Katoomba Airfield is being made available to us again for Saturday 26th of November.
All going well I'm hoping to get there for 7pm.
If you haven't been there before, access is via Medlow Bath, turning into Railway Pde. Follow down for a short distance and then left into Rutland St (also called Grand Canyon Rd). The entrance to the Airfield is 4km from here, with the last 3km being an unsealed road. Be mindful that being unsealed the surface can have experienced erosion.
On entering the Airfield, turn HARD LEFT and follow the perimeter track and go through past the "No Entry" sign. Follow the track up right past the office buildings to the main runway. We set up on the concrete slab on the left on the edge of the runway.
The first picture below shows the setup slab and the view to the east, and the second picture to the west.
Kids are welcome. We are welcome to use the main office building to crash out in as there are plenty of lounges to lay down on, so the kids don't need to sleep in the car if it is a very good evening seeing wise. Loos for ladies and kids are available. Note that their is no power on site, it is a totally BYO exercise.
There is no entry fee, but the hat does get passed around to contribute to the case of the Airfield manager's prefered brew.
One last note if you haven't attended a star party before, white light torches are a no-no. Please mask your torches with at least two layers of red coloured cellophane.
Last edited by mental4astro; 28-11-2011 at 09:42 AM.
Katoomba Airfield is also one of the highest easily accessible spots on the Blue Mountains at 1015m. There are some higher spots, but some of these have their issues such as being too exposed, with limited view of the sky due to trees, or no shelter or fireplace (the Airfield's office building has a combustion heater which is a popular place in winter )
This elevation has proven to be a real bonus, placing the observing site above the fog that can settle in the lower regions of the Blue Mountains. Often on leaving the Airfield after a session, fog is encountered in Katoomba while the Airfield had been free from fog and mist.
Rod, the Airfield manager, is happy to host next weekend too. But but he's said let's wait 'til Saturday to pull the pin on this one's before we fix the following weekend.
Rod, the Airfield manager, is happy to host next weekend too. But but he's said let's wait 'til Saturday to pull the pin on this one's before we fix the following weekend.
hi, I might be able to show up depending on the weather or if my uncle is willing to drive me. i dont live far from katoomba so, it mostly depends on how the weather is. i would be more than happy to show up next week if weather is bad.
Bintel BT302 12" dob
Bintel widefield 26mm
plossl 15 mm
plossl 9mm
Orion Edge-on Planetary 6mm
Televue 2x barlow
Mrs W1 wanted a decision right now as she wants to go out and see a show tonight. I've fallen on the side of caution (that's not only the weather I mean )
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She's bought the tickets.
