Rod's given the OK for an astro session for Saturday 6th of July at the Airfield.
It's the middle of winter, & it WILL be cold. 1000m above sea level, & you do feel it. Come rugged up! The blessing of the Airfield is the combustion heater in the office - you can get some feeling back into your frozen toes before heading back out again.
July sees the full splendour of the central region of the Milky Way splashed across the sky. The dark conditions allow us to see the "Emu" in the sky - a stretch of dark dust & gas obscurring the glow of the Milky Way that has the shape of an Emu stretched across the heavens. This is probably my favourite time of the year for observing. So many galactic & extra galactic wonders to be seen in the one night. The cooler weather also making for a more stable atmosphere, making for better observing conditions. It just can get so cold!!!
Recent rain has regouged the unsealed last 3km of the road leading to the Airfield, so take it slow. Such a shame as it had been newly graded not to long ago.
As always, I'll try to get there by sunset, . Rod is usually there anyway, so someone is always present for any early comers. There's no set finishing time as we are welcome to stay all night. We can also crash in the office - that fire is soooo welcome,
Yeah, I'm hanging big time for an all nighter too. Been a lean year so far.
For those of you who would like to come, but haven't been at the Airfield before, access is via Medlow Bath, the next village heading west from Katoomba. At Medlow Bath's only set of lights, turn into Railway Parade. Then it is a left into Rutland Street (aka Grand Canyon Rd), and onto the Airfield site 4km down. Note that the last 3km of Rutland is unsealed, and rain can cause erosion of the road surface, leaving nasty, deep gashes in the road, so take it easy.
On entering the Airfield's gate, turn LEFT (there's no access to the observing area by heading straight) and follow the track to and past the "No Entry" sign. When you come to a set of buildings, turn right up the hill and head up to the main runway where we set up on the concrete slab on the left. The picture below shows how to get to the set up area. Doing a google maps search of "Katoomba Airfield" will give you the site too.
One last note, to show our gratitude for the use of the Airfield, we give Rod the Airfield manager a gift of his preferred brew, for which the hat gets passed around to cover the cost of the gift.
If you come early and Rod yells at you "Oi, what do you want? This is private property!" tell him you're with Alex and he'll turn into the nicest guy on earth
No objections what so ever. The more, the merrier, and the cheaper per head it gets when the hat gets passed around for the gift.
If you haven't been to a dark site star gathering, there's a couple of things to note:
* Red light causes the least amount of disruption to our dark adapted eyes. For this, if you just have a white light torch, cover it with three or four layers of red cellophane. This will make your torch light nice and red in colour, and tone down its brilliance
* Bug sprays, such as insect repellent sprays, are a no-no near optical gear of any kind. Not that there'll be many bugs at the Airfield this July, but if you need to apply bug repellent, do so well, well away from the telescopes so none of the spray can waft onto them. Aerosols contain solvents that are very detrimental to optical gear.
* Ask questions! Ask plenty of questions!!! The only "dumb" question is the one that isn't asked,
Sounds good, I will do my best to educate - the red light I'm familiar with but the repellent I wouldn't have thought of, thanks!
I need to get myself a chair/stool before then too - any suggestions as to where I should start looking in/around Sydney? Only really looking for a temporary/secondary solution, just couldn't get my usual chair in my suitcase
Dunk, there are plenty of those moulded plastic chairs up at the Airfield - those good enough? Might be a bit short for a C8, I dunno, How low can you set its tripod?
I need to get myself a chair/stool before then too
Dunk,
Camping stores (such as Ray's Outdoors http://www.raysoutdoors.com.au/onlin....aspx?id=21302) have cheap folding camp chairs & stools. Good for taking to the beach, picnics, or to the harbour to watch the New Years fireworks too. These can be a bit low and not so comfortable for long periods.
My preferred option is a teak folding chair, part of our outdoor set.
For cheap stools and chairs, Ikea is probably the best, if you can assemble with a screwdriver. Nearest to you will be their store at Tempe. You could hunt round secondhand furniture shops for something to cannibalise, but it will probably cost more and not be robust.
Bunnings (big hardware stores) also have cheap outdoor plastic furniture.
Alex's hint re aerosols is a serious one as the solvents in the modern aerosols will permanently damage the coatings on eyepieces and objective lenses. If you must use one make bloody sure you are well downwind of all optics. The RID and Aerogard roll-on stuff is fine and seems to work best, though make sure its the "tropical" version not the plain one.
In winter you won't need the stuff but in spring/summer the mozzies can be ferocious - you'll suspect they are equipped with hypodermic syringes as they will bite through socks and thin canvas shoes.
There is one other bloodsucking nasty to watch out for - "Marchflies", aka horseflies, from December to March. They look like a large blowfly with big eyes, but they are silent and utterly adept at landing such that you won't feel a thing until they leave you with a nasty bite that takes a long time to heal. Cover up and watch any bare skin - long sleeves are strongly recommended.
Thanks for the tips also - I'll go looking later this week. Foldable will be the order of the day because until my car arrives from its multi-month cruise my temp car is a Mini and my scope takes up most of the space
Point well taken re: aerosols ... I will likely seek guidance further on those as we get more towards the season. I come from a land without natural predator (non-human anyhow!), so advice/warnings on things that bite, sting or otherwise cause bodily harm welcomed at any time! I'm surprised some enterprising spirit isn't in the business of making bug-proof clothing
. Rod is usually there anyway, so someone is always present for any early comers. There's no set finishing time as we are welcome to stay all night. We can also crash in the office - that fire is soooo welcome, 
How low can you set its tripod?
