Picture this – Flicking on my red led torch I suddenly discovered I had been talking to his wrapped up G-11, which in silhouette, bore a striking resemblance to Paul. There, the story is now out.
Sorry Dennis I couldn't resist, (but you did say Picture this!).
That was hilarious.
ROFLMAO.....Mmmmmm, I wonder how many more 'resemble their t'scopes in the dark'? Sort of like, 'Owners looking like their pets'......
Glad you all had a great time... L.
Although the clouds Saturday night have been mentioned previously, of the 4 nights I saw there (Wed thru to Sat) it was really only a partial inconvenience Friday night, and a few hours Saturday night that got clouded over. The days were pleasant, generally sunny, and we really didn't see any dew on the scopes at all, the driest viewing I have done since getting my dob about 4 months ago.
In addition to great viewing generally we were also treated to some great meteor activity at various times, one or 2 quite spectacular amongst them. One I saw in the extreme north was moving slow, very bright and intense, like a great yellowish magnesium ball. It only seemed to travel a short distance, but took a long time to do so!
I also came home with a great visual memory of the Milky Way on Wed night (?) stretching in all it's glory literally bisecting the sky and stretching completely from the southern horizon all the way to the northern - not only were the incredibly bright areas of the galactic band so visible but the vast dark areas stood out in comparison so well too.
After the feast Saturday night both Dr Morbius and I both had brand spanking new ep's purchased that day we were eager to try - his new 35mm (?) 2" widefield, and my new Hyperion 17mm, so even though it was clouded over we sat steadfastly near our dobs, eps's warmed and at the ready, drinks in hand (purely to ward off the cold) waiting for the sucker holes... oops, I mean waiting for the sky to clear totally.
In the meantime we had a spirited and hilarious conversation (inc drinks and nibbly's) with Dennis (nightshift), and Chris and Mike (Xeelee and his Dad) who also had some brand new gear to try out (VERY nice 99% reflectivity diagonal, and a microfocuser?). Topics of conversation ranged widely indeed, but in truth the chance to chat and have such fun was part of Astrofest that made it so special. Jeanette (jjjnettie) dropped by along the way too and joined the chat for a while.
Eventually the sky did start to show fuzzzy stars here and there briefly, we stuck in there knowing that if we had faith it would clear further.
Which it did. Then clouded. Then cleared again. And so on. Frustrating, but still quite sufficient to give our new ep's a good work out. (and Yes I do highly recommend my new Baader Hyperion ep, I think worth every cent I paid for it!) I spent some time examining the areas of the SMC and LMC (switching each time as a cloud band moved across).
I gave it up around 1 am after all as clouds appeared to be settling in again, but Randall (the good Dr Morbius) came out of his tent around 1:30 am to see a clear sky again, and I believe he then put in another 90 mins observing.
My congrats go out to the team of organisers for this event, and to the camp managers who manned the kitchen lunch and dinner time, without which I would not have been able to survive 4 days on the $5 "Hamburger and Chips" special (delicious!).
Even though the IIS team were broken into 2 "groups" - each camped and observing on the 2 separate fields basically - I think we still had a great team spirit happening, with people walking around and keeping in touch.
One final note: The IIS separate photo had approx 24 people in it while the individual pics of each of the "proper" associations had significantly less people in their pics.
Speaking of seeing someone asleep at the scope, that honour can go to Allan.
At some point during Wednesday night (? it's really a bit of a blur) I heard something that I though was thunder. Upon looking around the sky and not seeing a cloud anywhere I spotted Allan Meehan sound asleep, snoring away on his newly purchased bintel (they were a great hit wavelandscott ) black observing chair. Boy they must have been comfortable. The Sealy Posturpedic of observing chairs.
Speaking of seeing someone asleep at the scope, that honour can go to Allan.
At some point during Wednesday night (? it's really a bit of a blur) I heard something that I though was thunder. Upon looking around the sky and not seeing a cloud anywhere I spotted Allan Meehan sound asleep, snoring away on his newly purchased bintel (they were a great hit wavelandscott ) black observing chair. Boy they must have been comfortable. The Sealy Posturpedic of observing chairs.
Gargoyle Steve had one of the black observing chairs, and I can attest that they are very very comfortable, worth every penny. I was initially skeptical that they were better than the many wooden observing chair creations around, but they genuinely are. If you want to sit comfortably for hours, there is no substitute, it just has to be these. They really are comfortable enough to sleep on. Some of the wooden chairs were being sold for $80 at Astrofest, but you get what you pay for.
wow Jenette...they are awesome images....the second one is a bit hard to see...actualy their all very hard to see.....lol
I think their fabulous photos Jeanette - just need a touch more exposure.
I thought Paul's last set of photos included shots of Jeanette walking passed in her Ansett coat - until I looked a little closer .
I would like to thank everyone from IIS for making feel so welcome, and tolerating my ignorance. I ordered my 10" GSO dob today . So when is the next Cambroon party Ron?????
Talking of Astroron, I hear he gave Brian Schmidt (the guest lecturer on Gamma Ray Bursts) a real ear full on space according to Astroron .
As for Astrofest as a whole - I think Tony and Anne-Louise are very special people and with the committee must do a massive amount of work leading up to Astrofest and , of course, during the whole event. Amazing people.
Thanks again everyone.
Hi All, I only arrived home a few hours ago, stayed at a friends place Sunday night to do some further observing , but it rained I was tired but happy for having a great astrofest, and meeting all the other iceinspacers.
I seemed to have got the job of showing the sky to newbies and visiters, and I had a lot of great conversations with people in the dark and in most cases still don't know what they looked like
On Friday night we had a visit by a cow that had lost its calf, Rob(coobala Kid) played cow cockie and reunited the mum and baby to the great relief of the people who were awake as it would have been worse than a bull in a china shop if it had run amoke, with about a hundred grand or more dollars worth of scopes and equipment on the field
Saturday night a great discussion was held in the observing field whilste waiting for the clouds to clear with a few drinks flowing the topic was the nature of the big bang and the light that has travelled the 13,7 billion light years to the present day and the age of the universe, and its expansion which in the end the verdict was that nothing was provable beyond a reasonable doubt, but Dr Ian Wilson a retired proffessional astronomer tried valiantly to express to a certain very mystified person (not me) the current theory,but to no avail, the discussion was a lot of fun all the same.
As has been said by other members some observing was done with Steve(gargoyle) and and I observing till about 3 0clock before I called it a night
I hope that everyone got home alright from the Astrofest.
I would like stories and photos from the Astrofest for the webpage if anyone would like to contribute. Send your happy-snaps 300 pix wide 72 dpi (it will save me a lot of work). If you send some astro shots, send them 1024 px wide (long axis) at 72 dpi. Please include a caption, identify people in images, all the standard stuff for astro photos.
I hope to work on the pages over the next few months, and your help is most welcome.
Cheers for now
Tony
PS Anne-Louise says that registration for 2007 Qld Astrofest should open in January. The dates for next year are August 6th to 12th.
I would like to thank everyone from IIS for making feel so welcome, and tolerating my ignorance. I ordered my 10" GSO dob today
Good news on the 10" Nordo. nice to meet you and all the other new faces up there (and of course seeing the old faces). I had a great time with the only downer the clouds on Saturday night. The company was excellent, the food was great (and I won't mention the forests a couple of IIS'ers where cutting down in the wee hours ). I should also thank my wife for letting me go up for two nights - with a 15 week old bub in the house I was lucky to go at all. Hopefully next year I will make it for most of the week (if not all )
Didn't get many photos - this one shows my scope, but more importantly in the background (just behind my scope) is Paul's G11 - the site of Dennis's chit chat with the equipment ... very funny
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L.
) black observing chair. Boy they must have been comfortable. The Sealy Posturpedic of observing chairs. 
John.
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(not me) the current theory,but to no avail, the discussion was a lot of fun all the same.
). I should also thank my wife for letting me go up for two nights - with a 15 week old bub in the house I was lucky to go at all. Hopefully next year I will make it for most of the week (if not all 
