Perth Guys

[picklesrules]

you guys sound like you have so much fun
once I get my p's next may ill be deff coming down all the time :P

[seanliddelow]

You can use my 12" Dob and I will show you the tarantula nebula.:thumbsup:

[picklesrules]

sounds good man , im gonan get a 12" dob as well next yr after i get my heq5 pro

[seanliddelow]

The astrofest at Cutin Uni is on in 2 weeks:P
Who else is going?

[TrevorW]

Well it looks like a crystal clear night in Perth and guess what we've got visitors coming for a BBQ

I arranged it, but but there was cloud about most of the day

Drats bah humbug

[TrevorW]

6:15pm in Perth, slight wind, no clouds all set up but what to image ????

[rogerg]

hmm, will think about it. I should. I haven't used my gear for a month+

[TrevorW]

i thought you'd still be on your honeymoon ;)

[rogerg]

Well that'd be a convenient excuse for not doing astronomy, but no :) I have been back a little while but haven't had much enthusiasm for astronomy, not that the weather has been helping :( It would be good to get more NGC images. But kind of busy with lots of things too.

[rogerg]

Well, I've ended up having a reasonable couple of nights. Between last night and the night before I have another 63 NGC objects imaged. The count would have been about double that if it wasn't for poor GoTo accuracy and cloud. I only got 23 images from last night due largely to the cloud.

Still though, the last time I took any NGC images was 24th August, so its' a boom for productivity right now in comparison :)

Looks like I might not get back to it until after full moon though, with cloud and then astrofest preventing me continuing with the astronomy.

:thumbsup:


Roger.

[WarpSpider74]

Astrofest is this weekend right? I'm in Brisbane for work and hope I can get a flight home in time :)

[rogerg]

yeap, this weekend :) Sat, 2pm - 10pm. Should be good I hope. There's certainly a big variety of scopes that'll be there at night!! (I've seen the list).


http://www.astronomywa.net.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=458:astrofest-everyones-invited&catid=14:stories&Itemid=66

[WarpSpider74]

Great to meet a couple of you yesterday at Astrofest. Always nice to put faces to names. Had a great time there with my 9 y/o daughter, who was especially impressed with the talk that Prof. Fred Watson gave.

[rogerg]

It was good to meet so many IIS people yesterday. I fully admit that I will probably not recognise half of you next time I see you ... I'm just not good with recognising faces ... and I talked to probably 2000 people yesterday :rolleyes: :) But it was a great day, and great to meet you all :)

I thought the talk was good. Looked like there was too many people on the field for the scopes at night - long queue's, I hope visitors got to see some stuff :)

[TrevorW]

Sorry I couldn't be there Rog

[rogerg]

You got a big round of applause for your place in the photography comp Trevor, and your pic was on display with the others all day :thumbsup:

[seanliddelow]

Dont feel to bad, Kerryhn didnt remember me either and she has seen me Three times before :lol:

I may be going to Tammin on the 14th or 15th of December as I have no school and my dad is not at work.
Anyone interested?

[Gallifreyboy]

Good to meet you too, by the way my son loves his mouse mat:thumbsup:

Peter

[mozzie]

you w.a boys should try and catch up with astro ron while he's over there a knowledgeable night will be on the cards if you can get hold of him
mozzie

[seanliddelow]

The 12th to the 15th is when the observing nights will be roughly on-
What day is he going to be here?

Meanwhile the smog is driving me crazy! Im starting to have asthma attacks :<

[marki]

Ron has been very quiet :shrug:.

Mark

[mozzie]

sean he's over there know on holidays travelling aus ive his mob if you want i can pm you the no.
mozzie

[rogerg]

Ron has my contact details such that if he has the opportunity to meet up with some locals he was going to call me and possibly come out to Tammin with us.

Roger.

[seanliddelow]

Im afraid i'll miss him as im going to be there 2 days afterwards.
Is there any extended weather forecast?

I hope the mozzies and foxes dont eat me alive...........

[TrevorW]

Roger when's the next viewing a Tammin and can I get the details

Although I don't know if I'll have my power issues sorted by then

PM me thanks

[rogerg]

Trevor I will PM you the details tonight (I have them at home). Next event there is on the night of the 12th Dec.

Roger.

[TrevorW]

Anyone outside around 10pm tonight see a bright orange light in the SE towards horizon which hovered for a while then disappeared suddenly ???

[mswhin63]

I may have been out but SE horizon maybe a bit out of my FOV.

[seanliddelow]

I went out at 2pm last night and I never realsied how dark the skie is when everyone goes to bed:eyepop:
My Mum will kill me and the neighbours will assemble a lynch mob if they here the garage door open at 2am to get my telescope out gotta keep it open tonight:P

I didnt notice an orange light when I was out :shrug:

[seanliddelow]

When will the next Tammin be on Roger? :help:

[rogerg]

I was outside just before then, but think we were home by 10. At what must have been about 9pm we saw a bright but short one near the zenith.



Some night's its great late, others it seems to stay light all night. Sure is good when it clears up and goes nice and dark.

Rolling the observatory roof open or closed is something I do very gently at night, to try nd not cause my neighbours too much grief. It sounds much like a roller door. So I know where you're coming from Sean.




Good question. Don't particularly feel like going out there at the moment myself, to be honest :) But, seriously, look in your copy of the Sidereal Times. Next one penciled in is 16th Jan. Might be a busy bee to erect the first dome on-site. Perhaps 2 night stay to enable us to do busy bee work in the cool of the early morning. Stay tuned. Will probably start thinking about it in the week before 16th.

Been 37, 38 and 41 degrees here the last 3 days, must be nice'n toasty out at Tammin. Has been good cold nights though.

Roger.

[seanliddelow]

We should have a lottery to decide who uses the dome first :P
It looks a little bit small to put my telescope in although :sadeyes:

[seanliddelow]

I did notice around that time we were in the Quinns Rock area returning from a party and people were setting off fireworks. Perhaps similar events were happening around Perth?

[rogerg]

I think there's no doubt who first dibs goes to... Jacquie, who's been the one person spending hours and hours working on it :)

[mswhin63]

Yes I agree, Jacquie has been working hard on it even on the last time I went.

[seanliddelow]

Yeah I reckon she should then :)

Next time I goe to Tammin my Aunt and Uncle may be coming over because they want to look through my telescope. Also my Dad, as he works at Qantas, might be able to get a Green laser which he can get from overseas for "work":rolleyes:. I will bring my Ipod Touch with Red cellophane covering the screen so I can use planeterium apps and it has also got an APOD app if anyone wants to have a look:thumbsup:

[mswhin63]

No more than 5mW laser as there is an ASWA policy on this. 5mW is usually enough.

Need to be careful the laser doesn't cut in front of the AP'ers as well.

[seanliddelow]

Thanks for telling me that I didnt know there was a limit:thumbsup:
RogerG has told me it isnt a problem for him although I dont know about the others :shrug:

[mswhin63]

Actually I think there is a legal limit as well. I asked about the policy during a lunatiks night. We sat around pointing at constellations and discussed lasers as well.

[marki]

The legal limit is 1mw but it is not upheld as there is no one to police it or capable of policing it. 5mw is plenty even in the city. We want to point out the stars not blow them out of the sky.

Mark

[seanliddelow]

Did anyone see lunar eclipse on December 31st?

I did it was great :D

[MrB]

LOL no, didn't even know there was one.
Shows how "with it" I am at the moment.

[seanliddelow]

My 15th Birthday today :D:D

Cant wait untill I get presents/cash when my Mum wakes up :cool:

[rogerg]

Happy Birthday Sean! :thumbsup:

I hope you get something good. :)

[Visionoz]

Many happy returns Sean and hope you check under your bed; maybe an ArgoNavis is there! :lol:

Have a good day!!

Cheers
Bill

[seanliddelow]

Thanks Roger Im going to get a collimator with the money Ive saved :eyepop:

Does anyone know any good brands or types of collimators for a Dob?

[seanliddelow]

Thanks Bill :thumbsup:

No Argonavis, but im gonna start saving;)

[seanliddelow]

2 nights ago I was out with my telescope and my iPod Touch. I have downloaded an awesome app called Starmap Pro. It includes stars down to the 16th mag and info for stars down to 6th mag. Its also got every NGC, IC and M object there is and shows which ones are above the horizon.

So I thought I might search for a comet so went on Starmap Pro and I looked for the brightest one which was a 10th mag comet in Gemini. I MAY have seen the comet I cant tell because there where a lot of fuzzy stars around (Collimation problem).

Next I went to search for a random DSO and on the list I came across a couple of 10th mag galaxys and there 12th mag companions in Erindanus. I was amazed as I managed to see the brightest members of a galaxy cluster in my light polluted skies:eyepop:.

Next I set my sights on Musca and saw for the first time the Globular Clusters there:thumbsup:.

I also manged to see Sirius companion which was easier to find then the Erindanus galaxys. I also may have seen Phobos and/or Deimos:question:

A satisfying night of observing :thumbsup:

[rogerg]

G'day Sean,

Good to hear you had a successful night of observing. The weather has been reasonably kind to us here in Perth recently, I've had a few good nights. The wind was a show stopper last night, hopefully not tonight.

Roger.

[mswhin63]

I must admit, last night was one of the clearest nights I have seen in a long time. Too bad I am pimping my scope.

[Vartigy]

Yeh good viewing last few nights. Mars has been prime position.
Bit windy but otherwise been fantastic viewing.

[TrevorW]

Anyone else see this tonight

[rogerg]

A mate of mine and I have tried viewing Mars on two consecutive weekends now without any good results. Very very average conditions. Potentially a local problem, with lots of hot tile rooves and bitumen driveways around releasing lots of heat all night.



No... looks like it's maybe saying Perth Lotto..... something er other, practice for the skyshow in a couple of weeks perhaps?

[jadeia]

Anyone recommend good viewing locations around Perth? I was thinking of heading down the freeway towards Bunbury as it's just to built up and too much light pollution at home.

Whats the viewing like from Kings Park or the Beaches?

[MrB]

Kings Park is a waste of time, beaches aren't that much better.
If you want dark skies there's no option but to drive.
Now and then I head out on Brookton Highway and find a nice quiet spot.

[pgc hunter]

Kings park is right in the middle of the city. Don't bother.

[TrevorW]

couple spots along Brookton Hway you can set up in bush but don't go out alone

[mswhin63]

Had a look at Mt Dale, on top of the hill, nice site but seems to be a bit of a late night lare for some young ones. But if you don't mind the deep dark Brookton Highway is quite good.

Check out Google Maps which I did to see any possible clearings.

[leinad]

Here's an overlay of google earth I did which may assist.

[jadeia]

Great tips thanks. I hadn't thought about Brookton it sounds like it could be a shot. I was also thinking about that dark stretch on the new Freeway between Mandurah and Bunbury - but need to check for a clearing to pull off into.

[TrevorW]

I'm up to going too a dark site location on weekends closer to home (within 50-100klm) if anyone's interested needs company and I'm free PM me

[MrB]

Nice one Daniel thanks.
I tried to do that overlay and failed misserably, didn't have a 'puter or Internet connection at the time that was good enough for Google earth tho.

So my spot on Brookton Hwy(Schilling Rd) looks like it'd be just on the edge of the grey/black zones... nice.
Longish drive tho.
Perth CBD to Schilling Rd, line of sight; ~80km (using Google maps)
My Home to Schilling Rd; ~105km
Perth CBD to Dryandra; ~150km

EDIT: BTW, Schilling Rd(turn right, south, off Brookton) is a no-thru-road, ie, NO TRAFFIC.... I just set my gear up on the edge of the road (limestone).

[seanliddelow]

Heads up :thumbsup: Awesome seeing tonight (8/10)

I have seen many objects with my Ipod Touch planetarium app
(Starmap Pro) tonight. Here I go-

Clusters
1. Omicron Vela Cluster 2. NGC 2451 3. Beehive Cluster 4. NGC 2232 5. IC 2581 6. M47
7. M41 8. NGC1981 9. IC 2395 10. NGC 2547 11. NGC 2244 12. M35
13. Wishing Well Cluster 14. Jewel Box

Nebula
1. Orion Nebula 2. Blue Planetary 3. Eight Burst Planetary 4. Crab Nebula 5. Tarantula Nebula

[rogerg]

I had a feeling it was going to be a good night and meant to warn people of the potential :whistle:. Yesterday morning driving down to work it was one of the clearest mornngs I could remember recenty - perfectly clear sharp views of the airport, ciy and rottnest. Good to hear someone made the most of it :)

[beren]

My favorite's spot/s are just east of mundaring weir, nice and scenic and reasonably dark. Being a water catchment area many of the main gravel roads leading into the area have gates off great eastern highway which offer some deterrent to the bad elements. Best bet is to visit a Calm office and purchase detailed maps for the hills before venturing out. I would avoid the forest west of the weir including Mt dale.

[mswhin63]

Yes I would agree, My Dale not only has a bad element but restricted viewing.

[rogerg]

I hope someone in Perth has been making the most of the excellent weather we've been having lately. Cool nights, mostly clear nights, little wind compared to recent weeks.

I've been too unwell for the last 3.5 weeks to do anything myself :( very frustrating :( Watching the observatory sit there do nothing.

[mswhin63]

I have been a bit under the weather too, strange that good obs weather has that affect on me.

[WarpSpider74]

I've been getting out in the back yard a bit almost every night lately. Apart from some mild high cirrus cloud (and the odd bushfire...) the skies have been wonderfully clear at night. Even better, some kind, helpful soul has knocked out a heap of the streetlights close to my house :D (shouldn't complain really, the lighting in Tapping and Carramar is pretty responsible - not too bright and downward directed!)

[rogerg]

Found out today I have "cough fractures" in my ribs! Fractures in the ribs because of coughing! Well what do you know, learn something every day. You'd think the human body would be smarter than to injure its self!

The good news is that it's not pneumonia or something, so I am fine to go outside doing astronomy again :) Might even have some free time after my brother's wedding on Saturday.

[seanliddelow]

Theres been a cold going around lately, my brother and many people I know from my school have either got it or had it. As my immune system seems to be good I haven't got the virius yet. I know the feeling of bruised ribs :sadeyes:

And, the weather seems to be improving over the last couple of hours for the astrocamp :shrug:

[TrevorW]

Wishful thinking Sean but I hope you're right

[seanliddelow]

Its still improving. Will you be coming down tonight?

[TrevorW]

Probably not if the temperature and cloud don't drop and disperse unlikely to be there

Cheers

[leinad]

There's a high lingering, and two cold fronts pushing through.
Best of luck down there. Might be better tonight then tomorrow's expected forecast.

[seanliddelow]

I survived the Great Storm of Perth 22/03/2010 :rofl:

[Blue Skies]

yep, was a bit wild here this afternoon. I'm lucky enough not to have hail damage, but currently have no power and may not for some time :( I've got the laptop and modem hooked up to an inverter and car battery to check stuff online atm.

[leinad]

Great storm alright!
In Nedlands, the lightning looked directly over head. The sound of Thunder was deafening, the lightning flashes almost blinding.

On the drive home along Mounts Bay road the lightning looking south from Perth was sooo amazing I've never seen such a lightning storm like it in my life. It was almost like the whole Perth CBD and River as an active area of electric activity; lightning strikes across the sky. Around my area 5min from Perth City trees look like they have been struck, half collapsed on the roads. An absolutely stunning freak storm.

The whole drive home I had my mobile phone on video record and would you believe the whole 12 times I didn't capture anything, yet during the intervals a stunning lightning display would strike horizontally across the sky, or boldly in a strike to the ground. Boohoo.

But,... I enjoyed it. Nature at it's finest (and most aggressive).

[rogerg]

Awsome storm. I feel sorry for all the people with damage, luckily our house and cars are OK - only because I have undercover parking at work, thank goodness!

My work place is heavily damged - meeting room and reception area comletely flooded with ceiling falling in and all sorts. Not sure what's going to happen today at work.

I've posted a pic in th Terrestrial Phoography section (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?p=572847).

I don't think I've seen so many bursts of lightning so consistently for such a long eriod, ever! We were standing at the back of my work just in awe of the lightning every 0.5 seconds, rain, wind, etc.

Spectacular sunset following, as I was driving home through the hills.

It's days like yesterday that I really really hate working underground in effectively what is a dungeon - no windows. Missed a lot of it :(

[suma126]

hi if you guys a looking for dark Sky's you can come down to Busselton and camp in my back yard . you are :welcome:

[Visionoz]

I wasn't so lucky -just dropped into a Telstra shop in Osborne Park and within minutes all hell broke loose!!:sadeyes:

My car got splattered and battered for about 10 minutes with light and small hailstones but the last bits were the big ones like golf balls and now there's 30+ little craters of varying sizes like Bruce Lee's been practising on it like a puching bag - wonder if insurance will cover this kind of damage - I can live with it if they don't since my car color is dark blue but would prefer to get the bodywork fixed and looking smooth though

Darned and I was thinking of changing my car this FYE too! :mad2:

Cheers
Bill

[supernova1965]

I know it doesn't help much but Mythbusters proved that a car with a finish like a golfball actually had better fuel efficency by about 13%:thumbsup:

[rogerg]

Doh! That's no good Bill. I hope your insurance covers it.

[Nesti]

Holy Cow...we got absolute pulverised in Leerderville yesterday afternoon.

Our business premise in Leederville was flooded on the ground floor with about 6 inches of water and three of the rooms had the suspended ceilings caved in from wind-forced rain (it drilled through the gaps of the preformed concrete walls and sprayed the ceiling cavity inside).

Greens & Co cafe on Oxford St had the ceiling collapse in on them.

We got hammered at home too. We're on a hill behind the lake and we stood on the balcony watching it come in from the north. The clouds were a Jade Green and the cloud front was like a 30km wide mushroom with the edge rolling like a breaking wave (looked stunning). The roar of the hail coming from Osborne park was awesome. As it got nearer you had to yell as this curtain of ice came down. I rarely saw a normal sized bead of hail, they ranged from 20c piece size to one which was somewhere in-between a squash ball and a racquet ball size. It was like 'C' cell batteries falling. I can't believe the glass doors and windows didn't break.

There were three cars and one motor bike almost totally submerged on lake Monger drive and 1/4 of the cars in the street had smashed windscreens.

Quite a few dead water birds on lake Monger too.

I lived in Brisbane and FN Qld for 16 years, but never saw hail like this before; pretty impressive!

[Nesti]

I've had a guess as to where you stood to take that photo (in TP section).
:P

[TrevorW]

Crystal clear in Perth tonight, has been for a few days but weeknights are out for me lately, cold and the full moon, and the report is rains coming again, so I'm out there tonight full moon or not, the red will keep me warm besides soccer telecast doesn't start until 11:30pm

[Visionoz]

Drat!! :mad2: .... and I missed the Partial Lunar Eclipse event due to work commitments ... call came in as I was just starting to pack the gear; never mind need the money to buy astro-gears though! :D

Cheers
Bill

[TrevorW]

It looks like it will be crystal clear in Perth tonight and for the weekend, but again a near full moon to deal with but typical see my post from the 26th June All the best guys

[mswhin63]

I was surprised last night, usually the moon obscures most of the stars, but last night it was really clear and was able to see more star than usual. I am sure that winter skies are cleaner so that may explain a few things