Amateur Astronomy in Australia?

[solarblast]

Once again I'm thinking about going to Australia from the western U.S. I was there about 15 years ago, but did not have astronomy on my mind. I found a very good web site that has lots of info for both amateur and pro activities <http://www.astronomy.org.au/ngn/engine.php?SID=1000018>. One sky show described there that seems of interest and is remarkably long is the Coonabarabran Festival of the Stars, 3-4 weeks in mid-Oct to mid-Nov. Has anyone been to it and would care to offer general impressions about it, including mix of amateurs vs general public, observing sites, 'density' of observing (every night vs weekends, say), astro talks, housing, transportation, nearby population, and the general 'feel' of the local area?

Does anyone have other ideas about traveling to astro locations without carrying a telescope? Are there educational affairs for amateurs, say, like the one at the U. of Arizona's Astronomy Camp in the U.S? It's about a 7 day paid affair that takes about 20 or so applicants , and more or or less turns them loose on some the observatory equipment of the university equipment often given over to students at the U of A.

[glenc (Glen)]

Here are some suggestions.

The IIS AstroCamp 18-21 January 2007
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/index.php?iisac
70km NW of Newcastle, bunk beds available.

The South Pacific Star Party: 13 - 15 April, 2007
http://www.asnsw.com/spsp/spsp.htm
160km NW of Sydney, bring a tent.

The Queensland Astrofest 6-12 August 2007
http://www.qldastrofest.org.au/
100km NW of Brisbane, bunk beds available.

Here is a list of other places
http://www.quasarastronomy.com.au/places.htm

[Argonavis (William)]

I know 2 who have been to the Coonabarabran Festival of the Stars.

As the web site says, "The week long celebration all things astronomical caters for all tastes, including poetry reading, concerts, stargazing nights, science in the pub and tours of the professional observatories." The aim to to have a very broad appeal, so actual observing is only a small part of the activites. I am told that these events tend to get a lot of beginners who are not heavily into amateur observational astronomy. If you want some serious stargazing, the star parties glen has provided are recommended.

Otherwise you could try the Magellan Observatory:

http://home.goulburn.net.au/~magellan/

or the Twin Stars

http://www.geocities.com/ballandean2003/

[Argonavis (William)]

Originally Posted by solarblast

Does anyone have other ideas about traveling to astro locations without carrying a telescope? .

Most participants at the local star parties I have attended are more than happy to share with visitors.

Originally Posted by solarblast

Are there educational affairs for amateurs, say, like the one at the U. of Arizona's Astronomy Camp in the U.S? It's about a 7 day paid affair that takes about 20 or so applicants , and more or or less turns them loose on some the observatory equipment of the university equipment often given over to students at the U of A.

None that I know of. I don't believe that there is anything like that in this country.

[Argonavis (William)]

another possibility is Grove Creek

http://www.gco.org.au/

[gary]

Originally Posted by solarblast

Once again I'm thinking about going to Australia from the western U.S. I was there about 15 years ago, but did not have astronomy on my mind. I found a very good web site that has lots of info for both amateur and pro activities <http://www.astronomy.org.au/ngn/engine.php?SID=1000018>. One sky show described there that seems of interest and is remarkably long is the Coonabarabran Festival of the Stars, 3-4 weeks in mid-Oct to mid-Nov. Has anyone been to it and would care to offer general impressions about it, including mix of amateurs vs general public, observing sites, 'density' of observing (every night vs weekends, say), astro talks, housing, transportation, nearby population, and the general 'feel' of the local area?

If you are interested in joining up with some fellow dedicated U.S. amateurs
who we will helping to host in Coonabarabran during the festival in Oct 2007,
drop me a line at sales@wildcard-innovations.com.au and I can provide you with
the details. There will be plenty of aperture available to be shared, so no need
to bring a scope. Coonabarabran is home to the 3.8m Anglo Australian
telescope and one of our favoured destinations in the state for serious observing.


Best Regards

Gary Kopff
Managing Director
Wildcard Innovations Pty. Ltd.
20 Kilmory Place, Mount Kuring-Gai
NSW. 2080. Australia
Phone +61-2-9457-9049
Fax +61-2-9457-9593
sales@wildcard-innovations.com.au
http://www.wildcard-innovations.com.au

[solarblast]

All helpful responses. I'm never sure on these forums whether I can respond directly to an individual from a button near the post (thereby creating a branch) or just add to the bottom of the thread. I can't see the thread right now, but I suspect I can reach some of the posters individually for specific info outside this forum.

I appreciate the variety of choices Glen listed. That gives me some manuvering room over the year. There are other good choices others have posted, and I'll look at them all soon.

You can find out more about me at <home.earthlink.net/~mtnviews>, including a bit about the Astro Camp at the U of A. Some of the amateur astro and photo stuff is a bit out of date. I'll be changing ISPs in a month, and will be updating and moving the pages. For the next month, I'm at sierra_mtnview -AT- earthlink -DOT- net.\

(I just noticed that I can see the entire thread below this.)

[iceman (Mike)]

Hi solarblast, to the forum.

You can respond to an individual directly by clicking the "quote" button, which will put their post in a quote block to which you can reply. It doesn't create a new branch, however, it's a straight thread on these forums.

You can contact individual posters by clicking on their username and sending them a private message.

I hope you find what you're looking for and i'm sure you'll love coming back to Australia for astronomy!

[CoombellKid]

Gary,

Mmmmm the Coonabarabran festival sounds very appealing to me. Is there
a website with details?

regards,CS sunny days

[solarblast]

The quote button didn't quite work for me. Maybe it's Mozilla, but the quoted text floated around and I couldn't find a way to enter text. In any case, my next question is is there a way to print the entire thread?

[iceman (Mike)]

Sure is!

At the top of the thread, click "Thread Tools", and then "Show Printable Version".

You can then print the page.