|
I had two fantastic nights observing in mild conditions. Days were sunny - shorts and t-shirt weather. A little worse for wear after getting to bed at 4am two nights running.
Spent much time with the late Scott Mellish's superb 22" F5 Dobsonian kitted out with Argo Navis and Servo Cat, which ASNSW core observers had set up for the first time since Scott passed away.
It was great to look over the observing field and see all the red LED lighting and a positive excited hum of voices as people shared experience under a spectacular starry sky. This is what star parties are all about.
One particular highlight were the daytime views of a massive 3 dimensional Solar prominance through binoviewer equipped single and double stacked Lunt 80mm Ha solar telescopes owned by Ted and Geoff.
As usual the ASNSW ran the event like a well oiled machine. Great talks , great company, and blessed with superb viewing. The open air kitchen is a great place to warm in front of superb flued open fire with a glass of wine and conversation. The seeing conditions were generally good too. At 2am Sunday morning I 'd say I had my best ever view of Saturn through the Mellish 22" with a rock steady image.
Darwin'ites Allen Cairncross and Clayton Cairns traveled a whopping 4000km by road with their 20" and 22" 'scopes to attend SPSP !
I look forward to attending my 21st SPSP again next year.
|