Pony Club: New Year's Weekend - Page 4

Rick Petrie · #61 01-01-2011, 04:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sally1jack

If i can remember how to get there i'll be there

lets start the new year with a perfect attendance record
phil

Excellent Phil.

Be great to catch up. Are you bringing the beast?

Rick Petrie · #62 01-01-2011, 04:16 PM

I can only get there about 6ish.
There may be some other gatekeepers that can get there a bit earlier Arthur.
See Yaz.

Inmykombi (Geoff) · #63 01-01-2011, 04:27 PM

Will be there about 6'ish myself.

Sounds and looks like its shaping up for a good night.

My back is bad today so I'll just bring my little Grab and Go scope.

Geoffro.

Allan_L (Allan) · #64 01-01-2011, 05:41 PM

Still looking to be 7 ish for me.

Sorry, could be a big queue outside the gate

Better get moving
my son (Steve) and (his girl-friend) Leona are making sounds of wanting to come again !

There may be the making of a young ladies sub branch by the sounds of it.
Someone clean up the (in)conveniences !

Rodstar (Rod) · #65 02-01-2011, 08:46 AM

It appears that I am the first to emerge this morning...

What a fantastic night (sorry GTB-The Owl), a great turnout, lots of new faces and lots of familiar faces, I did not do a head count, but I reckon we got close to 25. And the sky was clear, and after some early thermal issues, things settled down and some tantalising detail was able to be extracted.

Highlights for the evening through the Mary Rose included NGC 1365 (Zorro galaxy), a string of planetaries such at the Eight Burst Nebula and NGC 1535, culminating in the Ghost of Jupiter (the two halo rings with sharp edges and bright hues). The homunculus was showing off her varicose veins quite nicely, and nice nebulosity littered the Carina region.

Conditions settled down nicely later on for viewing the various pit stops in Orion, and we spent some time enjoying my favourite multiple star system, sigma Orionis.

We also briefly looked at Comet Hartley once I had remembered how to enter the co-ordinates for a Scratch object. Comet Hartley is a diffuse object with a slightly condensed core. Phil Townsend and I thought we could discern a bit of a tail at 2 o'clock, but this may have been a false impression created by a grouping of faint stars in that region which make that part of the FOV a tad brighter. It should also be noted in passing that Phil made an excellent ladder carrying assistant: he would have made a worthy magician's assistant in a red tutu or bikini.

It was good to catch up with Deeno's news about his new little girl (8 weeks), mate that is fantastic news!!! Worthy of a Cuban cigar, in fact!

I enjoyed having a look at Rick's new 14 inch intelli-dob, Shane's new 10 inch LX200, and Kayla's new binoculars! Very different scopes, producing very different images, all good in different ways. It was also fun to discuss telescope options and SDM excitement with Stasey. As always, Greg had some equipment reservations, and was good company.

The dew set in about 1-ish, and my exhaustion meter started flashing at about 1.30. Was comfortably ensconced in bed by 2.30am. All in all, a brilliant night.

Some persons who shall remain nameless were noticeably absent. They risk excommunication if medical certificates or suitably executed statutory declarations are not presented to the organising committee within 72 hours.

Allan_L (Allan) · #66 02-01-2011, 09:00 AM

Mr Owl,
You were right about the dew!
Drying required before Bretti in four days !!! (weather permitting)
Thanks for the very nice views Rod.
Good to catch up with so many.
And nice to see a second motor home on the field !

Could be the start of a trend.

Potentially yours DOB- ALLi

paulF (Paul) · #67 02-01-2011, 09:20 AM

Good to hear that it was a good night guys and apologies for not showing up. I burnt my hand a couple of days ago and was hoping to get the ok to get back on my bike from the doctors by yesterday but i was advised not to ride... And unfortunately, no many people that i know appreciate looking through 20inch telescopes and the likes so couldn't get anyone to give me a ride. Hopefully next time.

Cheers

sasup (Stacey) · #68 02-01-2011, 09:48 AM

I have risen and wanted to thank everyone for a great night. Rick did some magic with my evil mirror cell and Greg and norm had good ideas about my scope build. The high lite of the eveing had to be ghost of Jupiter.

Inmykombi (Geoff) · #69 02-01-2011, 10:05 AM

Great to see such a good roll up.
And it was nice to meet the new-comers to the PC.

Stacks of things to see, and the best ight I can remember for a while.

See you all again soon.

Rick Petrie · #70 02-01-2011, 10:32 AM

Great night I think was had by an excellent crowd of enthusiastic newcomers and regulars alike, particularly Kayla who was like she was in a candy shop. Great to see

Nice to finally meet all the new people and hope that you all got a lot out of being there. Thanks to all.

And about that Scarlet Pimpernel fellow.
We sought him here, we sought him there, we didn't see him anywhere.

kayla (Kayla) · #71 02-01-2011, 12:22 PM

best night! thanks everyone!!

ps. sorry i hope i wasn't too annoying with my enthusiasm

gb_astro · #72 02-01-2011, 12:31 PM

Thanks all for a good night.
There was a brief early attack of termites on the wing which had us worried about the SDMs for awhile.
Great to see a few of the younger generation there.
Amazing detail in the Eta Carina homunculus later in the night through Rod's 20".
Thanks Norm and Shane for a look through the Pentax and Ethos 10s. Hmmmm......

Greg.

RB (Andrew) · #73 02-01-2011, 12:41 PM

Great to hear you all had a terrific night.
I'm sorry I missed it, this hot weather the last few day has kept me on my toes almost around the clock, hence I couldn't leave.

I was thinking of everyone and I was looking up during the night, envious of the clear skies you were enjoying and of all the great company I was missing out on.

Anyway couldn't be avoided, so Happy New Year everyone and hopefully we'll catch up next meet.

Cheers
Andrew

bones · #74 02-01-2011, 01:28 PM

Well happy new year to all. Sorry I didn't make what seems to have been another gret night at the PC.
Tony

Dave W2 (Dave) · #75 02-01-2011, 01:32 PM

Thanks everyone for showing my mate and I around on our 1st visit and letting us look thru your scopes. Shame we did not arrive earlier to meet people better and be able to see the scopes etc in daylight. I think my favourite was the double star I saw thru one scope and quite a thrill to look thru the big 20" scope I must say

I can’t remember many names but thanks to Rick/Arthur/Phill? & Patrick for spending time showing us the basics and the stellarium program (downloading now)

I’m looking forward to learning more and buying a scope sometime in the near future but will be keeping busy with my binoculars & stellarium in the meantime

Have fun up at Bretti, Most of my night ski interest has stemmed from camping at Barrington where the skies are generally nothing short of amazing

Dave

Amunous (Michael) · #76 02-01-2011, 02:02 PM

Thanks all for a fantastic night.

A special thanks to rod and "the mary rose" what a fantastic peice of equipment and owner. very informative and friendly.

Thanks to the sky gods for the first clear night in ages .

It was good to catch up with a lot of the regulars and to meet the new faces. If the numbers keep expanding we will fill that paddock up in no time, preety soon it will be standing room only.

Is anything happening at the pc on the 08/01 or will everyone be in bretti?

Arthur Alchin (Arthur Alchin) · #77 02-01-2011, 11:36 PM

great night, thanks Geoff (I.M.K) for your help with the beast. Got some good photos for first attempt with the DSLR.

Catch you guys at twin servos on thursday morning

Mars (Patrick) · #78 02-01-2011, 11:53 PM

Just wanted to say a quick thanks to everyone for such an enjoyable night last night (and especially to those who taught me a few things).
It was nice to meet you all. Had a great time and saw a lot of really cool things

Also, I guess it has to be said.. it's truly amazing the detail you can see with 20" of aperture!
There's really no comparison. But anyways, back to my modest scope hehe

Rodstar (Rod) · #79 03-01-2011, 08:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RB

Great to hear you all had a terrific night.
I'm sorry I missed it, this hot weather the last few day has kept me on my toes almost around the clock, hence I couldn't leave.

I was thinking of everyone and I was looking up during the night, envious of the clear skies you were enjoying and of all the great company I was missing out on.

Anyway couldn't be avoided, so Happy New Year everyone and hopefully we'll catch up next meet.

Cheers
Andrew

Mate, we missed you, but sounds like the chooks needed you. Hope this change to cooler weather will take some of the pressure off. Hope to see you soon.

Carlz (Carly) · #80 03-01-2011, 10:36 AM

What a fantastic night. Thank you so much to Rod and the Mary Rose for the beautiful viewings and information you provided. Even though i had an early start at work the next morning i was wanting to stay longer. It was good seeing some new faces too