Well, it is only a few more weeks until the South Pacific Star Party. Preperations are almost complete and information kits have now been sent out to attendees.
Please drop me a PM if you've registered and not received anything.
If you'd like a "17th Annual South Pacific Star Party" t-shirt please pre-order it before the star party so as not to be disappointed on the day. And since my wife designed the t-shirt this year, I know you will all want to get at least 2 or 3.
Oh wow, I would love to attend this Starparty, Really sounds Amazing, Im going to look into it and see what i can do, I might try and see if i can purchase a telescope by then and make my way there, Do i have to register to attend??? also what kind of accommodation is available there??? any special passes i need???
Oh wow, I would love to attend this Starparty, Really sounds Amazing, Im going to look into it and see what i can do, I might try and see if i can purchase a telescope by then and make my way there, Do i have to register to attend??? also what kind of accommodation is available there??? any special passes i need???
Hi Aaron,
We've got some really good speakers this year and the Winter sky at Wiruna can be spectacular if the weather is kind. You will need to register before the event by going here: http://asnsw.com/spsp/index.asp and following the "Register Now" link.
There is probably no big hurry to get a telescope of your own before the event. In fact I'd recommend you wait and use other people's scopes at the star party before you decide on what you want. Most people will gladly share some telescope time with you and that way you can get a lot better idea about what you want to buy and what will work well for you.
We should have at least 100 telescopes at the event, which will give you a good selection to sample! And a very diverse range, including home built scopes, commercial dobs (sky watcher dobs, GSO dobs, meade light bridge etc), large obsessions, equatorial mounted newtonians, a range of meade goto's, large and small refractors, possibly a few planewave's, the only spica eyes dob in Australia and many others I've forgotten to list.
BTW, if anyone needs a tent I have a couple spare and an inflatable bed. Pm me if you are in need to put a roof over your head .
With the cold weather here, those of you who are using air matresses, make sure you have something to put down first under your inflatable bed to insulate. A ground sheet and a couple of blankets should suffice. Air beds are really good at transferring the cold from the ground straight up to you, irrespective of how much you have on top of you!
How's the weather looking?
It's been beautiful here this week!
Mike,
I've given up trying to predict the weather there. It's just amazing the number of times that the weather at the Ilford turnoff has been the total opposite of Wiruna.
As Scotty said in 'Star Trek' ... " it's exciting!" Looking forward to see you guys for my very first oversea star party! In fact, I will be going to Conna first for a night observation there, and hopefully can find some time visiting the Siding Spring Observatory, before driving down to Wiruna to join in the SPSP!
The cold seems pretty 'chilling' for me! Hopefully I can last the whole night!
Are there any power options available for mounts/cameras/laptops for people without deep cycle batteries? I'd love to have a go of imaging under really dark skies
Are there any power options available for mounts/cameras/laptops for people without deep cycle batteries? I'd love to have a go of imaging under really dark skies
Michael
Hi Michael,
We are off the grid at Wiruna and rely on solar power during the year.
Since last year, we've permitted people to use generators on the upper observing field (near the house). This observing field is set aside for astro photographers and has a more relaxed white light policy to accomodate laptop users.
Can't wait....looking forward to exploring the wonders of Sagittarius this year.
The Mary Rose has had some recent mods, so it will give me a chance to try these out too - laminar fans across the face of the primary mirror, stalk for argo Navis, etc.
hope you all have a great weekend sounds like lots of fun 
