Cambroon 18/07/09

[astroron]

CAMBROON will be open for business on the 18/07/09 weather permitting.:prey::prey::prey:
All are welcome:thumbsup::astron::stargaze:

[RobF]

Yes please Ron!
Long range forecast looks good so far....
(we've got to be due for a good one:thumbsup:)

[jjjnettie]

Got a few new toys to play with too!
Looking forward to it.

[Tandum]

I'll have another go at driving up as well.
Ron, how is horizon north and north west of you? I was hoping to grab an hours worth of M51 while it's visible but it's only 12degrees above horizon? I can't shoot north from here at all :(

[astroron]

Rob I am afraid you have left it to late for M51 for this year:(
Rise: 13:42 Transit: 17:35 Set: 21:27

Azm: 359°48'19" Alt: +16°12'46"
Thats the max altitude at 17:35
cheers:thumbsup:

[Tandum]

Bugger, there's always next year :thumbsup:

[RobF]

I've never found anywhere better for a Northern horizon. Those hills to the N are only about 8-12 degrees high - you can see M97 at right time of year.

I was hoping to bag a few frames of M51 and a few other low Messier objects early in the night. Astroplanner has it transiting at 18:07, with altitude of 15 degrees at 7pm - doesn't get a lot higher than that. I'd love to see what your new toys would show of M51 Robin. And the hills taper down a bit to the NW....

JJJ - new toys... OOOOOOooooo!!!

[Tandum]

Sounds like a plan, I just hope I can shake this flu for next week. Had the stinking thing for 2 weeks now. Might be Doctor time :(

[RobF]

Not good. Hope you fight it off....

[lesbehrens]

hi. i hope to get there if my plate isn't full. hope to see you all
les

[jjjnettie]

Robin, hope you feel better real soon.

[[1ponders]]

The 18th 'eh...:confuse3: Veeeerrrryyyy interesting. I reacon it could be a goer. ;)

[Tandum]

Thanks for the concern jeanette, I'm convinced a solid dose of Jim with some Beam will sort it out :D

[jjjnettie]

Now don't go diluting the medicine too much Robin. It works best full strength.

[RobF]

I know what medicine I'm longing for - clear Kenilworth air, wide dark skies - and great company too. Sigh - why can't it be Fri night.....

:astron:

[astroron]

Robin, I retract my statement about being to late :rolleyes:
M51 was Absolutley Fabulous Last night:eyepop: Spiral arms plainly seen with the 13 mag foreground stars shining Like beacons:P
If the weather next Saturday is like last night your in for a treat:thumbsup::astron::stargaze:

[jjjnettie]

Only 5 sleeps to go!

[[1ponders]]

and then another 27 :D :cool:

[jjjnettie]

Don't forget 10 Chain Hill the following weekend too.

[[1ponders]]

Ooo ..... damn. My folks are coming down that weekend for the following two weeks. :( Will have to take another rain check. :(

but after that I have 7 weeks off. :D

[xstream]

We wish we could of made it again this weekend but Emerald is a little too far to travel from. :(

[Tandum]

Excellent, should be able to get a couple of hours on it, fingers crossed.
Weather forecast looks good too, there's a big High heading east :D

[Xeelee]

Spartacus and I will be there, weather permitting. Hope to see you all there.

Chris

[jjjnettie]

Excellent news! See you there.

[[1ponders]]

'bout time Chris. Haven't seen you and the Spart for a while now. :P What about Astrofest? You two coming along?

[Nightshift]

Hi Ron,

Looks like I'm in for the weekend, and it looks like the weather is going to behave itself too, bonus. see you about three'ish (I need to do some collomation and other maintenance).

Cheers, Dennis.

[jjjnettie]

I'll be arriving sometime after lunch.
Got the new scope today!:D:thumbsup:
Got a bit of modification to do on her tomorrow arvo before she's ready to do some serious work. I will be taking her for a test drive tonight though.;)
It's like xmas today, unwrapping all the goodies I ordered.:)

[Xeelee]

Sadly not this year Paul.

[drmorbius]

Bother... Sorry Ron, but I have to go to Brisbane (something different) and I doubt I'll be back in time to make it up there.

Hey Xeelee, sorry I'll miss you two... it's been a long time.

Dark skies everyone

[astroron]

I am Sorry that you can't make it Randall:sadeyes:, it would have been nice to catch up again:)

[astroron]

We would have loved to have you join us John and Anna:)
But we will remember your attendance from last month, and hope we will catch up again in the future:thumbsup:

[007Borg]

Hey Ron, you can count myself and Michael in for Sat night... nice and fine so far...:thumbsup:

Will have to blow the dust of the ol' scope.

Won't be able to do Astrofest this year tho'.. will be knee deep in snow:D

Bye for now...:hi:


Cheers,
Shaun

[astroron]

Long Time no see shaun and Michael:(
Look forward to catching up again:thumbsup:

[Zubenel]

Hi Ron ,
Been 5 months hence. No need to pray ,I"ll be there with a friend and his son. Mitch and Daryl. Can't wait!!:2thumbs::stargaze::party2::p arty:
Zub.

[pmrid]

Hi Ron. Looks like you're going to have a great night tomorrow. I can't be there. Got a bunch of older folks from a nursing home on the coast coming out to have a night under the stars. My bit for IYA.
See you and all others on the 25th. All the signs are good for a great period of ovserving. Yahoo.
Peter

[RobF]

I'm getting nervous about that band of cloud blowing up from the SW. Please please please blow through south of us...... :prey::prey::prey:
Gosh I wish I could have got up there this evenin' Ron

[jjjnettie]

Rob, it's probably too late for tonight, but you're welcome to setup in my front paddock almost any night. The sky isn't quite as dark as Ron's, but dark just the same.
You can run a lead from the shed to power up your gear.
Les Behrens comes over occasionally too.

[RobF]

Thanks Jeanette - got to be darker than the 'burbs!
Might just take you up on that some time. Fingers crossed for Sat......

[astroron]

I hope all who come tomorrow will bring lots of warm clothes and Foot ware:cold::cold::cold:
Jupiter is fairly good tonight:)

[RobF]

Got my M51 in the end, even if 101 eluded me this time. Fairly heroic processing - was below 10 degrees by the time these 4 x 5mins exposures. Lots of processing to deal with red from haze etc. Apologies to anyone within earshot for the ranting and raving while this was going on.

Yay! :lol:

[pmrid]

Well done. I didn't think you'd get any ckytime at all, judging by the $%#@ clouds that closed me in here at Somerset Dam. Different story tonight though. I'm just processing a M17 that's looking pretty good.
Peter

[jjjnettie]

Rob, you've got to be happy with that.
It's a ripper, especially when you consider how low it was!
I processed Corona Australis in the morning. It came up pretty good too. Big thank you to Paul for lending me his gear. After the focusing focuser farce I was feeling very upset. I would have been quite happy to throw the whole thing down a gully on my drive home.:mad2:
I'm getting my OTA cut down this week (today?). The new scope WILL be a goer this weekend.
Rob, should I get the 2" eyepiece adaptor cut down as well???
Thanks Ron for letting us take over your place, again.
It was a good turnout wasn't it. I think there were 15 people all up? Could have been more.
The high light of the entire evening was the high powered view, 750x, of Jupiter through Ron's 16". Looked at through a light fog, the seeing improved immensely showing great detail and colour. Unforgettable!

[astroron]

Thanks Jeanette, the total was 17 people and 1 dog:P
The Jupiter was only was only Mag x 610:rolleyes: but what a view:eyepop:
I must have a look for the spot that Bird spotted, just hope the seeing is ok:thumbsup:

[jjjnettie]

Yes! Must look for that tonight. I'll setup before going to work.
How exciting!:D

Fudge is a sweet little thing isn't she. She crawled into bed with me for a while there. Nearly as good as a hot water bottle, only hot water bottles don't demand scratches.:lol:

BTW Ron, are you still finding shreds of silk about the place? (jnettie was moulting):whistle:

[pmrid]

Jeanette, I've got a low-profile GSO Crayford 10:1 focuser that is surplus to my needs - has a base for an 8" Newt as well. Want to try tat before cutting up tubes etc?
Peter

[jjjnettie]

Peter, I bought a GSO low profile 10:1 focuser when I bought the scope. We removed the SW one but found that the hole was WAYYY to big, leaving gaps on all sides of the plate. Also, with the low profile one in place, we still couldn't achieve focus. So the OTA will have to be cut down.
What is the size of the focuser plate on yours?

[RobF]

Sorry to hear of all the troubles Jeanette. Its a really bummer when you've been dying to get out with the new scope. I spent weeks (months?) playing with my focuser originally looking at websites figuring there HAD to be some adaptor or fix. VERY surprised the cut down 2" adaptor didn't work for you.

Davewaldo took a bit off the back of his 8" OTA (same model as mine), but I haven't seen how much. He was away but might respond to a PM. If Paul is helping I'm sure he'll get it right for you! Remember you might have to put a small extender on to get focus with eyepieces after you "operate". I wouldn't cut the 2" down until you see how you go. I took mine to a machine shop to get them to cut it and tap out the screws. There's a good thread on it here I could find if/when you want to know more.

Cheers again Ron for hosting such a great outing!
See you Sat JJJ!

[jjjnettie]

There's a bloke in town who's a bit of a specialist, I'll be using him for both cuts. Still, I can use the scope for Jup tonight. I should get focus using the 5x barlow and the LPI.