South Pacific Star Party SPSP 2013

[gary]

Wildcard Innovations are once again proud to be a sponsor and we will be there from
the Friday. Drive carefully and see you there!

Best Regards

Gary Kopff
Managing Director
Wildcard Innovations Pty. Ltd.
20 Kilmory Place
Mount Kuring-Gai NSW 2080
Australia
Phone +61-2-9457-9049
Fax +61-2-9457-9593
sales@wildcard-innovations.com.au
http://www.wildcard-innovations.com.au

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by StraightWall

I'll be there. Traveling from my home in California, USA!

I'm renting a camper van in Sydney later today, and will work my way out to the SPSP site by Thursday. Between now and then - no firm plans. My default is to find a dark sky site and do some binocular touring with the 20x60's I brought along, but I'm open to all suggestions for other activities, astro-themed or otherwise.

First time in Australia for me. Been here only a few hours, and have already been addressed as "Mate" about five times. I think I'm going to like this place


See you at the SPSP, Mates!

Tom Schutz
SF Bay Area
USA

If it's the first time down under ie Southern Hemisphere (?) then you are in for a real treat if it's clear Tom! Be nice to meet you and it shouldn't be too hard to spot you as there are usually only 1 or 2 rent-a-camper vans there each year

Mate Mike

Ps. Of course my luck this year there will be a dozen campers I bet ..oh well, will have to knock on every door till someone named Tom answers...if there are more than one Tom..well?..hopefully only one will have an American accent

[Shano592 (Shane)]

Just shout, Mate ... I mean, Mike. At least one Tom will answer, I'm sure!

[marc4darkskies (Marcus)]

Woo hoo ... It's SPSP time again!!
Wife & I will be there from Thursday.

Cheers, Marcus

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by marc4darkskies

Woo hoo ... It's SPSP time again!!
Wife & I will be there from Thursday.

Cheers, Marcus

Me too

I'll be there Thursday afternoon with Marco, Damien and two others arriving early Friday.

We will be in our usual spot (hopefully) .....

Mike

[Satchmo]

This will be my 21st SPSP ( never missed one ! ) . Hoping for great skies and the usual good company and catching up with old friends. 3RF 12" binos to play with...

[The Mekon (John Briggs)]

Just checked the weather outlook, and dew heaters are sure to be needed no matter where you are in NSW this weekend. Last night at home was so wet I gave up after one and a half hours.

[eddiedunlop (Martin)]

Tom,
If you can, drop in to Mt Tomah botanic gardens. It's on the Bells Line of Road near Lithgow. It's a beautiful place and has a great range of Aussie flora.
Martin

[h0ughy (David)]

hope that they are having a good time - i wished i was there

[multiweb (Marc)]

It was great to catch up with a few people under pristine skies. Three clear nights straight. Very nice.

[gary]

Fabulous star party again this year!

Special thanks to all the movers and shakers at ASNSW that work so hard to make
this happen.

Thank you to the Scouts for the catering.

Thanks to our guest speakers.

Great to meet up with everybody. Special thanks to Rodney Doig for sharing the
views on the 24" SDM on Friday night. Particularly enjoyed the views of
Longmore 5, Shapley 1 and other PN we viewed. The view of the Dumbbell at the
end of the night were exceptional.

Thank you to Roger for assisting me with the sky tours we provided with the
3RF 25" Obsession on Saturday night. You would have got a good workout
going up the ladder so many times and assisting people at the eyepiece.

Great to chat with so many of you!

Special best wishes to Barry Gerdes. It was wonderful to see you.

Best Regards

Gary Kopff
Managing Director
Wildcard Innovations Pty. Ltd.
20 Kilmory Place, Mount Kuring-Gai
NSW. 2080. Australia
Phone +61-2-9457-9049
Phone +61-2-9457-9593
sales@wildcard-innovations.com.au
http://www.wildcard-innovations.com.au

[The Mekon (John Briggs)]

Gary,

Yes it was a great star party. I must thank you for assisting me in improving the pointing of my 18" SDM. You are a true gentleman, and your Argo Navis is terrific. Hope to see you all next year.

John

[gary]

Originally Posted by The Mekon

Gary,

Yes it was a great star party. I must thank you for assisting me in improving the pointing of my 18" SDM. You are a true gentleman, and your Argo Navis is terrific. Hope to see you all next year.

John

John,

Thank you very much and it was a pleasure.

Best Regards

Gary

[Irish stargazer (John)]

I only managed to stay for the friday night due to worsening flu symptoms but had a great night. Really appreciated the open fire dying embers in the kitchen at 6am after a cold night in a tent.
Got some decent shots with the 7D and Polarie which I am happy with.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7318/8...fee9c850_h.jpg

[MortonH]

Cracking shot, John! Single exposure or stacked?

[Irish stargazer (John)]

Originally Posted by MortonH

Cracking shot, John! Single exposure or stacked?

Hi Morton

It's is a single frame shot of 60 seconds with noise reduction on with the 50mm F1.4 wide open at ISO 1600

[StraightWall (Tom)]

Mates,

Most awesome star party I've ever been to! My first S. Hemisphere astro experience and my first Australia visit exceeded expectations by an order of magnitude.

Viewing some of your main showpieces (e.g. Tarantula, Omega C., Centaurus A) through big glass, I felt utterly blown away, like decades ago when I saw Saturn's rings for the first time (actually, even more so than that). Naked eye-wise, saw the Magellanic Clouds, the Coal Sack, and the Emu for the first time.

Had some free time prior to SPSP. Narayan suggested visiting Magellan Observatory. I checked out their website, looked great, called them immediately, and found out they are no longer open. Major bummer! It would have been worth the detour.

I spent 3 days doing day hikes in the Blue Mtns out of Blackheath and Katoomba. Very, very nice. Spectacular. Quiet. Good workout! Sorry, Martin, I couldn't make it to Mt. Tomah - hopefully will on the next trip down under.

Was at SPSP on Friday (what a night!) and Saturday.


Mark (Marc?) and Brian at The House, with your impressive imaging rigs: it was excellent to hang out with you and see you toil away capturing photons, in an office with the best view on the planet. You inspired me to seriously consider pursuing imaging. If I take the plunge, I will have you two to thank. Am reading Starizona's "Guide to CCD imaging" from beginning to end, currently. Any suggestions for other reading, to help get launched?

Kim, thanks for showing the sun through your H-alpha scope. Hope you got some good shots with your AstroTrac?

Brian (beautiful 18" homebuilt Dob) and Rodney (from Orange, with 24" Holy s*** Dob) - thanks for sharing some prime southern deep sky objects. Those views were probably the most impressive visual astronomy sights I've ever seen. Will never forget! (Rodney also offered much informative info about deadly Aussie reptiles and amphibians! Makes me wonder: exactly what species of snake is Serpens?)

Ben from Penrith, thanks for that galaxy safari in Coma and Virgo.

Rodney and Mark with your ~100mm 'Fracs doing imaging: thanks for letting me hang out and for answering my questions!

Cooks for Saturday's barbeque - that was delicious, savory stuff! Can't believe you were able to make that in a bush kitchen for hundreds of astro geeks.

I sincerely hope I can make it back to SPSP in future years and hang out with the ASNSW again. This July, I'll be going to the Golden State Star Party, held in some of California's darkest skies. Hopefully it'll be impressive; probably will be.

But, there's nothing like that stretch of southern Milky Way from Sagittarius to Canis Major (unless maybe you are viewing from a planet located somewhere within 47 Tuc?) I miss it already. One of y'all said that when you travelled to the USA, you looked up at the northern sky and wondered, Where did all the stars go? Back at home now, as I gaze up, I'm wondering the same thing (our Spring sky is notoriously bright star-poor, but still...)

Kindest regards,

Tom Schutz
38N 122W
(under the San Francisco Bay Area light dome)