Ken (me)
Jake
Dave47Tuc
Marg
Rodney
Mill
Desler
Pete
John G
Hagar
Humayan
Leon
Jen
Erick
Jeff
Michael
Emiel
Daniel
Byron Paul
Bill (holywars)
Tim (tnott)
Paddy
Geoff (Starkler)
Anthony (Bird)
Dan (Dannat)
Joe
Peter (Peterbat)
Barry (Pres of BAS)
Rob (RobK)
Richard (Richardda1st)
Adam (asloan)
and anyone else I've forgotten
nobody seems to have reported yet so i will be brief..both nights were clear & crisp, sat slightly better...though the dew became heavy
attached is a couple of pics
This morning just before 6 i stood with H as the crescent moon rose...first it appeared someone had shone a torch onto a tree on the horizon - then slowly it moved into view..it was an awesome sight. Jen just missed the start but appeared from around a tent
Got back this afternoon. I had such a good weekend. What a great bunch of people. I really enjoyed catching up with people that I already knew and meeting some I didn't know. Plus good music and great to learn from more experienced astronomers. And the views through Tim Nott's 22" - fantastic! Apart from the myriad faint galaxies that were visible, M104 and M83 were just amazing. And Richard, it was a pleasure to spend time with you and enjoy the views through your scope.
Many thanks to Ken and all the SnakeValley crew and to Shane for some great blues.
Great camp, even though I only had one night there. Terrific to catch up with people and meet a few new ones. Excellent observing conditions and saw so much stuff, including 3 comets, numerous galaxies, clusters, nebulae etc. Highlights for me were Thor's Helmet through Tim's 22", and Saturn through Anthony's scope.
Highlights of observing through my own scope were Thor's Helmet (visible unfiltered as a background glow in a rich starfield, and with OIII filter as a large dim nebula with a flicker of the horns), Saturn at 225x, and comet C/2009 K5 McNaught in the early morning as a small roundish glow, easily visible. Sunspots today were good, in white light (Baader AstroSolar Safety Film Filter). Moonrise this morning - what can you say?!! Brilliant, the earthshine nudging above the treeline first, rising as a luminous orb and followed by a delicate thin sliver of a waning crescent.
Thanks to everyone who took pity on a poor old dig and let me look through their scopes - particularly Tim, Anthony, Barry & Eric. Viewing through Tim's massive scope was AWESOME, and it's always great to spend a bit of quality time with Barry & his 12" dob. Also Daniel and his binoculars - great sights including Pleiades & Beehive Cluster.
Finally thanks to Ken & the SV crew for another fantastic camp - top job guys!
Here's some shots. First, view over observing field this morning - Sunday (several people had packed up and left by the time I took this photo - the field was very impressive when I got there late Sat arvo).
Second, Tim's 22" scope with lake in background.
Third - as if it wasn't bad enough being pestered half the night for views through the mighty 4.5", they were even lining up in daylight!
Thanks to Ken and SVAA for such a great weekend!
Kirsty and the kids came up this time, for Saturday night, and spent quite a bit of time at the scope - using an Argo makes it very easy for them, and makes it harder for me to get time at the eyepiece.
Funniest moment of the weekend was the kids' pronouncement that looking at M42 in Tim's 22" was awesome, but that looking at it through our 16" lightbridge made it look small and faint
Just arrived back in Adelaide after a fantastic few days and nights. Great to catch up with everyone and special thanks must go to Ken for putting it on. Had fun during the day lounging around and chatting to others that actually share an interest in astronomical matters.
Friday night was nice and clear but the seeing was fairly ordinary to start with. Started off with the big bright DSOs for the adoring fans with the obligatory oohs and aahs. Afterwards did a tour of various objects in Centaurus including squillions of galaxies and quite a few interesting planetaries.
Later on the seeing got much better giving solid, sharp views of Saturn through various scopes.
On the second night, I used the Argo Navis' Tour function to find many galaxies in Volans including one spectacular but very faint cluster of them around an ESO that I could not find in any references! Must track that one down again somehow. Also viewed the big, spectacular galaxies in Virgo and Coma B., since they were well-placed in the North. Also got some good views of the Horsehead thanks to Eric's 2" HBeta filter.
On the third day, Rob set up the mighty Tasco to view the sun and it revealed some complex sunspots.
The third night began with a look at some bigger emission Nebulae, using Eric's 2" OIII filter in the 28mm UWAN at 80X. The Rosette was nice but required the viewer to spiral around to get the whole thing in. Ditto for the Vela Supernova Remnant which is spectacular but huge! Saw the nebulosity around the Christmas Tree Cluster for the first time, but the Cone Nebula was only a slight darkening of the field, a bit like looking at the Horsehead without a filter. Then did a tour of Galaxies in Dorado.
The seeing was also very good on this night, and I was surprised by how easy it was to see Sirius B for the first time in Bird's scope. The sky started to cloud up more and more so brought an end to viewing by about 1am, so most retired to the kitchen for some talking rubbish.
Hi all,
First many thanks Ken and to the SVAA
Well I have been going to these camps since they started in Nov - 2005 well I have missed a couple. But this one was the best for me.
Reason Observing with Tim's 22" and the moment Saturn was so sharp in all scopes etc etc etc.
It was great to make new friends and catch up with everyone, these events can be more about the people than the sky. It is really nice to chew the fat with people who have the same interest as you.
A observing report would be to much to put to keys on this computer.
To say I have had some of the best deep sky views I have ever had in 30 years.
im too excited to sleep, im still awake dam it 
:thumbs up:
and online 
Fantastic, just fantastic, only regret is I had only 2 nights.
