bloke]

mmm "flock" suggests flight. I thought that Kiwis were a strange, primitive, almost prehistoric creature trying to be a bird and not quite making it. So when the mighty Boks come charging through, the poor Kiwis can't fly out of the way. Almost feel sorry for them ... almost ...

[CoombellKid]

That will make the Christians happy, says the pastor.

The Kiwi being so rare, there probably isn't enough of them for a team.
So we'll just throw in a few badass Moari's, tongans and parkeha's and
call them a rabble.

Cheer's,CS

[Lismore Bloke]

Yes, the All Blacks would be stuffed without those big scary Islander blokes!!

Hope the session tonight goes well, sounds like you have a few takers. I'm waiting for Sculptor to rise a bit higher to try out the T4's on those nice galaxies.

[CoombellKid]

From what I believe and learned a as kid growing up in NZ. NZ decided
it was a good idea to occupy the Samoan and Tongan islands during
WW2. There was some sort of agreement after the war that allowed
citizens of the islands to become naturalised kiwi's. Hence why there
is a big islander population in NZ.



That EP will be nice to scan Fornax as there are a host of galaxies
and mutliple galaxy views... especially near NGC1365

Looking fantastic out here this morning. The weather predictions
look good. There is a bit of jet stream which may disapate during the
day. All fires appear to be out and alot of the smoke that was hanging
around seems to have cleared. So looking forward to tonight.

Graham, I do have spare beds if you want to come out. Eggs, Bacon,
mushrooms, sausages or steak for breakfast :thumbsup:

Cheers,CS

[glenc]

It was very clear last night and windy and cold untill nearly 9pm. The smoke haze wasn't too bad. Rob and I saw many things including the nebula NGC 6164/65, the globular NGC 6380, the planetary NGC 246 and the galaxy IC 5152 with Rob's 16". There is some light pollution at the Mallanganee lookout from Brisbane (160 km NNE), the Gold Coast and Casino, mainly from Casino (30km E). We finished observing after 11pm. Thanks Rob.

[CoombellKid]

No worries Glen, thanks for coming. Excellent night and I notice this
morning the jet stream has gone south. That wind was chilly eh' I must
remember to bring an extra layer or two plus my scarf, could of used
that last night. I'll be setting up in the yard tonight since the Tri-Nation
game finishes around 8pm.

Go the All Blacks!!!

Cheers,CS

[GrahamL]

good to hear :)

[glenc]

It was a nice night last night. I observed with my 12" Dob from 9pm to 11pm and then for another hour just before daylight. Used a 21mm EP and UHC filter for heaps of nebulae and some large PN then and an 8mm EP for small PN, GC and galaxies. The night ended with Venus and the Moon rising together.

[GrahamL]

last night was great , seeing sure seemed pretty good .
jupiter threw up the best detail I'd seen in a long while
one of its moons must of transited by the looks ?

[Judith]

Hey all,

Some of you may remember that I've been looking for a tripod and mount to suit my great grandfather's brass marine scope. Attached is the final result. Looks great, doesn't it! Many thanks to Graham and Rob for making this small dream come true.

Judith

[GrahamL]

looks great judith :)

looking through your pst on the way past the other day was very nice
Rob thanks for the time :).. so which one do you have ?

[CoombellKid]

No worries Judith, it's good to see you now able to use it.

Graham, It was the Ha version. There was a lovely whale spout looking
prom yesterday, quite larger too.

Cheers,CS

[glenc]

Do you want to get together this weekend 16th or 17th? Where? Tenterfield airport? Mallanganee lookout? My place?
Ron (astroron) will be here tomorrow with his scope and plans to stay in the area till the weekend I think.

[CoombellKid]

I was going to suggest your place on Saturday Glen. As it would be kinda
central for all. I hope this #$%&ing dust sorts it's self out by the weekend,
I only just cleaned up the scope 2-3 days ago.

You wouldn't believe who I bumped into today at Mallanganee's general
store... Ron Knight! It was great to catch up, Sorry Ron for the noisey
kid :help::lol:

I was going to have to boys, but have managed to organise Sat nite
off. So I'm pretty cool with what and where... except probably
Tenterfield airport this weekend, too far to travel.

Cheers,CS

[GrahamL]

Casinos ok with me , friggin dust , I was doing some monitoring in the avo orchard today and thought I was looking at some developing rust
(fungal problem ) on some of the trees.. took a few minutes for the penny to drop:D:2thumbs:.

[Judith]

Glenn I'll be there provided the dust isn't! Saturday night at Casino works for me.

Judith

[CoombellKid]

Dont you just love that phrase... which actually equates to.... slacking
off in area of the property where the boss cant see you :rofl: :P

Cheers,CS

[glenc]

You can come to my place Saturday night.
Ron and I will be at Tenterfield tonight and Friday night.

[CoombellKid]

Just got back from my morning walk and it looks like a lot of that dust
has cleared. Might even get the scope out here tonight if it stays clear.
You guys should have a good time out at Tenterfield :thumbsup:

c'ya Saturday

Cheers,CS

[CoombellKid]

Glen, Ron,

Do you want to take my parra mount out with you to Tenterfield?
I'll be home all day drop by on the way out and I'll pick it up on
Sat.

Cheers,CS

[glenc]

Glen and I are going to Tenterfield today for a couple of days and then I plan to keep going south towards Coonabarabran.
Nice to catch up with you again Rob, sorry I cannot hang around till s
Saturday, as it is a bit far back from Tenterfield:(
I hope we may see you at Astrofest next year or even up at my place.
Cheers
Ron

[CoombellKid]

No worries Ron,

Have fun and safe trip, you know where I am now so dont be shy. And
there is alaways a spare bed mate!.

Anyways have a good one chaps it's looking great out there.

Cheers

[glenc]

We wont take the parra mount thanks Rob.

[GrahamL]

Still ok for tonight glen ?

bit of smoke on the cost from the fire down Yurigar this morning

how was tenterfield ? I got clouded out last night , perfectly clear
until i took the scope out.

[glenc]

You are all welcome here tonight.
It gets dark at 20:20 so please come before that, maybe by 7:45.
It was -2 deg C at Tenterfield this morning, the ice was 3mm thick on Ron's basin of water. Great viewing but.

[glenc]

There is a fair bit of smoke around, but you can still come if you want to.

[GrahamL]

Don't know how i got a little lost "Again" coming home from your place Glen? maybe I took a left near your place when I should of went right ?
I did finish up on the kyogle road and eventually came across the naughtons gap turn off . :D

[Lismore Bloke]

Good to hear I'm not the only one who ends up on that road coming home from Glen's!! Hope you had a chance to see something. Conditions Lismore way were very smoky and hazy with clouds now and then. Smoke from fires is buzzing me off. Hope it clears next week, I have a Nalger 17, 9 and 7 plus an Astronomik 2" UHC coming. Want clear skies to enjoy those beauties.

[CoombellKid]

With those note worthy acquisitions, Who Are You Trying To Kid???

That'll be us for the rest of the year.

Cheers,CS

[CoombellKid]

So how long did that take you?

Cheers,CS

[CoombellKid]

Glen,

Thanks for last night, pitty the clouds rolled in. At least we did get to
see a few things, so it wasn't a total waste. Good to see you again
Judith!

Cheers,CS

[glenc]

Good to see you all again. Paul's purchases are bringing some cloud, hope we get some rain.

[Lismore Bloke]

If the weather goes pear-shaped, I'm officially in hiding!!

:scared3:

[CoombellKid]

No worries Paul, you'll just have to bring them out to Mallanganee
lookout next month if your available.

I hope it does rain, I need water in the tanks. Although the clouds could
of given this weekend a miss.

Cheers,CS

[Judith]

Just wanted to add my thanks for last night Glen, Graham and Rob. It was a great night in spite of the cloud and I feel really lucky to have hooked up with you all! I will continue producing munchies as long as you guys keep the scopes rolling out!!
Judith

[Lismore Bloke]

Thanks Rob,
It's ridiculous that I joined IIS in mid '08 and haven't met Graham or yourself yet!!! Look forward to seeing everyone soon weather permitting!! Cheers, Paul.

[GrahamL]

A bit longer :D, its pretty quick to get you back on to bently Rd.. but
it lands you further from lismore..Yeah it can go wrong when you leave Glens estate Paul the bus shelter on manifold looks the same at night as the one on naughtens gap rd makeing some of us :rofl:turn left before they need to :)

[CoombellKid]

It's been raining here for the last 30 minutes now. And it looks like
something else coming in behind it.

Graham, glad you made it safe and sound :thumbsup:

Cheers,CS

[CoombellKid]

Just looking at dates that best suit me. And the new moon falls on
Tuesday the 17th. So the weekend prior looks like the best option.
Hope that suits all. So weather permitting, hopefully see you all there.

Cheers,CS ...beautiful and clear here this morning.

[CoombellKid]

Silly me, I've found out I'll have my boys the weekend of the 13th/14th
so I wont be available. And the weekends prior or after dont look like
the best options either. So what would you like to do?

Cheers,CS

[Lismore Bloke]

New Naglers are working well, storm warnings, rain heading for Mallanganee ...

:cloudy:

[CoombellKid]

Just cut south of us here in Mallanganee. There is a huge mass gathering
a lil south of Grafton that might hit Lismore and Ballina later tonight :P

Anyways, been doing some work on the scope so all's cool :thumbsup:

Cheers,CS

[CoombellKid]

Well good to get a bit of rain today, 18mm so far in nextdoor's rain
guage.

Was thinking maybe keeping a get together back on the 13th/14th
if people are still keen. I'll have my boys, but that should be cool.

Cheers,CS

[CoombellKid]

Anyone keen for a get together? this month. Just trying to guage
interest

Cheers,CS

[glenc]

The weather for this weekend is uncertain. I think I'll stay home.
I observed last night for a while.

[CoombellKid]

No worries Glen,

I think I'll give it a miss too. I'm going to take the boys to the bush as
there are a couple of birthday parties on this weekend.

Looking good for tonight out here, might get the scope out.

Cheers,CS

[CoombellKid]

Hey fellas,

Hope you all are keeping cool!:confused2::(:sadeyes::help: and had a great wekend.
I've had an excellent weekend myself ;) I can also say I've finally
finished my scope with the installation of the new Argo stalk on the
16" along with fixing the balance issues with a removable counter
weight I build for the SC. The new stalk has the ability to be properly
removed for travel. I had Wildcard install the encoder cables in the
tube itself and they also made up some tails for the rocker box.

Anyways I want to put together an astro evening out at Mallanganee
Football Oval for the locals. And I'm looking for some helpers :D with
scopes for an evening. I can sort sort accomodation at my place if you
would like to say over. Glen I can accommodate your camper if you
would like, if your keen to help out. I understand Xmas is coming up so
I think we would look at the new year. Graham you and your partner
would be most welcome. Paul (Lismore Bloke) you too!

Anyways we'll see who is interested and go from there.

Cheers,CS

[glenc]

I can help, let me know when.
I have just been outside using the 20x80s. The previous night I used the 12" Dob.

[GrahamL]

yeah sounds good ro, I'm on holidays from x - mass into mid jan

new mount for the AN works ok ?

I just can't get out of late , clear days and high cloud drifts in every night , did get out with the binos on saturday though.

[CoombellKid]

Good one fellas, I'll get back to ya's

Graham, works like a charm! much more solid was out with it early Sunay
morning.

Cheers,CS

[Judith]

Hey Rob and Graham and Glen,

I'll be there too! I now have my new binos :) Meade 9 x 63 which are great so I will bring them along. Also I reckin we should cater for the masses - I might get organised to do some baking. Rob what do you think about talking to the local cafe about whether they'd be interested in setting up a little stall? Or is that getting too complicated...

Judith

[CoombellKid]

Hey Guy's

How about either the 15th or 16th/01/10.

Great stuff Judith love to have you there, not sure about the cafe thing
tho as it will probably just be a few locals... but then again the whole
town might turn out. but great idea for the future tho.

Cheers,CS

[CoombellKid]

So fellas what do you reckon about the weekend above, weather
permitting. Please confirm who is available and what scopes you can
bring. I'm going to make up a flyer for it and post it at the local General
Store and every lampost in town... 7-8 copies shoulkd do lol.

When does the IYA end? New Years eve 2009/2010?

Cheers,CS

[glenc]

I'll bring a 10". IYA ends 31/12/09 I assume.

[CoombellKid]

Thanks Glen :thumbsup:

Cheers,CS

[CoombellKid]

I've put together a bit of a flyer to put up on the town notice board.

Graham, will you be available?

To give the event a bit of a boost I'm going to have a chat with the
local ladies who seem to run a few get togethers around town. So it
might end up being fairly big, but I think will be a lot of fun all the same.
I'm not quite sure how dark it will be on the Oval with regards to local
light pollution. But I have a bit coming through my yard, still get pretty
good views.

Also I've seen some great possible alternative observing sites in the hills
south of Mallanganee that might be worth investigating.

Anyways have a good weekend all

Cheers,CS

[glenc]

Nice flyer Rob, do you want to suggest aerogard too?

[CoombellKid]

Thanks Glen, I'll do the final when I know what Graham is doing.

Thought about adding mozzie repelent to the poster, but thought
the hillbillys out here might know better. I might go for a walk down
there over the weekend and find out what it is like at night. I know
there are a couple of ponds fairly close.

I'm hoping that maybe a few of the local landowners might show up.
Or at least someone who might know who to talk to about the sites
I have seen in the back country. If we can demonstrate care and
responsibility they might not have a problem with us accessing sites.

Cheers,CS

[CoombellKid]

I went and spent some time at the oval tonight. Doesn't appear to be a
mozzie problem, but I do know there are a couple of bodies of water
locally so I may have got a good night. The light pollution is mostly
towards the north, involving a half dozen street lights but they don't
infringe too much. Good views to the east south and west. There is a
concrete cricket pitch in the centre of the field that will be perfect to
set the scopes up on.

cheers

R
xxx

[glenc]

The oval sounds good Rob. All we need is a good night on 16/1.
Last night was excellent, saw most of the Horsehead neb with my 12" but couldn't see the chin.
I will start a new thread called NSW Northern Rivers 2010.

[CoombellKid]

Hey guys,

I've managed to have a chat to the local bloke who's in charge of the
oval. No problem with using it and he is even going to organise for
it to be mowed for us. He sounds real keen to come along. A few
others have said the same, I think with a lil word of mouth and a few
flyers we may get quite a few attending.

Was also thinking of perhaps of setting up the bino's on the parra mount
down there as well.

Here's a final on the flyer, does it sound ok? say enough? say too much?
I'm going to do up a bunch and have the postoffice put them in all the
P.O.Boxes at the general store.

Cheers,CS

[glenc]

The flyer is very good Rob.

[CoombellKid]

Ok, Judith, Glen and Graham,

I've put up a flyer on the notice board at the general store/post office.
I've also given the post master about 40 flyers to drop into P.O.Boxes.

Absolutely fantastic skies late last night and early this morning. Dang I
didn't have my scope out. I had an old friend over and we sank a few
beers.

Anyways wishing all a merry Xmas!, have a good one, dont eat too much
and drink heaps... got to keep those fluids up :cheers:

See you in the New Year!!!

Cheers,CS

[glenc]

Rob, Judith, Paul and Graham
Happy Christmas to all of you too.

[Lismore Bloke]

Thanks Glen. Happy Christmas to all the gang and hope to see you all next year. I have a houseful of family at the moment, so probably won't be doing much viewing until January. Keep safe everyone.

[GrahamL]

And to you all to :)

[GrahamL]

Jan the 16 it is Rob , lets hope for some clear weather :)

[CoombellKid]

Yup the 16th hopefully.... it's rain! rain! rain! at present :(



Cheers,CS

[Analog6]

Sounds great, I plan to come, it is only for nice dark skies for night photos for me, but sounds like fun. Can I park my van there and sleep, it is a long drive home? I have it all set up with a mattress and so on. Are there loos that will be open?

[CoombellKid]

Great!! look forward to seeing you there :thumbsup:

I dont think that will be too much of a problem. I've seen Caravans
parked up in there overnight. The toilets are fairly primative, I'll have
to check to see if they work. They're part of a grandstand that is long
in need of some TLC. In anycase your more than welcome to park up
at my place where you can access amenities.

Cheers,CS

[Lismore Bloke]

Time to fess up ... got a pair of 20x80 Andrews binos and The Universe series 1 for Christmas. If it rains and floods blame me!!

[Analog6]

Thanks Rob, I'd appreciate that if the oval loos are U/S. I'm really looking forward to this, hope the weather is good.

[CoombellKid]

Paul,

It can rain all it likes in Lismore :thumbsup:


Odille,

I'll take the boys for walk later and check it out, I'll post some photos.
Where is Terranora in relation to Casino? I could google it but I'm on
dialup and your reply will probably be quicker.

Cheers,CS

[glenc]

Terranora is inland from South Tweed Heads.

[CoombellKid]

Thanks Glen

[CoombellKid]

Actually it's called Memorial Park, hope they didn't mind the name change.
Anyhows on the final printed flyer I added to the bottom... Designed by
Glen and Graham :D

Odille, the toilets are bad and appear to have been used long past
running out of water. My place is located about 100m from the oval you
might as well park at my place and walk. I know you have your camper,
I do have a couple of spare beds if you or anyone else wants a bed. Just
bring your own pillows.

Anyways here are some photos of the park.

1) Looking South
2) Looking West
3) Looking North
4) Looking East, Orion sits just to the right of the big tree but you need
to be at the southern end of the pitch
5) This is the area people have parked up over night.
6) The front gates, including a future All Black running like a Mallanganee Bull

[CoombellKid]

And future All Black learning to hunt wallaby ;)

Cheers,CS

[Judith]

Hey everyone,

I've been in Adelaide with family for Xmas - great night skies a bit away from the city cos it hardly ever rains here.

Hope you all had a great Xmas and enjoy the Blue Moon on new year's eve! Looking forward to catching up on the 16th at Mallanganee - here's hoping for good weather.

Judith

[glenc]

See http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?p=544455#post544455

[CoombellKid]

Well folks,

Looking good for this weekend, should be a great event. There is a bit
of chat around town, so we should (hoping) get a good turn out. I have
beds if anyone needs one. Let me know if you do so I can get them
ready. Otherwise see you here on the 16th.

Ok I'm signing off from this thread and moving off to Glens new thread he
posted above.

Cheers,CS