Blue Mountains- Katoomba Airfield Dec. 3rd

[mental4astro]

Hi folks,

Katoomba Airfield is being made available to us again for Saturday 26th of November.

All going well I'm hoping to get there for 7pm.

If you haven't been there before, access is via Medlow Bath, turning into Railway Pde. Follow down for a short distance and then left into Rutland St (also called Grand Canyon Rd). The entrance to the Airfield is 4km from here, with the last 3km being an unsealed road. Be mindful that being unsealed the surface can have experienced erosion.

On entering the Airfield, turn HARD LEFT and follow the perimeter track and go through past the "No Entry" sign. Follow the track up right past the office buildings to the main runway. We set up on the concrete slab on the left on the edge of the runway.

The first picture below shows the setup slab and the view to the east, and the second picture to the west.

Kids are welcome. We are welcome to use the main office building to crash out in as there are plenty of lounges to lay down on, so the kids don't need to sleep in the car if it is a very good evening seeing wise. Loos for ladies and kids are available. Note that their is no power on site, it is a totally BYO exercise.

There is no entry fee, but the hat does get passed around to contribute to the case of the Airfield manager's prefered brew.

One last note if you haven't attended a star party before, white light torches are a no-no. Please mask your torches with at least two layers of red coloured cellophane.

[Deeno]

Hmmm....
Might see if I can get a leave pass.....

[AG Hybrid]

See you all there.

[arifmshaikh]

I will also come.

[Manav]

I should come depending on availability and weather obviously.

(Scopeless though)

[mental4astro]

Katoomba Airfield is also one of the highest easily accessible spots on the Blue Mountains at 1015m. There are some higher spots, but some of these have their issues such as being too exposed, with limited view of the sky due to trees, or no shelter or fireplace (the Airfield's office building has a combustion heater which is a popular place in winter :cold: :campfire: )

This elevation has proven to be a real bonus, placing the observing site above the fog that can settle in the lower regions of the Blue Mountains. Often on leaving the Airfield after a session, fog is encountered in Katoomba while the Airfield had been free from fog and mist.

[AG Hybrid]

Weather forecast is looking abysmal. Do we have a plan B? Like the weekend after? Any chance if the airfield will be available for us then?

[mental4astro]

Rod, the Airfield manager, is happy to host next weekend too. But but he's said let's wait 'til Saturday to pull the pin on this one's before we fix the following weekend.

[GeoffW1]

Hi,

I'm in, weather permitting, but sadly, it does not look good. Who bought something?

Cheers

[GeoffW1]

That's better news

[AG Hybrid]

That's good, and fair enough.

[sasup]

me new optics, sorry everyone;)

[Vegeta]

hi, I might be able to show up depending on the weather or if my uncle is willing to drive me. i dont live far from katoomba so, it mostly depends on how the weather is. i would be more than happy to show up next week if weather is bad.

Bintel BT302 12" dob
Bintel widefield 26mm
plossl 15 mm
plossl 9mm
Orion Edge-on Planetary 6mm
Televue 2x barlow

[Steffen]

The forecast looks pretty damn spectacular, actually:

104606

I hope this turns out to be true.

Cheers
Steffen.

[mental4astro]

Yeah, Steffen, I've been keeping my eyes on these stats. Looks like it will have to be a late call this arvo on Yes or No for tonight.

[GeoffW1]

Hi,

I'm out unfortunately :sadeyes:.

Mrs W1 wanted a decision right now as she wants to go out and see a show tonight. I've fallen on the side of caution (that's not only the weather I mean :D)

Cheers

[AG Hybrid]

Watching this space closely

[mental4astro]

Just got off the blower to Rod. Sun is shining, and the wind is from the west!

WOOHOO!

This link is to the live webcam at Scenic World (http://www.scenicworld.com.au/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=44) at Katoomba, a short distance from the Airfield. Looks clear to me.

:stargaze:

Still, keep an eye open.

[mental4astro]

Geoff, you may want to reconsider and cash in ALL your brownie points for a change of mind, :rolleyes: :wink2:

[GeoffW1]

:sad: She's bought the tickets.

I ALWAYS get this wrong.

How DO I DO IT :question:

[Vegeta]

I have a great view of the blue mountains from my home in Kemps creek. if the weather hopefully stays clear and my uncle is willing to drive, this will be my first ever star party.

[AG Hybrid]

Star party? Is that what we call our group viewing sessions?

Anyway, Ibrahim, I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Lots of different telescopes and eyepieces to try. An Alex is some sort of machine at finding objects from his memory.

I have to use an IPad myself to find stuff haha!

[mental4astro]

:party::party::party:

Well, party central that side of Katoomba, :lol:

First star party or 50'th, you are most welcome.

[Vegeta]

Thanks for all the support guys, i really do hope the weather stays clear, Alexander, can you please leave me an email on the weather (just in case it changes and the event will have to be postponed) at around 5 p.m.
Send to: thejahash@hotmail.com

[mental4astro]

Looking good. Just spoke with Rod, some high cloud and clearing. Westerly wind direction - no dew.

Things for me have changed in the last couple of hours. Something has come up and I wouldn't be until 9pm that I'd be able to leave home. Bugger! Bugger! Bugger!

Peter will be sourcing the manager's brew.

Oh how good it is looking for you lot, :sadeyes:. I've had my observing/sketching plan ready since yesterday... Bugger.

[Manav]

Im already in blue mountains unfortunately im scopeless tonight. Is anyone going to be there and when so I can drive and join them. Dont want to be first in loner...

Alex what time is Peter coming in?

[mental4astro]

Manav,

Peter said he'd be leaving soon from home. He's looking to be there between 7 and 7:30.

Scopeless shouldn't be a problem. I'm sure there'd be a pair of binos to spend some time with too.

:sadeyes::sadeyes::sadeyes: Next time for me, again...

[AG Hybrid]

I'll be there between 7:30 to 8pm.

A shame you cant come Alex. if you leave at 9PM you will getthere what 10:30? still a lot of time for viewing, it wont really get dark till about 9 pm anyway.

[Manav]

I think im the first one here :-)

[Chancellor]

Wishing you all a very clear night!

[AG Hybrid]

Well I turned up. It was just me and Yugant for about 30 min. Then it was just me. Clouded over till at about 10:30 though.

Up to that point though it was great. Gave my 9mm a proper test. Subsequently I've discovered it is completely parafocal with my 30mm.

Found the usual stuff looking great in the large and small M-Clouds. Orion Neb. of course looks stunning (even if it was hovering in the Sydney light dome to the east). Especially when I gave my new Baader Planetarium UHC-S filter a whirl. I've never seen so much nebulosity from my telescope than tonight. Tarantula Neb. looked great too, but, I also noticed alot more nebulosity around the Large M-Cloud too.

With the bright stuff out of the way I went hunting for a few objects I had been hoping to see. The fornax galaxy cluster was one of them. In the 30 mm I spotted 9 galaxies in a single field of view.
I spotted NGC 1365. I could see hints of its two spiral arms. Also spotted Fornax A as well as NGC 1317 easily beside it.

Clouds were rolling in at this point. So I quickly swung the scope to Cetus and had a browse through the galaxies I could find there. Cetus A was most prominent. The clouds rolled in fast by this point, even sprinkled a little.

I wish I had more people and scopes to share the session with though :( :(

[dulwich.hill]

Hi Guys,

I couldn't make it last night either.

Alex, any chance of trying again next Weekend?

James

[mental4astro]

I'll see what can be done.

[mental4astro]

Anyone else keen on this coming Saturday 3rd of Dec. before I make the call?

I've changed this thread's title rather than start a new one & to highlight the change of date.

[ArcaneMagik]

Since uni is over for the year, I really want to get back out with my scope. Hope weather is great for Saturday.

[mental4astro]

Rod's given the ok for this Saturday, :D. Fingers crossed the sky's a good one again.

[Vegeta]

I'm depending on my uncle to drive. I hope the weather is great and he's able to drive.

Clear skies

[mental4astro]

I've managed a screen shot of the Airfield showing the entrance, the access route to the set up area, and the location of the set up slab:

104847

The pic also shows the various hangers and other buildings on site. As you can see, parking isn't a problem here :lol:!

I hope this helps.

[AG Hybrid]

Good job with the picture. Keep that for future meets. just note to all new comers. It doesn't look anything like that in the dark :P

[GeoffW1]

I can't make it this date, which figures :mad2: as the forecast is quite good.

Cheers

[mithrandir]

Try this (http://g.co/maps/3yrrh) google maps link. Directions from the GWH opposite Katoomba Hospital to the airport.

StreetView goes all the way to the airport gate.

[Manav]

now I know where to turn lol

[mental4astro]

Looking real good for tonight!

I'm looking at getting there between 7:30 & 8pm. Might bring 2 scopes, my dobbie & an SCT to track the moon.

Any problems, the Airfield's number is 4788 1174.

[Manav]

Ohh my God I'd love to come but I have commitments early morning Sunday!

I wish I had another shot at watching 47 Tuc :(

Such is life.....

[dulwich.hill]

Thanks Alex,

What a fantastic clear night and what a great turn out!

Refractors, Reflectors, SCTs everywhere!

Gorgeous Jupiter, Moon, M42, 47 Tuc and Fornax galaxies.

Anyone take any photos?

James

[AG Hybrid]

I think you have a particularly interesting photo of the moon to share with us don't you :rofl:

[Vegeta]

New scopes and eyepieces to look through. it was great, The orion nebula and 47 Tuc were probably the best objects.

the 17" was the boss :thumbsup:

[ArcaneMagik]

Great night!

Thanks for hosting it Alex, and great to see people again.

I enjoyed myself greatly, and got to see some great targets; especially Io disappearing behind Jupiter early on in the night. Given how much the Moon was washing things out, I saw more than I ever have on some of the bright targets.

It's amazing how experience enhances the how activity.