Anyone off to the next WSAAG Obs Night Sat

[Screwdriverone (Chris)]

Hi All,

I am thinking of heading up to the WSAAG Observatory night this Saturday 7th June at Linden Observatory and having a look at the whole shebang with a view of joining said establishment.

Is anyone contemplating heading up there? If so, it would be great to catch up with fellow IISers and have a chin wag.

Cheers

Chris

[AstralTraveller (David)]

I've met a few of the WSAAG and they seem like a great bunch of blokes. Even the goat is friendly . Unfortunately Linden is too far for me for a general obs night, besides the weather forecast is ...ah... good for our dam storage levels.

I will, however, be joining some of them (Dave G. at least) and some CAS people for a grazing occultation a week from tonight at 8.30pm near Goulburn. I'm just hoping that the weather down there will relent and not be aiding agricultural production .

[alexk13 (Alex)]

Originally Posted by Screwdriverone

Hi All,

I am thinking of heading up to the WSAAG Observatory night this Saturday 7th June at Linden Observatory and having a look at the whole shebang with a view of joining said establishment.

Is anyone contemplating heading up there? If so, it would be great to catch up with fellow IISers and have a chin wag.

Cheers

Chris

Hi Chris

I'm definitely interested in getting out tonight, I am currently looking at the WSAAG website, for more information.

Are you still heading up there, as it would be great to catch up with you.

Also, will you be taking your own equipment - better question I guess is should I bring my nice new telescope with me - I would really like to put it to use as I've only had 1 night (the night I got it) to use it so far, and the weather today is looking great, so hopefully tonight will be the same.

And the wife has said I can go do what I want tonight as she needs to study and would like the peace and quiet

Any other information you cold give me about tonight would be greatly appreciated.


Alex
(there seems to be a lot of us "Alex"s on these forums)

[seeker372011 (Narayan)]

Folks,

if the weather is half decent you can expect a goodish turnout tonight

A visiting amateur from the US has asked to come along as well.

by all means bring your own scope if you have one, otherwise the club has a dob and other scopes and maybe someone can summon the energy to push the shed out of the way so Linden's 30 inch behemoth can be put to use, (if Bob Evans is there tonight. the 30 inch belongs to the Linden trust not WSAAG)

I wont be there myself but Gerry Aarts and possibly Rob (astrod00d) should be there along with others

suggest you give Rodney Moulder a ring (his number's on the website) for a weather check before you head up

he usally posts the forecast as well on the site

if you are going up there for the first time remember that the turn off to Tollgate road off the Great Western Highway is easy to miss if you dont watch out for it carefully..maybe try and get there before dark if possible

oh and you cant actually become a paid up member there at Linden, all that sort of business is dealt with at our usual monthly meeting (3 rdwednesday of the month)..but you are more than welcome to come along to Linden in advance of becoming a member

and this upcoming monthly meeting is a bit special we have Fred Watson coming along to speak to us so it would be a good one to attend anyway if you can make it

Narayan

[seeker372011 (Narayan)]

Originally Posted by AstralTraveller

[FONT=Century Gothic][COLOR=DarkGreen]I've met a few of the WSAAG and they seem like a great bunch of blokes. Even the goat is friendly .

the goat was a visitor (at an occultation event arranged by Dave Gault some months ago)and not a fully paid up member of WSAAG.

he looked prettier than some of our members though

[alexk13 (Alex)]

Thanks Narayan

I'll look up Rodney Moulder's number and give him a quick call in a short while.

I really hope the weather holds out - Have checked the WSAAG and BOM websites, and it is looking pretty good.

Hopefully I'll meet a few of you guys up there.


Alex

[Astrod00d]

Originally Posted by seeker372011

Folks,

if the weather is half decent you can expect a goodish turnout tonight
Gerry Aarts and possibly Rob (astrod00d) should be there along with others

I'm planning to go if it doesn't rain. Looks 50/50 at the moment but if it clears up it should be a clean clear night with all the rain and wind having blown the smog away.

Cheers,

Rob

[Screwdriverone (Chris)]

Hi All,

Just dropping a note to say thanks to Rob and AlexK for a great night up at Linden, it was great to catch up with Rob and Alex and check out their cool telescopes. Looks like a very nice scope Alex, its a pity about the extended setup time for the mount Rob. Hopefully next one will have a bit more luck.

I also have been checking out some of your previous pics again Rob.... I think I might have to source a SPC900nc sooner rather than later, I would love to get some pics of M104 and Centaurus A which I was stoked that I could see in my "little" 5 inch newt. Its definitely a great place to see DSO's, very dark and the amount of stars was unbeleivable.

Pity about the clouds around 12am, when I got home, there was a nice clear sky around Kellyville. Grrrrrrr,

Thanks again.

Chris

[seeker372011 (Narayan)]

nice to know you got a few hours in at least
Narayan

[Chippy (Nick)]

I'm surprised! I was all set to head up, and then the clouds rolled in... at first I thought it may still be OK up there, but then I came to my senses and realized that there was no point (so I thought)!!! Glad you had a good time - and just goes to show you really can't predict the weather in the mountains based on Syndey weather !!!

How many people turned up?

Nick.

[Astrod00d]

Yes, it was a good night, the patch of clear sky we got was very high quality, the winter skies at Linden are great! It was good to catch up with Chris and Alex, hope to see you at Linden again!

Note that my posted shots are DSLR or QHY8 images, I use the SPC900nc for guiding only, although I do intend to use it for planetary imaging some time in the future. I'm still trying to sort out the comms issue which plagued me last night... I only got 2x300s subs the entire evening... some nights are like that and you just accept it, fix it and try again!

Many Thanks to Bob for dragging out his 16" dob and giving us a galaxy tour! Bob's experience and knowledge of the heavens is truly impressive.
Last but not least, thanks to Alan for making us sky-obsessed strangers welcome in his 'backyard'. We're lucky to have a facilty like Linden so handy to western Sydney.

Cheers,

Rob

[seeker372011 (Narayan)]

so you couldn't get Bob to agree to push the roll off shed out of the way and have a peek through the 30 inch?

[DobDobDob (Ron)]

Originally Posted by seeker372011

the goat was a visitor (at an occultation event arranged by Dave Gault some months ago)and not a fully paid up member of WSAAG.

he looked prettier than some of our members though

Hey Narayan, watch it, I resemble that remark

[seeker372011 (Narayan)]

Originally Posted by tailwag

Hey Narayan, watch it, I resemble that remark

present company always excluded of course
Narayan


and when are we going to see you u next at Linden Ron?

[gerry aarts (Gerry)]

It was all cloud down the mountain at Penrith.
I did not even bother packing my gear.
Glad to hear some of you enjoyed it.

Regards
Gerry Aarts

[Screwdriverone (Chris)]

Yeah, it was great, I only got there about 8:30pm but I got some serious observing in with my 5 inch scope and Alex's spanking new 8 inch dob. Chatting to Rob while he fiddled with his mount was an interesting and relaxing time. I was stoked I could see so much with my little newtonian, it certainly surprised me because of the clarity and darkness at Linden.

I will definitely be back, wild horses....as they say.... couldnt drag me away.

Chris

[alexk13 (Alex)]

Sorry I took so long to reply here.

Was really great to meet Rob and Chris, you guys were awesome with showing me a few tips and tricks, and also showing me some things in the sky that I would never have thought to look for. I still can't remember the names of all of the DSO's I saw, so I've been studying websites/books/software/mags to see how much I can learn and remember.

It was a shame about the clouds coming in when they did, especially after the time it takes to get your equipment setup Rob, but there is always next time.

I thought it was a bit funny when we decided to call it a night how much difference the is in pack up time between my setup, and the setup that you guys have, but at least you guys have a setup that suits DSO imaging a lot more than mine - I'll get to that one day.

I was amazed at how much could be seen with my relatively cheap setup, so I'm planning my next session already. I've been making my Azimuth Circles from the article here on IIS - and I got myself a case for my EPs and other bits and pieces. Also got a couple of "headlights" from Jaycar ($7 ea) - only came in white light, but 1 of them is now red thanks to some cellophone Might make up a laptop red screen thingy while I'm at it.

Can't wait for the next session.

Alex