Glad such a good time. Saw so many more objects, hunting down random globs was fun. NGC6441 was a nice find right on scorpio's stinger. There was the glob and open clusters within M7 that Alex showed us. Saw the The Helix nebula for the first time and Alex showed me the Grus Quartet through his scope. The different shapes of all those galaxies makes it a really nice field. Plus the Carina nebula through Adrian's scope with an OIII filter, jaw dropping! And then there was the wind... killed the seeing but not the enthusiasm! Thanks all for sharing the views and knowledge, can't wait until next month.
19 bodies all up. And by far the most popular place was in front of the combustion heater!!!
The cool of the night would have been more tolerable if it were not for the wind. Just our luck that it should be blowing a blizzard in the Snowies. Made using any scope tricky. Thankfully my 11X70 binos were packed, and I had a good time chasing dark nebulae. Steffen and I also managed to pin the "Doodad" he noted in the Challenge.
Thanks to everyone who turned up. It was a very pleasant occasion for me, and I hope everyone else too.
Oh, and the unsealed road was not a problem either, .
Rob, great time lapse clip, mate! I showed it to the missus, who was suitably impressed too, much to my surprise. I too had noticed that little dim red light out on the run way. I thought it was you, Adam, stuffing around and getting all arty-farty with your stuff, . Glad I was proved wrong!
Mental.
Last edited by mental4astro; 08-07-2013 at 11:38 AM.
I thoroughly enjoyed it, I didn't think it was that cold (apart from the odd bone-chilling gust) even though I forgot to bring my warm jacket.
Unfortunately the seeing was rather poor, however the compact 6" Mak on the HEQ5 mount withstood the wind without flinching and was fun to use all night through on the lower-mag objects
Cheers
Steffen.
EDIT And yes, that unsealed road was in great shape, better than some Sydney roads...
Today, I have been building a wind break from retractable tent posts and a large tarp for future events that may be windy. It could have been a really great night. Still it was nice to meet some new people apart from the usual's too.
Great to meet everyone, those I had and had not met before
The viewing was pretty good when the wind eased off from blowing my dew shield like a sail despite its best efforts, I got to see a bunch of new objects, and some extended re-views.
Thanks to Alex for lending me the camera bracket, I'll upload a couple shortly. Also thanks to both Alex and Peter for helping me hunt the elusive glove
Ah yes, the wind. I packed my dew shield away early during alignment and haven't needed it all night. It was one of those rare occasions where we didn't have the slightest hint of dew till 2am (or whenever it was we left).
The westerly usually brings with it a dry night. If only it had been a little less forceful…
Morton, I ended up using Photoshop CS6 to build the timelapse. Tweaked the curve slightly as well. Used a work machine. One of the few perks I still have in the printing industry.
The road was no problem at all. The roads around Lostock were vastly more painful.
Fingers crossed for no wind next time!...
Might work on my outfit a bit, need some warmer pants!
Ah yes, the wind. I packed my dew shield away early during alignment and haven't needed it all night. It was one of those rare occasions where we didn't have the slightest hint of dew till 2am (or whenever it was we left).
The westerly usually brings with it a dry night. If only it had been a little less forceful…
Cheers
Steffen.
Lesson learned the shield was always needed in the UK
I was worried about not having a dew shield for my newly acquired Mak but it wasn't required at all, at least not for dew. Maybe it might have helped improve the contrast slightly.
I was gonna go but couldn't find it on the ubd road map.Some one should show directions on a common street directory.Plus it was bloody cold.
I should buy some thermal under wear.I hear these can keep you bloody warm and effective in winter.
There should be some photos to convince other people to go.
Missed out on giving my 35mm Panoptic a shootout against other eyepieces.
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.
I don't think these directions are difficult to follow. All it is is taking 2 streets off the highway. 2 streets from the only set of lights past Katoomba, even if your directory doesn't show it. It's not a hard place to find.
But, sure, I guess a screen shot of a google maps search of the Airfield could be done if the directions are ambiguous. No worries.
Last edited by mental4astro; 08-07-2013 at 12:17 PM.
I don't think these directions are difficult to follow. All it is is taking 2 streets off the highway. 2 streets from the only set of lights past Katoomba, even if your directory doesn't show it. It's not a hard place to find.
But, sure, I guess a screen shot of a google maps search of the Airfield could be done if the directions are ambiguous. No worries.
You mean something like this? The railway bridge at Katoomba to the airfield.
Here's a quick and dirty pano from the other night. Unfortunately Sydney glow shows up quite a bit in the lower left...hope to post some better pics in the Images section later on...
I was wondering what that red light was in the middle of the airstrip 
.
. Glad I was proved wrong!
despite its best efforts, I got to see a bunch of new objects, and some extended re-views.
was
