NSW Northern Rivers 2010

[glenc]

Our first observing night is 16/1 at Mallanganee Oval.

[CoombellKid]

I missed last night, but I think I'll be getting the scope out tonight if
this weather holds. Currently got the PST out there checking out the
sun spot group that is currently transiting.

Looking forward to Mallanganee, should be a good night. Not sure how
many locals we'll get.

Cheers,CS

[glenc]

Nice and clear last night. A family from up the road came over and had a look at some DSO.
Let's hope it's like this next Saturday night.

[CoombellKid]

Fantastic here the last couple of early mornings. I was just up on
Richmond Range road watching and taking some snaps of the sunrise.

Yup here's hoping, there a bit of chat going around town about it. We
should get a few people. Looking forward to it.

Cheers,CS

[CoombellKid]

Another fantastic night wasted : ( I setup the 16" last night only to
crash out on the lounge in front of the TV. Woke this morning as dawn
was breaking. Oh well I was all over the place yesterday and went for
two swims so I must of knackered myself.

Cheers,CS

[GrahamL]

Yeah I've been in brisbane last couple of days and the nights have been nice ,, pity the scope was a couple hundred klms south of me :(

We are off camping at yurrigar till the end oif the week rob
I think my wifes coming up with me saturday.. will check in friday

[CoombellKid]

Hey Graham,

No worries, looking forward to catching up! have a good time camping
wherever yurrigar is.

See you Sat :thumbsup:

Cheers,CS

[Lismore Bloke]

Hello everyone,

I hope you will excuse me for not posting on the weekend event before now. The wife had been planning a trip to Sydney in January, but the dates were uncertain. Not helped by her falling over some rubbish I left in the back yard and breaking 2 ribs ... ouch!!! She is in Sydney now and I have the weekend free. Hoping for good weather.

I hope it is OK for me to attend, if so probably only with the binos, I haven't worked out whether I can carry the 12" (and base) in an ordinary car. The Patrol is filled up with drawers and cupboards, so not much spare space there. Will probably bring the eyepiece box as well. Hope to see everyone there. Cheers, Paul.

[CoombellKid]

Hi Paul,

Your most welcome to attend, it will be great to meet you. However
since this is going to be a public viewing we are expecting possibly quite
a few people attending along with children. I wouldn't bother bringing
EP's, certainly not good ones until we have one of our regular sessions.

If you can bring the 12" great :thumbsup: if not np's, c u there

Cheers,CS

[glenc]

Here is a forecast http://ozforecast.com.au/cgi-bin/weatherwrap.cgi?location=Casino&pagetype=forecast
and another http://www.weatherzone.com.au/nsw/northern-rivers/casino

[CoombellKid]

Could be a little touch and go.

Cheers,CS

[Lismore Bloke]

Pardon a dumb question Rob, but where in the sprawling metropolis called Mallanganee is the football ground??

[CoombellKid]

Paul,

Here is a town map.

Cheers,CS

[GrahamL]

Hi guys

I left minnie water this morning , a southerly change arrived yesterday
which brought in a little rain down that way , fingers crosssed it stays around the coast as its fairly clear at home now .


Took my binos and had a couple of very clear nights, weird hearing the odd dingo howling in the night while observing.

[Lismore Bloke]

Thanks, Rob, hope the weather stays clear. When's everyone arriving?

[glenc]

Rob, please give us a local weather update tomorrow afternoon. Thanks.

[CoombellKid]

Maybe if we can show up on the field say 7pm.

Glen, np's I'm going to be hitting the surf first thing tomorrow morning. I
should of had my fix by mid morning and home again between 11am-12pm.
I'll start posting weather reports from around 1pm and on the hour after
that.

Hoping all will be cool!!!! it should be a great night. I'm feeling confident
that it will be. It's been getting pretty messy here of an afternoon but
coming good late.

Cheers,CS hope to see everybody tomorrow in Mallanganee.

[Analog6]

There is now a severe thunderstorm warning for the adjacent area to the west http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDN65156.shtml and the radar pic has some stuff on it. As I was going mainly for photographing star trails I may give it a miss.

[CoombellKid]

Just got home from the coast, the surf was beautiful this morning. My
Neighbour Vincent says it has been slowly clearing all day from a
clouded in morning. It's hard to say what it'll do. But it has been cloudy
in the afternoons and then clears up later. Still got another 5 hours in
the day yet... although that may well be just me trying to be hopeful.

Yes there is a system to the SW with light to moderate falls. And there
is another lil one to the west. I think these will fade away. There isn't
much heat and humidity for any real storm action. It’s basically patchy
cloud at the moment.

I'll post another update on IIS in an hour or so.

Cheers,CS

[glenc]

The cloud here is the type that usually goes away by sunset.

[GrahamL]

mostly clear on the coast and to the south , very differant to when you left this morning rob, yes it does look the type of cloud that often clears at dusk glen , better go drag the scope out and get it cooling down .... will check back later

[glenc]

Might get a storm before dark http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDR283.loop.shtml?looping=1&reloaded=0&topography=true&locations=true&range=true#skip

[GrahamL]

Any Idea whats behind these storm cells Rob? as i have to leave soon .

[CoombellKid]

It doesn't look good. Cant see behind what is coming over and it is all
black.

: (

If we have to postphone will you guys be interested in setting up
another date. The kids in town and some of the town folk have be
looking forward to this.

I'll update in an hour, sorry guys I roach bomb the house overnight
and I'm giving the place a big clean.

Cheers,CS

[Lismore Bloke]

Will keep monitoring. Another patch of cloud developing behind the one that's heading your way.

[glenc]

IF tonight is no good, Tuesday night looks OK.
The 14% Moon will be setting then.

[CoombellKid]

This is looking to the SE at present. I cant see any clear sky behind it.

[CoombellKid]

Ok we'll cancel, and look at another date shortly. I better go let town know.

bummer really because people here are looking forward to it.

Cheers,CS

[GrahamL]

bummer .. I just went to lookout and had a look to the west.. yeah it looks pretty average out your way , I can see a bit of a break to the south of it but posibly another patch to come through behind .. later tonight you may have a clear sky , prolly to late to get any takers though .

Drop in for a coffe if you hit the surf tommorow.

[Lismore Bloke]

Agreed ... bummer!!! Was looking forward to it.

[Analog6]

Well I ended up going as my OH said why not go and storm chase if the star thing is no good. So I was 10km west of Casino when Rob rang and went back and spent the night in Casino. The starts were brilliant but I didn't know the area well enough to find a nice dark spot. I did get some nice (I hope) low mist images this morning on the way from Casino to Lismore (where I am currently making use of Maccas free wi fi hookups!).

[CoombellKid]

Ok,

I'm all for doing something Tuesday night or perhaps next weekend
when when people who want to get involved are not working the next
day.

Cheers,CS

[CoombellKid]

I would like to say. I really appreciate everyones time and involvement
in this event. At the end of the day someone has to make a decission
and on the above posted photo, we did.

We regret any inconvenience

Cheers,CS

[CoombellKid]

How does this sound folks.....

We go for Friday nite with an alternative of Sat weather permitting?

This will give me more time to alert the town than a Tuesday event
would.

Thoughts and comments.

Cheers,CS

[CoombellKid]

Ok, we're trying for next Friday night with Saturday the alternative,
those who can attend will be most welcome. Again I will give local
weather updates Friday afternoon and Saturday if need be. I've
attached a copy of the flyer that is going out today.

Hope to see you there!

Cheers,CS

[Judith]

Great Rob! I'll be there. Happy to car pool with anyone going from Lismore. Only I'll be going on the early side to help with setting up. Here's hoping for clear skies...

Judith

[glenc]

This cloud is coming down from the cyclone near Cape York. Hope it goes away.

[CoombellKid]

Yup! it's not looking good. I've had my scope setup in the yard for the
last few nights and it has been overcast since, got about 5 min with
the moon.

Anyways I'll post weather reports later

[glenc]

I think it might clear up.
http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDE00902.loop.shtml
What do you think Rob?

[CoombellKid]

Glen,



I think it's worth a go, there is a bit of high cloud coming through
but clearing as the aftrnoon progresses. The band of cloud on
the loop in the link you posted shows the bands moving north. The
local report indicates it will clear as the evening progresses. There
are large areas which are clear.

So I'm on, if your keen :thumbsup:

Cheers,CS

[glenc]

Lets do it. They can see the Moon at least.
Twilight ends at 21:20 and Moonset is at 23:20.

[CoombellKid]

http://www.weatherzone.com.au/nsw/northern-rivers/casino

is saying it will be clear by 9pm

[glenc]

Judith will be here at about 6pm. We will travel in her car with my 10" scope.

[CoombellKid]

See you when you get here

[CoombellKid]

Thanks Judith and Glen for coming out and giving me a hand. Didn't turn
out too bad a night all things considered. And I think the locals who did
turn up enjoyed the views.

Anyways thanks again, maybe we can do it again sometime.

Cheers,CS

[Lismore Bloke]

Glad you had a good night. I had a meeting last night and will be in Brisbane tonight. Moon will start to intrude soon ... damn ...

[glenc]

That meteor on Saturday night was impressive. It went from Procyon to M45 and was about mag -6.

[Analog6]

Dammit, I missed this. Been a trying week as I was 'retrenched' - they can't afford me any longer on Fri night. Next time.

[Lismore Bloke]

Some mean storms out there today, hope everyone's keeping safe.

[Lismore Bloke]

One of our staff members lives in your area and she was "smashed" in the storm last night. Numerous trees down. How did you fare - observatory OK?

[Judith]

Hope everyone is okay.

I missed yesterday's storm as I was in Sydney but flew home through tonight's in one of those little REX planes. Very bouncy! But the views of the lightning - wowee!!!

Judith

[CoombellKid]

We lost power out here for several hours for the second time in two
nights. Seems Mallanganee's and surounding areas power supply only
needs to see a storm and off it goes.... might look into buying a lil
geni.... need some candles too :rolleyes:

Cheers,CS

[CoombellKid]

Sorry to hear that, hope you are able to sort something else out.

Cheers,CS

[CoombellKid]

Lighting is amazing when your flying over it. I remember once flying back
from Japan and we hit lightening storms over Quarm. The light show was
impressive.

Cheers,CS

[glenc]

My old observatory was blown away and the power was off for 25 hours.
I found bits of the observatory 500 m away. Luckily my telescopes were in the garage and the mowers that I keep in the observatory seem to be OK.
We picked up two trailer loads of branches yesterday, there are still about 8 more loads to do.

[CoombellKid]

Sorry to hear about you observatory Glen, would you like me to come
over today and give you a hand? do you need the use of a chainsaw?

Cheers,CS

[GrahamL]

Thats no good glen , I didn't know casino copped it so bad we only
got a couple of mm and a few rumbles.

[Judith]

Glen would you like a working bee at your place to help clean up? At work today but happy to come over tomorrow and lend a hand.

Judith

[Lismore Bloke]

That's bad about the observatory Glen, glad you're safe and the 'scopes were safe inside. Our staff member who lives in Manifold Road is still there cleaning up. That area was right in the firing line. Look out for this afternoon, it will be on again, especially if we get some heating during the day.

[glenc]

Thanks for the offer Rob and Judith but we are OK. I cut up the logs yesterday. We will do some more cleaning up on Sunday and will light a big bonfire in the back yard when it all dries out. I will replace the observatory with a shed. The neighbors lights were a problem with the old observatory.

[Analog6]

That is the big storm front I posted a photo of in terrestrial photography. It looked really evil but had spent most of its force, obviously on your guys, before it got here. We did have one very close big lightning strike which made us jump though.

Glad everyone and their stuff is relatively OK.

[Mermaidlost]

Hi Everyone

I'm a newbie. I live in Ballina and my new years resolution is to do some of those things I've always said I would do one day. The next thing on my list is to go to an astronomy observation night. Sometimes I see them advertised to the public. I'm hoping to go and visit the observatory at Springbrook soon. Is it worth it?

Rochelle

[glenc]

Rochelle
Welcome to IIS. You are welcome to observe from here too.
I am sure nightstalker can show you the night sky, he is not as bad as his name suggests! He is a good guy.
Glen

[GrahamL]

Hi Rochelle

While ballina isn't the darkest place to observe from its not to bad
I'd be happy to show you / family / friends a little of the night sky
one evening on a new moon .

or alternatively we do try and meet up out a little west when weather allows
( which hasn't been real often of late) .

regards graham

[CoombellKid]

Hi Rochelle,

Welcome to IIS, and the northern rivers mob. Hope to see you at a get
together sometime soon.

And on saying that, What's everyones thoughts on a get together this
month. Glen have you recovered enough?

Cheers,CS

[glenc]

I will be away for the next new moon. Where do you want to meet?

[CoombellKid]

Well I was thinking your backyard, but if you aren't going to be there
PM me where you leave the keys and we all will have fun sorting it out :rofl: :whistle:

Ok here's a thought.... for a change.... maybe Graham might like to
host an evening.... :) it would give Rochelle a chance to meet a couple
more of us IIS types.

Cheers,CS

[GrahamL]

Rob home is a pain in that it takes me a good bit of the night to catch
everything due to the limited horizens.So I don't mind to travel for now

Work is redeveloping a couple of avo blocks and the power company is going to put a new big voltage line in for ballinas ever growing population.
-28° 51' 49.80", +153° 26' 20.93" (file:///C:/maps?q=-28.863834,+153.439146&num=1&t=h&vps=1&jsv=202c&sll=-28.842125,153.44036&sspn=0.078206,0.128059&gl=au&hl=en&ie=UTF8&split=0&geocode=FaaSR_4dqkslCQ)

which when done will remove a 50 m high double row of orchard wind breaks
opening up a very dark (hopefully) southern horizen. I've been waiting on this for a while as it will give me an easily accesable pretty dark sky to observe from . The buildings to the north west do throw a little light but from where I'll be able to get now ( with the trees down ) and the new ones reamining small for several years shouldn't be a problem. There are a couple of houses behind these trees probably a 800 m or away but also not much else as they grow cane over there and there a couple of largely forested areas and really not many people.

dozers and machinary are at it now so it should be more than a couple of months till done

can't wait :)

[CoombellKid]

Ok, maybe Mallanganee then....

Judith and I checked out a spot about 6-8 kms south of Mallanganee a
couple of months back. A place called Deep Water Creek and would be
completely dark where you can just set up beside the road. Maybe get
there earlish.... and have a bbq or some sort of food.

I can garrentee it will be one of the more darker sites you'll experience.

Cheers,CS

[CoombellKid]

In addition to the above... remember folks I have spare 2-3 beds. And
when the boys aren't here there are two more, (and I promise they
have never bed wet). Plus my couch can take two more folks. So if
the distance you have to travel is long, you are more than welcome to
crash the night. On weekends Moonriver Cafe is open, excellent breakfast!
food is cheap!!!!

Cheers,CS

[CoombellKid]

It's my oldest sons birthday on the 19th and I will have my boys that
weekend too. So I'm suggesting the 13th Feb.

Cheers,CS

[Analog6]

That would be nice, I was sorry to be clouded out last time I tried for it, and I could go to the Channon markets on the way home, they are the second Sunday.

[GrahamL]

Rob could you drop me aline with your phone no(can't send you a pm ).. I seemed to have deleted it .. weather is sunny / no wind atm , still rain about though .

[GrahamL]

whats up with your sig ??

[glenc]

Rob has been banned from IIS for a while. He asked me to tell you.

[GrahamL]

Thanks Glen :).



I was thinking my weather report last sunday might of been the culprit

[Lismore Bloke]

I haven't looked here for a day or 2. What's happened with Rob? His last posts were on a thread on water tanks, of all things. "Permanent" on his avatar sounds sort of like "permanent". Not good.

[Judith]

Yep permanent is just how it sounds! Rob asked me to say that for various reasons, he has decided to withdraw from IIS. PM me if you would like his own email address.

That leaves us with the problem of how to organise get togethers etc. One suggestion is to set up a group email to communicate through. Any other thoughts? Rob is also gonna check out the possibilities of some other sites.

He had to cancel last night anyway as he had his boys. Wasn't a bad night either - even I got out with my binocs and little scope and had a bit of a look around!

Judith

[GrahamL]

I went up to the farm on friday night with my scope.

This will be a good spot to observe from when all the development is finished .. lismore and alstonvilles sky glow isn't to objectionable
the skyglow from ballina is horrible though .. thankfully with the altitude and a few trees its mostly obscured .. the southern horizen is very dark as I'd hoped .

pm sent

[Lismore Bloke]

That's sounds like a promising site Graham, will look forward to further updates.

[Judith]

Hi all,

It looks like the new email group is up and running so here are the details to join.

To subscribe to the list you can send an email to nswnra-request@freelists.org (nswnra-request@freelists.org)
with 'subscribe' in the subject field or you can go to http://www.freelists.org/list/nswnra


See you there!

Judith

[glenc]

You are all welcome to observe at my place tonight or tomorrow night if it is clear. Please come before 8pm.

[glenc]

It is clearing up here, should be good tonight.

[glenc]

It is 50% cloudy now, but might clear. I will update again at 6pm.

[Judith]

Weatherzone is saying clear at 6, cloudy at 9. Could go either way! I'll check your 6pm post and decide from there.

Judith

[glenc]

It is not looking good.

[Judith]

okay Glen we'll try again another day. Can't seem to get two clear nights in a row at the moment! :(

Judith

[glenc]

We will have an observing night at my place on Fri 9/4 if it is clear.
If 9/4 is not clear we will try Sat 10/4 then Fri 16/4 then Sat 17/4.
We should get at least one clear night in four. Please let me know if you need directions.
Twilight ends at 6:55pm on 9/4.

[glenc]

You can monitor the cloud at these web sites:
http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDE00902.loop.shtml
http://www.weatherzone.com.au/nsw/northern-rivers/casino/detailed-forecast
I will get back home at about 6:30 pm on Fri and post an update then.

[glenc]

It is about 80% clear.
Looks like it will get worse. http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDE00902.loop.shtml
I suggest we try tomorrow night.

[glenc]

It is clear here and Graham is on his way with his scope.
Is anyone else coming tonight?

[GrahamL]

Thanks for having us Glen and it was good to meet you at last Paul .

I had "issues" again trying to take the right turn leaving your place
Glen thankfully guessed it and took the non scenic route this time :)

[Lismore Bloke]

Thanks Glen, it was a very good session. Very pleased to meet you Graham, it's taken far too long. Just need to catch up with the others!
I look forward to many more observing sessions like that.
Safe and happy journey Glen.

[glenc]

We looked at about a dozen PNe last night.
NGCs 1535, 2392, 2867, 2438 in M46, 2440, 3132, 3242, 3699, 3918, 4361, 5189 and ICs 418 and 4406.
This was one of them, but it was a bit smaller in my scope!
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap100411.html

[glenc]

Is anyone interested in coming to my place tonight?
It looks like it will be clear. http://www.weatherzone.com.au/nsw/northern-rivers/casino/detailed-forecast

[Judith]

Hi Glen,

For sure! What time?

Judith

[glenc]

Is 6pm OK?

[Lismore Bloke]

Hi Glen, I managed to squeeze the 12" into the car.
Will see you about 6 if that's OK. Cheers, Paul.

[Judith]

Great - see you then. I'll be leaving in time to get home to watch the tennis!

Judith

[glenc]

It's about 50% cloudy now. Not sure what it will do.
Glen

[Lismore Bloke]

Much the same here Glen, will keep monitoring IIS.

[glenc]

Still no good, about 60% cloudy.

[Lismore Bloke]

Clouds ... Damn.

[glenc]

Nice and clear this morning, I used the 12" Dob from 3am to 4am.
Yesterday I observed with 20x80s in the morning.

[glenc]

I've just been out observing. There was a bit of cloud near the northern horizon but it was mainly clear.
Is anyone interested in coming here tonight? It looks like it will be OK.
http://www.weatherzone.com.au/nsw/northern-rivers/casino/detailed-forecast

[Judith]

I wish...! I am in Adelaide at present - back on Monday so up for it any night after that.

[glenc]

Any night is fine.

[glenc]

Judith did you see the Hayabusa re-entry?

[Judith]

Sadly I didn't - what a sight that would have been eh! I was on a plane flying north while it was re-entering the atmosphere.

[GrahamL]

I still havn't got my mail acc sorted, but will pass this weekend as I've come down with a nasty cold which you guys could probably do without getting:thumbsup:

[glenc]

Tonight's viewing at Rob's has been canceled.