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Science week stargazing record attempt.
I was on the Canberra observing field tonight with one of my scopes for the observing record attempt.
I think we smashed both the single site and multiple sites across one country records tonight. In order to be counted in the record, you had to have a telescope, pair of binoculars or a camera with a telephoto lens. Organizers made cheap ($5.50) telescopes available for purchase. All 10000 of the cheap telescopes sold out around the country days beforehand.
Heavy cloud was predicted for much of south east Australia. Instead, we had alternating patches of clear and cloud. It was clear for the ten minute time window for both record attempts and we had cloud breaks at the two preset record times. The event was organized by Mt Stromlo Observatory but was held on the Australian National University's main campus in the city. The observatory area is too small and public transport non-existent. It was held on the Fellows Oval cricket ground at the Australian National University. It wasn't packed, but 2000 odd people even with telescopes don't cover a cricket ground.
Record for most observers from a single site previously stood at about 600. The set time for this attempt was 710pm -720pm. The cloud cleared just beforehand and tonight's new record set in Canberra was around 1860 people. I didn't remember the exact number but it was within 10 of this figure.
The record for most observers from multiple sites across a country stood at just over 3000. Given that we already had 1860 people on the field in Canberra, and the word is that most sites in Sydney and Melbourne had breaks in the weather. This attempt occurred from 830-840pm. Once again the cloud cleared and I think the count across the country will probably be in excess of ten thousand but I didn't hear it announced. Apparently, most sites had a clearing.
Congratulations to the organizers, Brad Tucker and Emma Kirby of Mt Stromlo Observatory and the hundreds of volunteers who acted as head counters. As a staff member of the university I wasn't allowed to be a head counter. But I enjoyed just being one of the crowd bumping into old friends and acquaintances I hadn't seen for years. A group of young Chinese students got so excited when looking at the Moon and Saturn through my scope. It was a lot of fun and a great night for our city!
Cheers
Joe Cali
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