Newbie in the Horsham VIC area

[cosmicap (Peter)]

Hi - very much the newbies, have bought a Celestron 130 EQ and apart from collimation being a bit out are quite pleased with our purchase. Gotta start somewhere! There is no Astronomical Club or Society that I can find locally so we are hoping to find someone local to the Horsham area to star gaze with, get some tips, etc. We are in Toolondo, about 40mins (50km) south west of Horsham.

[Dave47tuc (David)]

Hi Peter,
Have a look here. http://svaatest.site88.net/
Contact Ken he will help you.
There is a camp in March which you should come along to. You will learn a lot there. Good luck.

By the way welcome to IIS.

[barx1963 (Malcolm)]

Hi Peter
Know how you feel, I am in Colac, no group here, but kept my ears close to the ground and have made contact with a few interested souls nearby.
You should just go ahead and put an ad in the local paper and see if you get a response, even if there are only a 2 or 3 of you, you can make observing much more fun. Also get to a star party! The ASV has one at Heathcote on Feb 28. I went last year and had a ball. Also Snake Valley in March.
Good luck.

[GrampianStars (Rob)]

G'day cosmicap (Peter)

Welcome to the "Dark Sky Zone"
best in Victoria IMO
You'll love going here later in the year
http://www.vicsouth.com/
You should be able to see much more then most city slickers from where you are with that scope
I'm in the Grampians (2 hour round trip to Toolondo)

[GrampianStars (Rob)]

If the smoke has cleared by then heathcote should be O/K
a bit of a hike but a great bunch
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ad.php?t=40998

[Chillie (Henry)]

Originally Posted by cosmicap

Hi - very much the newbies, have bought a Celestron 130 EQ and apart from collimation being a bit out are quite pleased with our purchase. Gotta start somewhere! There is no Astronomical Club or Society that I can find locally so we are hoping to find someone local to the Horsham area to star gaze with, get some tips, etc. We are in Toolondo, about 40mins (50km) south west of Horsham.

Hi Peter,

Great to meet you and other local people last night at the astronomy night at Laharum.

I hope that you will be spurred on with your interest in astronomy. As you know, I'm in Horsham and willing to help where I can. Although I am very much a newbie myself.

I have sent you a Personal Message (PM).

[Chillie (Henry)]

Originally Posted by GrampianStars

G'day cosmicap (Peter)

Welcome to the "Dark Sky Zone"
best in Victoria IMO
You'll love going here later in the year
http://www.vicsouth.com/
You should be able to see much more then most city slickers from where you are with that scope
I'm in the Grampians (2 hour round trip to Toolondo)

Hi Robert,

I didn't know that there were so many IIS members so close to me.

I live in Horsham and met Peter last night at an astronomy night at Laharum organized by the Horsham Learning Center (HUB).