ASTRO EVENTS ARCHIVE 2003
2002 2001
SATURN OBSERVATION CAMPAIGN - (Click for updates
and photos)
(Noeleen is the "NASA Saturn Observation Campaign" representative
for the SAS)
AMERICAN
ASSOCIATION OF VARIABLE STAR OBSERVERS (AAVO) WRITERS BUREAU - (Click
to read)
NASA
SPACE PLACE COLUMN - (Click
to read)
NASA
SPACE PLACE WEBSITE - (Website for Kids)
SKY
& TELESCOPE WEEKLY NEWS - (Click to subscribe)
SPACE.COM News -
(Click to read)
ROBERT LANG'S GALAXY CHRONICLES
- (Click to read)
QUEENSLAND ASTOFEST
Click here to see photos
of QLD Astrofest 2006
Click here for details about the SAS activities for the IYA2009
This is a very exciting year for astronomy and space, and the SAS as always
will be doing many events to show the general community the beauty of the
night sky. We are very active in this area of public outreach, and all members
who have participated in past events, are to be congratulated in their wonderful
efforts in showing the public the night sky.
Over the coming year, Peter Marples will post upcoming IYA events in our
e-newsletter ‘Event Horizon’ for you to see. I will be giving
many talks and viewing of the night sky at many of the local libraries here
on the Gold Coast, some will be part of my involvement with NASA’s Saturn
Observation Campaign and some will be just for the pleasure of showing and
talking about astronomy and space with the public. You and your family are
most welcomed to come along and enjoy these presentations in at the libraries.
These events will also be posted onto our SAS web page by Eric Vandersande
our web master
Come make a beautiful model of Saturn for IYA
To celebrate International Year of Astronomy bring your children along and
hear all about NASA’s amazing mission to Saturn by the Cassini spacecraft
and make a beautiful model of Saturn to take home. (All materials provided
for you to have lots of fun)
Where: Runaway Bay Library, Lae Drive Runaway Bay
Date: Thursday 17th December 2009
Time: 11.00 – 12.30 pm
To make a booking please phone (07) 55817220
Proudly presented by Noeleen Lowndes NASA’s Saturn Observation Campaign Member
of the Southern Astronomical Society (Gold Coast)
Photo courtesy of NASA/JPL
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/education/saturnobservation/
SAS celebrates worldwide IYA Galilean Nights from 22nd to 24th October
2009
http://www.galileannights.org/
The Galileo Experience at Runaway Bay Library Thursday 22nd October 2009
I gave a presentation in the library on the incredible life of Galileo Galilei,
and all his amazing discoveries of the night sky that he made 400 years ago
with his nearly invented telescope. Then we all went outside to experience
just what Galileo did 400 years ago and looked at the Moon and Jupiter through
telescopes that were MUCH larger than Galileo’s, to the delight of everyone.
Thank you to Kevin Dixon & Julian and Anne Gheno for bringing along their
telescopes to help me on the night, everybody had a wonderful evening listening
to the presentation and looking through the telescopes. (Please see some photographs
in EH from the event)
Sir Thomas Brisbane Plantarium IYA event Saturday 24th October 2009
The support for this event from all the astronomy clubs (SAS, BAS, RAS, SEQAS
& AAQ) was just amazing, about 35 members attended with there telescopes.
But unfortunately, one of those late afternoon thunderstorms came through
to spoil the night for the many people who had come along to enjoy a night
under the stars. Some of us persevered with the weather, and were rewarded
with some clear sky for a little while to show about 300 people the night
sky.
After the event, Peter Franklin and Mark Rigby invited us all into the Planetarium
for a thank you supper and a presentation in the theatre on the Zeiss projector,
which was very interesting. It is interesting to note, that when this remarkable
projector is replaced in the near future, Peter Frankland is going to put
it on display with interactive features to show the public how it worked in
projecting the night sky on the dome. Peter is to be congratulated in taking
this initiative to preserve this remarkable piece of equipment for future
generations to appreciate.
Thank you to all our members and friends who came along to help on the night,
Mark will be sending you a double pass to come back and visit the Planetarium,
he’ll also be giving our club three family passes to use as we wish
in appreciation for our support. (Please see some photographs of our members
who attending on the night from the night)
Kindest regards Noeleen Lowndes
Runaway Bay Library
Galilean nights logo for IYA. (Permission to use)
A group photo of some of the people who attended the Galilean event at the
Library.
SAS members Julian & Anne Gheno with Andrew and some friends. (Permission
to use)
The Lawless family enjoying the night. (Permission to use)
Kevin Dixon getting Jupiter lined up to show everybody.
Noeleen with Raylene Jensen the head librarian from the Runaway Bay Library.
Photos from Planetarium night:
Group Photo of SAS members at the Planetarium night.
(Brendan, Joe, Noeleen, Sasha, John, Renato, Julian, Duncan, Michael, Ian)
BAS members doing there best to show people the night sky in between the showers.
Our EH editor Julian West helping us to stay dry in the rain :)
Michael Adams is enjoying showing the night sky.
My telescope set up to show everyone the night sky.
Dave Larkin and his friend with his telescope.
SAS members in the theatre waiting for the show.
(Peter Robbins, Renato, Joe, Michael, Ian, Julian, Duncan)
The amazing Zeiss projector in the dome at the Planetarium.
SAS Supernova Team Confirms a Fourth Discovery for Stuart Parker
(NZ)!
Report by Peter Marples
Late on Monday afternoon on the 19th of October, I received an email from
our mate Stuart Parker in New Zealand, who had just taken a few hundred images
of galaxies in his now highly successful Supernova Search (3 discoveries to
date). He was obviously tired, his email read: “the only thing that
I saw was a probable hot pixel in PGC17571. I have sent a jpg file of it.
The bright center is off center so I wouldn't think it is anything of note.
We are cloudy and rain here so I can't do anything to recheck. What do you
guys think?”.
I had a really good look at Stu’s image and my thoughts immediately
turned to “methinks he’s got his 4th!”, but first we needed
a confirming image. By about 9.15pm the galaxy had risen just above the walls
of my observatory.
I took a 25 second image and blow me down, there she be! FITS images were
then taken by me and sent to Colin Drescher to begin the huge task of getting
all the necessary data we needed to go the next step.
From my images against Digitised Sky Survey images, Colin began the necessary
Astrometry & Photometry measurements (highly accurate position and magnitude),
enabling us to successfully report Stu’s 4th discovery.
I am proud to announce that Stuart Parker is now the leading Supernova discoverer
in New Zealand, with the discovery of SN 2009jz in PGC17571 (Principal Galaxy
Catalogue), also know as ESO159-23 (European Southern Observatory).
Stuart is also now one of the World’s most prolific discoverers, with
4 Supernovae in less than 6 months!
The new object glows at a bright magnitude of 17, so it’s way down
at the visual limit of very, very large amateur telescopes.
So, members of the SAS (we may yet snare Stu) including myself, Colin and
Greg Bock, have now had significant involvement in discovering and reporting
some 8 Supernovae in the last 14 months.
The image above right, taken by Stuart, shows the location (arrowed) of the
“Guest Star” in this distant galaxy.
Well Done to All Concerned - who are now famous!!! Check out the website below
(Astronomy magazine):
http://cs.astronomy.com/asycs/blogs/astronomy/2009/10/20/an-amateur-astronomer-discovers-an-exploding-star.aspx
FREE public viewing night at Brisbane Planetarium for Galilean Nights.
The Southern Astronomical Society and other Astronomical societies of South
East Qld, BAS, SEQAS, RAS & AAQ are supporting the Sir Thomas Brisbane
Planetarium with a FREE public viewing of the night sky for IYA.
Where: Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium
Mt Coot-tha Road, Toowong, BRISBANE
Date: Saturday 24th October 2009
Time: 7.00 – 9.30 p.m.
Many telescopes will be set up for you to view the night sky, so please come
along and enjoy a wonderful night of stargazing with all our members.
Please see the flyer below for all the details on the night or go to the
Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium web site at: http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/planetarium
For more information please contact Noeleen Lowndes on 0407 126452.
The Galileo Experience at the Runaway Bay Library
For International Year of Astronomy
Thursday 22nd October 6.00 – 9.00 pm
Runaway Bay Library, Lae Drive, Runaway Bay.
You are welcomed to come along and enjoy a presentation on Galileo Galilei,
to celebrate 400 years since he looked at the heavens through his newly invented
telescope in 1609.
After the presentation we’ll go outside and experience the wonders
of the night sky, just like Galileo did 400 years ago to see the spectacular
planet Jupiter and the Moon through large telescopes. (Weather permitting)
Presented by Noeleen Lowndes & Kevin Dixon from the Southern Astronomical
Society (Gold Coast)
To make a booking please phone (07) 55817220
Or phone Noeleen on 0407 126452
For more information on this IYA Cornerstone Project please go to: http://www.galileannights.org/
The 24th National Convention of Amateur Astronomers will
be held in
Canberra over the 2010 Easter weekend, April 2-5. The theme for this
NACAA is "Astronomy in the On-Line Age".
The venue for most of the technical sessions will be the Rydges Capital
Hill hotel, which is only a short distance from both the old and new
Parliament Houses. Some NACAA events will also be held at venues such as
Mount Stromlo Observatory.
Further information about NACAA XXIV can be found at
http://nacaa.org.au/2010. To see what sorts of activities to expect,
please look at http://nacaa.org.au/2008
to see what happened at the 2008
event.
Looking forward to meeting you in Canberra next year.
Call for Presentations for NACAA XXIV
NACAA Inc and the Canberra Astronomical Society are pleased to announce
that the 24th National Australian Convention of Amateur Astronomers will
be held in Canberra over Easter 2010 (2nd-5th April.) Like all NACAA
conventions, it aims to bring together amateur (and not-so-amateur)
astronomers from around Australia and beyond to share in planning,
disseminating and learning about cutting-edge amateur astronomical
activities.
Our theme for this convention is "Astronomy in the On-line Age"
but of
course we will consider all submissions to the convention. We plan to
have a full weekend, Friday to Monday, of various types of presentations
covering a wide range of astronomical work, including observing,
instrumentation, education, research, history, pro-am collaboration,
local activities, and much more.
The core of the convention is of course its presentations, and we are
asking you to consider making a contribution, by yourself or in a group.
There are no restrictions on topics or themes, so long as the
contribution is likely to be interesting to other astronomers. We are
looking for posters, oral presentations, round-table meetings,
workshops, symposia... or any other presentation.
There is truly a vast amount of interesting astronomical activity
amongst Australia’s amateurs, and your presentation is needed to tell
the rest of us about your contribution to it – and to encourage others
to join in. So please consider contributing, and if you wish, talk it
over with the Programme Committee.
Please visit the NACAA website
(http://www.nacaa.org.au/2010/submissions) for more information on the
types of presentations and our requirements for submissions.
The closing date for submission of abstracts is Friday, 27th November, 2009.
Margaret Streamer,
Programme Committee Chair, NACAA XXIV
http://nacaa.org.au/contact
New Impact on Jupiter: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2009-112
The Southern Astronomical Society members invite you to a Free
*** Lunar Star Party ***
In celebration of International Year of Astronomy
*Saturday the 4th July from 5.30 p.m. to 8.30 p.m.*
At ‘Esplanade North Park’ The Esplanade at Paradise Point on the
Gold Coast (Opposite Nankeen Ave)
Please see flyer below with all the details or contact Noeleen Lowndes on
mobile 0407 126452.
Combined Societies Meeting Friday the 5th June 2009
The 2009 Combined Societies Meeting is being held at the Nathan Campus at
Griffith University, Kessels Road, Mt Gravatt starting at 7.30?p.m.
The Meeting is being held in Lecture Theatre Room 0.05 Science 2 Building
(N34) (This is the same room as last year). Please find a map to the venue
at:
http://www.griffith.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/49536/nathan-buildings.pdf
Free undercover parking is provided in the Ridge Carpark (N38) after 7.00?p.m.
This will be a fun evening where a member from each society will give a presentation.
This year, Peter Marples will be our representative for SAS. After the meeting
a lovely supper will be supplied for everybody attending.
There will also be a great lucky door prize that has generously been donated
by Ron Gibson from Sirius Optics. So please come along and enjoy a great?
evening of astronomy.
Noeleen Lowndes (President)
BrisScience lecture
Lynelle Ross
Communications and Marketing Officer
School of Mathematics and Physics
The University of Queensland
Physics Annexe (No. 6)
St Lucia Campus
p: (07) 3346 9935
f: (07) 3365 3328
e: l.ross@smp.uq.edu.au
Galileo’s invention of the astronomical telescope and his astounding
discoveries: moons, stars, and a new planet
Presented by Professor David Jamieson
School of Physics, University of Melbourne
With two small polished pieces of glass in his innovative new telescope,
Galileo triggered a revolution in the way humanity sees its place in the cosmos.
This year marks the 400th anniversary of the first time Galileo turned his
telescope to the heavens. In the last few months of 1609 and the first months
of 1610 he made an avalanche of astounding new discoveries that completely
overturned the traditional views of the Earth’s place in the cosmos.
This lecture looks at Galileo’s technological breakthrough with the
invention of his astronomical telescope and investigates the new discoveries
and knowledge that it produced.
Some of these discoveries are well known like the discovery of the moons of
Jupiter and the lunar landscape. But there is a surprise drawn from the pages
of Galileo’s logbooks of 1612 and 1613. He notes the position of a “fixed
star” that does not exist in any star chart because it is the planet
Neptune which Galileo observed 234 years before its official discovery. Did
he know this “fixed star” was a planet? If so, this would be the
first discovery of a new planet by humanity since deep antiquity. His notes
suggest he saw Neptune move and computer simulations show the precision of
his observations. This lecture will review the evidence.
* Time: 6:30pm to 7:30pm (Doors open at 6pm)
Date....27th April
* Venue: Ithaca Auditorium, Brisbane City Hall
* Refreshments: There will be complimentary drinks and nibblies following
the talk, and Professor Jamieson will be available to answer any questions.
* Questions? Contact Lynelle (l.ross@smp.uq.edu.au)
Hi all, If the weather is kind to us on the 24th February we should
get to see some very interesting sights indeed. A 4 Moon transit of Saturn &
Comet Lulin perhaps at its best. Regards Peter
From Roy Duncan: 24th February. Four of Saturn’s moons will transit the
planet from 8.54pm (Brisbane time) to just after Midnight. http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/19feb_quadrupletransit.htm
From Greg Bock: COMET LULIN UPDATE: Comet Lulin is approaching Earth and
brightening rapidly. Observers say it is now visible to the naked eye as a
faint (magnitude +5.6) gassy patch in the constellation Virgo before dawn.
Even city dwellers have seen it. Backyard telescopes reveal a vivid green
comet in obvious motion. Just yesterday, amateur astronomers watched as a
solar wind gust tore away part of the comet's tail, the second time this month
such a thing has happened. Lulin's closest approach to Earth (38 million miles)
is on Feb. 24th; at that time the comet could be two or three times brighter
than it is now. Browse the gallery for the latest images: http://spaceweather.com/comets/gallery_lulin_page8.htm
SN2009J in IC2160
Peter Marples does it again!
Peter Marples made an independent discovery of Supernova 2009J in the galaxy
IC2160 located in the far southern constellation Mensa. The galaxy is about
190 Million light years distant from us.
On the night of January 14th Peter took several images of this galaxy and
immediately noticed a new object in one of the spiral arms. See, http://www.rochesterastronomy.org/SNIMAGES/
Peter would like to thank the following talented Australian amateur astronomers
for their assistance and advices - Greg Bock and Colin Drescher who undertook
highly accurate positional and magnitude measurements that were posted on
the Yahoo isnchat site, http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/isn_chat/ Steve
Quirk and Pat Pearl, who would later provide images of the galaxy. Brendan
Downs for his assistance and input. All were willing to assist and take calls
etc well late into the night and early the next morning. Peter further acknowledges
Gregg Thompson and Bob Evans who gave valuable advices that would later prove
to be extremely important. The Supernova was also discovered a day prior by
the CHASE supernova search team in Chile, http://www.das.uchile.cl/proyectoCHASE/
At the time of Peter's discovery no announcement had been made so Peter was
not aware of their discovery, hence the independent discovery. The Supernova
is a type 1a event – a white dwarf star that has blown itself to pieces
after drawing too much mass from a much larger companion star or the merging
of 2 white dwarf stars.
Extract from CBET 1665 “Peter Marples, Loganholme, Queensland, Australia,
reports his independent discovery of SN 2009J on a CCD image takenon Jan.
14.456 UT with a 30-cm reflector (+ Starlight Xpress camera). C. Drescher
(Brisbane) measured red mag 17.5 and the following position for 2009J, apparently
from Marples' discovery frame: R.A. = 5h55m21s.09, Decl. = -76o55'20".7
(equinox 2000.0).”
3 of Peter’s 25 second images stacked by Greg Bock, the supernova
is arrowed.
Pat Pearls image that was obtained around 1am the following morning.
100Hours of Astronomy Event:
Thursday 2nd April 2009
‘400 years of Discovery
with Galileo’s Telescope’
Come hear all about how
to use and see through this amazing instrument that was invented 400 years
ago by astronomer Galileo Galilei in 1609. After the presentation a viewing
of the night sky will take place for your enjoyment through a large telescope
to see the Moon, Saturn and constellations in the night sky.
Presented by: Noeleen
Lowndes (President) Southern Astronomical Society
Place: Runaway Bay Library, Lae Drive, Runaway Bay. Gold Coast.
Time: 6.00 – 7.00 pm: Presentation in library
Viewing: 7.00 – 9.00 pm: In the park just outside the library (weather permitting)
Please phone the library
to make a booking on (07) 55817220
The Orchestra’s Guide to the Galaxy
On the weekend of the 25th and 26th October, the Southern Astronomical Society
was involved with an excellent concert called 'The Orchestra Guide to the
Galaxy'. Our members kindly supplied their amazing images of the night sky,
which were shown in a PowerPoint program behind the orchestra as it played
pieces of music from the cosmos.
The Gold Coast Philharmonic Orchestra is a community orchestra where members
come together from the general community to share their love of music. We
were all very proud to support them in this wonderful concert dedicated to
the music of the Galaxy.
Please find their web site at: http://www.goldcoastphilharmonic.com
Many thanks to our members Julian West, David Rigby, Ray Suckling, Greg Bock,
Steven Craft, Noeleen Lowndes, Ilse Van der Velden & the late Erwin Van
der Velden (All images for Gustav Holst 'The Planets' were Erwin's stunning
images of the planets).
Many thanks also goes to Kevin Dixon, who not only helped me both days with
our SAS display, but brought along his huge 16inch telescope to ‘Wow’
everybody.
Warmest regards
Noeleen Lowndes (President)
Asteroid named in honour of SAS member Peter
Marples: 7527 Marples (1993 BJ)
Dear Members and Friends - 20th November 2008
It is with great pleasure that I wish to inform you that as a result of a
process undertaken by Mr Ikufumi Makino in Japan and with the consent of Mr
Urata also in Japan an asteroid discovered by Mr Urata has been named for
our member Peter Marples. This recognises Peter’s discovery of Supernova
2008fa, which he discovered on the 20th August 2008 in the Spiral Galaxy NGC6722
in the Constellation of PAVO.
The Asteroid is called 7527 Marples (1993 BJ) and you will find the web page
at:
http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=7527;orb=1
The information on NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory ‘Solar System
Dynamics’ web page is as follows:
7527 Marples
Discovered 1993 Jan. 20 by T. Urata at Oohira.
Australian amateur astronomer Peter Marples (b. 1958) discovered the supernova
2008fa in NGC 6722. He lives in Loganholme, Queensland, and is a very active
member of the Southern Astronomical Society.
The name was suggested by T. Urata and I. Makino.
It is not only Peter’s discovery of Supernova 2008fa that he is being
honoured with this remarkable merit. It also recognises that through the SAS
Peter has spent over 22 years, educating and helping many thousands of people
to enjoy the night sky.
Something that I recall very well was his donation of a brand new 8 inch
telescope to the Pimpama Junior Astronomy Club at the QLD Astrofest in 2005,
just because I said before the tickets were drawn, that if I won, I would
chose that telescope for the kids at the astronomy club…well his ticket
was drawn and without hesitation, he stood up and donated the scope to me
for the astronomy club. It is these kind gestures and many, many more which
has opened up many possibilities for other people to explore the heavens.
Peter was also one of the founding members of the Southern Astronomical Society
back in 1986 and was also one of the 5 chief founders of the Qld Astrofest
and the annual Combined Societies Meeting, instigating the prestigious Achievement/
Discovery award, which is presented at the combined societies meeting each
year to deserving Qld astronomers. He also secured a real coup for the SAS
in 1988 by inviting Patrick Moore to be our honoured guest speaker at the
SAS dinner.
We, your fellow members of the Southern Astronomical Societies and its many
friends, congratulate you Peter, on this wonderful recognition…. may
your love of the night sky forever fly freely as the Astroid that has been
named after you. But please keep your (asteroids) distance away from us here
on Earth!
Congratulations from all of us.
Noeleen Lowndes (President)
Combined Societies Planetarium Evening Friday 31st October
7.00pm (No admittance after 7.30pm)
Brisbane Planetarium Mt-Cootha Road, Mt-Cootha.
An Astronomical Evening Under the Dome will last about an hour and include:
A number of special demonstrations not previously presented using the real-time
digital, full-dome system;
International Year of Astronomy - a discussion of activities in the Brisbane
area, e.g. 100 hours of Astronomy in early April with a recreation of the
night sky and highlights for the April 4 Public Observing Night at the Planetarium.
Highlights of Mark Rigby's time in Russia in July/August, including the August
1 total solar eclipse, visits to space facilities and a weekend with the grandson
of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (Father of Cosmonautics), astronaut Cady Coleman,
and Richard Garriott who was preparing for his October flight to the International
Space Station on a Russian Soyuz.
The cost will be $10 per head and supper will be included and can paid on
arrival.
The Big Bang and Dark Energy - Associate Professor
Michael Drinkwater,
Dr. Kevin Pimbblet and Dr Tamara Davis
Monday 6th October 2008
6:30 pm to 7:30 pm (Doors open at 6 pm)
Ithaca Auditorium, Brisbane City Hall
Free, no booking required
There will be refreshments following the talk, and Michael, Kevin and
Tamara will be available to answer any questions.
For further information or to subscribe to the mailing list, visit
www.BrisScience.org or contact Joel
Gilmore (joel@BrisScience.org ,
0411 267 044) or Lynelle Ross (nelle@brisScience.org
).
The Big Bang and Dark Energy
Did the Big Bang happen? How can we be sure? What evidence is there at the
present time for the Big Bang happening? What is dark energy? How is it connected
to the Big Bang? How are astronomers currently looking for dark energy?
In this presentation, three astronomers from the University of Queensland
will give an entertaining tour of these and other modern Big Questions in
science with a theatrical flavour. In particular, they will describe their
work on an ambitious 4-year Australian project to measure dark energy.
Associate Professor Michael Drinkwater, Dr Kevin Pimbblet and Dr Tamara Davis
are all members of the UQ Astrophysics Research Group.
Associate Professor Michael Drinkwater's research interests are in Astronomy,
specialising in Dwarf Galaxy Formation, Star Formation in Galaxies, The Nature
of Red Quasars, and the International Virtual Observatory. He completed his
PhD at The University of Cambridge in 1988. He has since worked at Laval University
in Quebec, the Anglo-Australian Observatory, the University of New South Wales
and the University of Melbourne.
Dr Kevin Pimbblet's research interests include filaments of galaxies, and
cluster evolution. He completed his PhD at Durham University in 2001.
Dr Tamara Davis's research includes the ESSENCE collaboration where she uses
type Ia supernovae to measure the expansion history of the universe and test
whether exotic cosmological models can explain the acceleration. Tamara also
works with the SNAP collaboration, designing a space telescope that could
become the Joint Dark Energy Mission and launch sometime in the mid-2010's.
Most recently Tamara joined the WiggleZ collaboration at The University of
Queensland and will be using baryon acoustic oscillations (the pattern of
galaxies in the sky) to measure the composition of the universe.
THIS IS A FREE EVENT, NO BOOKINGS REQUIRED
Another Freebe: - Dr Joel Gilmore - The Large Hadron
Collider - what's it all about? (Friday 10th October @ 4 pm Room
222, Parnell Building UQ)
3 November 2008 - TBC
1 December 2008 - Dr Ben McNeil
SAS Supernova Discovery: SN2008fa update.
CBET 1508 reports that spectra taken on Sept 15.06UT on behalf
of the Carnegie Supernova Project show sn2008fa to be a type 1a supernova
about 3 weeks past maximum.
This would now confirm Colin Drescher’s photometry from Peter Marples'
follow up images that the Supernova was rising in brightness and correct guess
that this would most likely be a type 1a event.
SAS Members Supernova Discovery: SN2008fa
"Today's CBET 1475, from the IAU's Central
Bureau, announces the discovery of a magnitude 17.6 supernova in NGC
6722 by Peter Marples of Queensland.
The supernova was discovered on CCD images taken
on the evening of August 20 (only 3 days past Full Moon) with a 12-inch (30-cm)
telescope.
Colin Drescher, also from Queensland, measured
the brightness.
Steve Quirk of NSW was quick to report the accurate
position."
It’s all official!
Let me say a huge, huge thanks to my great mate
Greg Bock for his help last Wednesday night. He helped calm me down a bit
while we both put the wheels in motion. He has even made the images into movie
that looks great.
A huge, huge thanks to Bob Evans , Colin Drescher
and Steve Quirk - Frog Rock Observatory (http://www.my.hwy.com.au/~sjquirk/index.html)
who all played significant roles in helping out here and I can’t thank
them enough. Even Berto Monard from South Africa – himself a prolific
SN discoverer – made observations to help confirm the SN.
Image attached is 5 x25 second images that were
acquired by myself and stacked by Greg Bock
Thanks again
Peter
Click
here to watch an AVI of the discovery of SN2008fa (dot appearing in centre)
(4MB)
Saturn in the Park
Saturday the 14th June 2008 at Paradise Point
We had a perfect evening for our Saturn in the Park event which was held
on
Saturday night at Paradise Point. Over 800 people took the opportunity to
look through our telescopes which were all lined up along the Broadwater.
Many people were just blown away at seeing Saturn and the Moon for the very
first time, and were very thankful to us all for sharing this experience
with them.
Many thanks to all of our members and friends who gave up there time to come
show the night sky to everyone, you did our club very proud.
Thank you to: Michael Adams, Chris Wheeler, Kevin Dixon, Ray Suckling, John
Connolly, Julie & Andrew Lancaster, Bryan & Sherlene Pott, Duncan
Gillespie,
Dave Larkin, Warwick & Monica Burgess, Bob Clarke, Renato Langersek, Ray
&
Joy Murray, Warren Sayer & Courtney Lowndes.
SATURN IN THE PARK
Come along for a FREE viewing of the beautiful planet Saturn
Saturday the 14th June from 5.30 p.m. to 8.30 p.m.
At: Esplanade North Park, The Esplanade at Paradise Point on the Gold Coast
(Opposite Nankeen Ave)
Members from the Southern Astronomical Society, invite you and your family
to come view the magnificent planet Saturn, the Moon & other celestial
objects of the night sky through our large telescopes.
This special event is part of NASA’s ‘Saturn Observation Campaign’
for the mission to Saturn by the Cassini -Huygens spacecraft, which is currently
orbiting Saturn. The main web page for the Cassini mission is at: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov
Unfortunately if the weather is cloudy or raining the event will be cancelled
For more information please contact: Noeleen Lowndes
NASA’s ‘Saturn Observation Campaign’ member on mobile: 0407
126452
Vice-President of the Southern Astronomical Society (Gold Coast)
Astronomy Event at A.B. Paterson College
Thank you to our members who helped on the field night on the 8th May at
the
A.B. Paterson College at Arundel. We had a perfect evening to show the many
families the night sky through our telescopes. Thank you to Bryan Pott, Mark
Gasper, Kevin Dixon, Ray Suckling, John Connolly, Peter Marples, Michael
Adams, Warwick & Monica Burgess, Noel Burton & Lyn Ahern.
Many thanks also to Julian West who teamed up with me to give a presentation
on 'Capturing the night Sky' in the auditorium, the talk and the superb
images of the night sky were very well received by everybody.
Mr Trevor Redman the Dean of Mathematics and Science Education who organized
this wonderful event for the students and there families, has given our club
a substantial donation on behalf of the college, and a lovely certificate
of
thanks. So well done everybody; you made a lot of families very happy by
sharing your knowledge of our beautiful night sky.
Kindest regards
Noeleen Lowndes :)
A quick reminder about the SAS fund raising night this coming Wednesday night
(21st November) to be held at Varsity Lakes College Gold Coast. We have about
200 children attending and would sincerely appreciate any assistance you can
give on the night – details below, but you must have a current “working
with children blue card”.
The SASs Meade MySky has arrived and will be on show on the night so there
is an added bonus (note it’s fund raising nights like these that have
helped us to purchase such equipment for the society).
Location: Varsity College
Bridgewater Drive
Varsity Lakes
Start Time: 7.00 PM
Date: 21/11/07
Numbers are approx. 200 children. @ $5.00 per family.
Thanks indeed
Peter
TIME AND EINSTEIN IN THE 21ST CENTURY: THE COOLEST STUFF IN THE UNIVERSE –
Professor Bill Phillips
Date: 26 November 2007
Time: 6:30pm to 7:30pm (Doors open at 6pm)
Venue: Ithaca Auditorium, Brisbane City
Hall Refreshments: There will be complimentary drinks and nibbles following
the talk, and Bill will be available to answer any questions.
Got Questions? Contact Joel (0411 267 044 or joel@BrisScience.org) or Nelle
(nelle@BrisScience.org).
FREE LECTURE
Please forward on this announcement to friends and colleagues. For further
information or to subscribe to the mailing list, have a look at www.BrisScience.org
or contact Joel Gilmore (0411 267 044, joel@BrisScience.org or Nelle Ross
nelle@brisScience.org). Looking forward to seeing you on the night!
This is our last BrisScience for 2007. If you did not complete a survey at
BrisScience last month please fill one in on the night. If you are unable
to attend this event and would still like to comment on the series for this
year, please send us an email and we will email an electronic copy of the
survey for you to complete.
TIME AND EINSTEIN IN THE 21ST CENTURY: THE COOLEST STUFF IN THE UNIVERSE
– Professor Bill Phillips
At the beginning of the 20th century Einstein published three revolutionary
ideas that changed forever how we view Nature. At the beginning of the 21st
century Einstein’s thinking is shaping one of the key scientific and
technological wonders of contemporary life: atomic clocks, the best timekeepers
ever made. Such super-accurate clocks are essential to industry, commerce,
and science; they are the heart of the Global Positioning System (GPS), which
guides cars, airplanes, and hikers to their destinations. Today, atomic clocks
are still being improved, using Einstein’s ideas to cool the atoms to
incredibly low temperatures. Atomic gases reach temperatures less than a billionth
of a degree above Absolute Zero, without solidifying. Such atoms enable clocks
accurate to better than a second in 60 million years as well as both using
and testing some of Einstein’s strangest predictions.
This will be a lively, multimedia presentation, including experimental demonstrations
and down-to-earth explanations about some of today’s most exciting science.
Professor Bill Phillips won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1997 for developments
of methods to cool and trap atoms with laser light. He currently works at
NIST - the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Maryland, USA.
COMET HOLMES
Noeleen
Well despite a months worth of cloudy nights Renato Langersek & David
Rigley have managed to get some very nice images of this bizarre comet from
Leyburn. Renato’s image is beautifully eerie with the trees and background
of the dark skies of Leyburn – like the “mother ship” coming
in to land, I love it.
Peter
From Renato
Last weekend Ilse Gert-Jan Gwyneth and I went to Leyburn. Friday night was
rained out but On Saturday we got lucky and I took this shot.
Sony Alpha with Minolta 85mm lens at f1.7 15s exposure at ISO 800
From David
This is about the best I got all weekend,
I had to shoot this through the obs door so I have picked up a dark patch
on the right so there are no stars on that part of the image, I think it was
the ladder on the car roof !!
Sunday night was clouded out to the north and south and east and west, so
I never got a chance to do a reshoot .
This was 8x 2 mins unguided, @ ISO 1600 90mm William optics.
Attached are 2 images of Comet Holmes taken by our own Bob Clark on the Gold
Coast. How obvious is the comet! Wow Bob very nice indeed.
Ray, David, Noeleen and others are at Leyburn so I expect we will see some
nice pics,
Bob writes……..
A thin layer of cloud evident & just getting into a bit of a clearer spot
with these two shots which were taken on a still tripod & 400D . ISO 1600
; Av 5.6 : 15 sec's ; Low noise : Lens 55mm on both - One looks closer than
the other But is optical illussion due to moving camera forward & to right
as shots taken about 15-30 mins apart . Was only due to having this gap between
trees was I to have any view from here ? ? ? cool ha .
Jim Riffle in the USA has sent us the pics attached of this unprecedented
event. The Comet remains bright and is huge! Colin Drescher tells me the outer
halo is around 40 arc minutes in size (The Moon appears as about 30 arc minutes)
Those attending the Leyburn Astrocamp this weekend will no doubt be having
a good look – if it EVER stops raining!
The Comet’s coma is now 10 arc minutes in diameter (The full Moon covers
about 30 arc minutes of sky) and is around mag 2.4 and now jets are starting
to be imaged!. The comet is expected to stay bright until mid November before
the Moon interferes.
FROM JIM RIFFLE -USA
Hi Guys,
With the C-18 @ f/2.8, 5 sec was the max exposure with the Canon 350D at
ASA 800 setting before saturating head of comet Holmes. This is a cropped
portion from full frame taken 1AM Nov 2 from Aguila AZ. North is up. Did a
little processing to enhance nucleus. Seeing about 2-3 arc sec.
I tried many combinations of shorter exposures with averaging etc. but this
is about all there is to it short of a big blob.
Jimbo
& Wide angle image from GREG JAMESON – ENGLAND
Have a look at this pic taken by Chris Schur in the USA on www.spaceweather.com
a 2 hour photo showing jets! unbelievable
And up to date info at Sky and Telesope http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/home/10775326.html
More pics & reports of Comet Holmes this time from members & friends
overseas (the SAS are truly international) who are getting a fantastic view
of this event. Note images are copyright.
I also have a report from Mike Adams who sat on his roof at Mt Tamborine to
get a good Northern horizon and yep he saw this weird “Blob”
The Comets coma is now about 8.3 arc minutes wide and growing in size by 1.5
arc minutes per day and could stay visible for a few weeks – so as the
dark skies return it’s worth getting out and having a look even though
it is low for us.
Thanks
Peter
From Ikufumi Makino in Japan
Here is 17P images I took last Saturday. Yes, it is naked eye comet of mag
2 with moon nearby.
From Greg Jameson in England
I guess you lot are aware of this outburst though not too sure if its easily
visible from your latitude but here are my efforts of last night.Strange!!
From Jim Riffle in the USA
I saw the comet last night with my 9x 63s. It was a lightly clouded night,
but very obvious. Even Jan found it right off due to a large diameter compared
to stars. About as big as M13 in them. May try to do some C-18 imaging with
350D soon. Let ya know if I get anything.
Jim
Please find attached an image of Comet Holmes, it was very easy to find in
the NNE sky early this morning at 1am and was naked eye even though there
was still a large gibbous moon not far away.
I've only taken the image with my Canon 350D camera on a tripod, using ISO1600
and a 300 mm lens, exposure time was 5 seconds to get some detail.
If it's clear tonight I'll set up my ETX 125 and get a couple of shots with
the telescope tracking so I don't get any startails.
It's very easy to see if you use the Pleiades as a guide and drop your sight
down to the horizon, its about 12 degrees up from the horizon and looks like
a big fuzz ball with a very bright centre...Good luck to everybody :)
Cheers....Noeleen
This weird comet Holmes is putting on quite a show. It’s low in the
North and reasonably late (around midnite), appears to be growing in size
and with the experts think will be bright for some time. Thanks to Terry Lovejoy
who provides the info below and also his image.
Attached photo is from last night just before midnight. Very bright and image
was made with Canon 350D mounted on tripod with 200mm lens (at f3.5).
Just 1.6 seconds exposure.
Terry
Page 21 of today’s Courier mail has an excellent write up and finder
chart from Christine Mallet
It is well worth visiting the Sky & Telescope site http://www.skyandtelescope.com/
So good viewing and send me some more pics.
Comet Holmes is one of the strangest comets ever seen. At present it is naked
eye in Perseus and visible low in the Northern Sky around 2am. Check out this
site and pics (even one from North Qld) Who knows what it will do in the coming
days.
http://www.spaceweather.com/comets/gallery_holmes_page2.htm?PHPSESSID=3q91sbu3ujles031tsokt80o33
NASA distinguished lecturer talks about Mars rover
Dr Mark Adler of NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory will discuss Exploring Mars:
The Journey of the Mars Exploration Rovers at a free public lecture at Room
T203, Hawken Engineering Building (50) on Wednesday, October 17 at
6pm. The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the UQ School
of Engineering are sponsoring the event. Refreshments provided. All welcome.
For more information, contact mark.bateup@dsto.defence.gov.au or Professor
Michael Smart: m.smart@uq.edu.au.
Due to significant interest, we've had to increase the capacity of the venue
for next week's talk. Details in the attached flier. Please pass on to you
astronomy club members.
* New Venue: Room T203, Hawken Engineering Building (50)
PDF Flyer
'Combined Societies Planetarium Night'
Thursday evening the 13th September at 7.00 p.m.
Digital Universe: "The Solar System and Beyond"
You are invited to come along to the Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium at
Mt Coot-tha Road Toowong, for an exciting journey through the Solar System
and to the limits of the observable universe.
Be immersed in a cosmic journey of incredible scale.
The presentation will utilise the latest in real-time presentation on the
12.5-metre dome. Your tour of the Universe will be using DigitalSky2 from
Sky-Skan and Digital Universe from the American Museum of Natural History's
Hayden Planetarium."
Cost is only $10 per person. Supper will kindly be supplied by club members
from SAS, RAS, SEQAS, BAS & AAQ.
So please come along to view this wonderful presentation, that has been
especially, put on for us by the curator of the Brisbane Planetarium, Mark
Rigby and his assistant Peter Franklin.
Kindest regards
Noeleen
Field Night Sept 20th
Hi allI have organised a field-night for Richlands State School on September
20th.
The school's address is Cnr. Old Progress Rd and Orchard Rd.The double gates
onto the bottom oval are on Orchard Rd, just near before the pine trees.
We expect a crowd of 70+ kids with family, so any one of you with a Blue Card
please come along to make the evening a success.
Thanks in advance Renato
Noleen Lowndes' Total Lunar Eclipse photos:
This eclipse was a bit tricky to capture because of the atmospheric
conditions...notably all the high cirrus cloud soaring across the sky!
But when the moon finally was eclipsed, it went this gorgeous dark burnt
orange colour...and it had this almost 3D appearance in the night sky...very
surreal and stunning.
I used my Canon 350D SLR camera and 8-inch telescope at prime focus with
a
F6.3 focal reducer fitted for the images. The exposure times were:
Partially eclipsed Moon 1/30th sec and ISO 100, Totality exposure 4.5
seconds and ISO 800, Full Moon exposure 1/500th sec and ISO 100.
Gary Gawronski's Total Lunar Eclipse photos.
I suppose you’ll get a million moon pictures now….so did you
want a million and six?!
All shots taken through a C8 at f6.3 with a Nikon D70s at prime focus.
These are the highlights. I had a few drama’s on the night, one being
that I’d never even screwed that camera onto a telescope before shooting
the eclipse. What a slacko!
Greg Bock's panarama of the Total Lunar Eclipse:
Bob Clark's Photo:
Dear Members and friends
For all the people who were unable to attend the AGM on Saturday night, I
would like to inform you that the new committee is now installed for 2007/2008.
Mal Smith is our new president of SAS, Mal has been a long time and valuable
member of our club, I hope he has as much fun being president as I've had.
Other committee members are:
Vice-president: Noeleen Lowndes
Secretary: Phil Pidgeon
Treasure: Brian Pott
Membership Officer: Kevin Dixon
Committee members: Renato Langersek, Noel Burton, Michael Adams, Ray Suckling,
John Connolly.
QLD Astrofest representative: Pat Pearl.
Thank you so very much to Peter Marples who has been vice-president for the
past four years. Peter will still be coming to the committee meetings as he
continues to produce his very informative and excellent e-newsletter 'Event
Horizon' for our club.
Our member of the year for 2007 was awarded to 'Chris Wheeler' our wonderful
librarian for all of his work in revamping the SAS library. 'Congratulations
Chris' your trophy will be waiting for you when you get back from your holidays
in Europe.
On the night I was presented with the most beautiful trophy for being your
president for the past four years. I must say that I was so surprised and
overwhelmed with the thoughtfulness of this award...thank you, I will always
treasure it.
Mark Rigby from the Brisbane planetarium has contacted me to ask for some
numbers for the 'Combined Societies Night' at the Planetarium on THURSDAY
EVENING THE 13TH SEPTEMBER AT 7.00 P.M. Could you please email or ring me
on 0407 126452 to indicate that you'll be coming. The cost is only $10 and
supper will be provided. This should be a very enjoyable evening that has
been put on just for our clubs, so please come along and enjoy the wonderful
celestial presentation. Thank you.
Many kind regards
Noeleen
Spectacular Total Lunar Eclipse - Tuesday the 28th August 2007
This spectacular lunar eclipse will be seen in its entirety on the Gold Coast
and all along the easternmost areas of Australia, and begins at 5.52 p.m.
please find the times below for the different phases for the event.
The last time a total eclipse of the Moon occurred on the Gold Coast, was
on the 16 July 2000 and before that was on the 4th June 1993.
The best places for you to view this wonderful event will be all along the
beachfront or a place that has a clear eastern horizon. This is a safe event
to view with you eyes, (if you have a telescope use it) but a pair of binoculars
will also be of great advantage.
Please enjoy this spectacular celestial event!
Sun sets in west at 5.30 p.m. Moon rises in the East at 5.20 p.m. (eclipse
begins at 5.52 p.m.)
Penumbral eclipse begins (P1) 5:52 p.m.
Partial eclipse begins (U1) 6:50 p.m.
Total eclipse begins (U2) 7:52 p.m.
Greatest (Mid) eclipse 8:37 p.m.
Total eclipse ends (U3) 9:22 p.m.
Partial eclipse ends (U4) 10:23 p.m.
Penumbral eclipse ends (P4) 11:22 p.m.
My photographs from the last Total Eclipse of the Moon
16th – 17th July 2000
Noeleen Lowndes
Monday July 23: Are we alone in the universe? A review of the Drake
Equation
Wilson da Silva
We know the probability of intelligent life in the universe is greater than
zero – after all, we’re here! But is life a rare occurrence in
the cosmos? Is intelligence (and civilisation and technology) just a freak
event, never to be repeated? Or does it happen often enough that the universe
is humming with the chatter of alien civilisations? Science journalist Wilson
da Silva takes a modern look at the Drake Equation, science’s attempt
to determine the number of extraterestrial civilisations out there today.
Wilson da Silva is the Editor-in-Chief of Cosmos, the award-winning science
magazine, and a former reporter for ABC TV’s Quantum. He’s been
editor Newton and 21C, was science editor of ABC Online, and is a former staff
journalist at Reuters, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. The winner of
21 awards – including Editor of the Year (twice in a row) for his work
on Cosmos – he is the past president of the World Federation of Science
Journalists.
Title: Are we alone in the universe? A review of the Drake Equation
Speaker: Wilson da Silva, Editor of Cosmos Magazine
Date: Monday July 23, 2007
Time: 6:30pm to 7:30pm
Venue: Ithaca auditorium, City Hall
Refreshments: There will be complimentary drinks and nibblies following the
talk, and Wilson will be available to answer any questions.
Questions? Contact Joel (0411 267 044 or joel@BrisScience.org).
INVITATION to Astronomy with Professor Fred Watson
“Fred Watson, Astronomer in Charge at the Anglo-Australian Observatory
will once again be giving a lecture at the Queensland Museum on Friday 10th
August 2007.
Currently, the lecture will be held from 4-5pm, with finger food and drinks
being served afterwards with Fred Watson himself”.
Public Lectures National Science Week 2007
Dark Secrets-dark matter, dark energy and dark skies
Date: Friday 10th August 2007
Time: 1st Lecture (specifically for schools) 1-2pm
2nd Lecture (Open to Public) 4.30-5.30pm
Venue: Queensland Museum South Bank Theatre
Cost: FREE
RSVP: ashleigh.cheahlord@qut.edu.au
by Friday 3rd August 2007
Click here for invitation and further
details in PDF format.
Fred Watson will be the honoured guest on Saturday night at QLD
Astrofest 2007. So if you intend to be at Astrofest on the Saturday you
will hear him speak anyway.
Also for those who didn’t realize it you can actually attend Astrofest
on a day pass, you don’t have to stay the night. In the past a number
have come up for the Saturday to have a look at the impressive line up of
equipment.
Free Science Talk by Dr Paul Francis (Mt Stromlo Observatory)
– What we don’t know about comets – Ithaca Auditorium City
Hall Brisbane Monday 25th June 6.30pm to 7.30pm
More details
http://www.brisscience.org/
Combined Societies Meeting' Friday evening the 25th
May 2007
Congratulations to Terry Lovejoy a Queensland amateur astronomer, who discovered
a comet on the 15th March 2007 (Comet Lovejoy) and Terry Cuttle from (SEQAS)
for being the recipients of this years prestigious ‘Discovery/Achievement
Awards’ for 2007.
Many members from each of our clubs enjoyed a great evening of astronomy
and space at the Griffith University at Mt Nathan in Brisbane. Thank you to
each of our members, Peter Marples (SAS) Tim Napier-Munn (AAQ) Eric Rumbo
(BAS), David Durham (BAS) Terry Cuttle (SEQAS) for all your wonderful presentations
on the night.
Thank you also to York Optical in Brisbane http://www.yorkoptical.com.au
for kindly donating a pair of Celestron 10x50 binoculars worth $275, for the
lucky door prize, they were won by Dennis Lowe from SAS. Please find below
some photographs taken on the evening.
Many kind regards
Noeleen Lowndes (President)
SAS member Peter Marples presenting his excellent ‘20 Second Supernova
Search’ presentation.
SEQAS member Terry Cuttle proudly holding his ‘2007 Achievement Award’
‘For his Dedication to Astrophotography of Solar Eclipses, Transits
& Comets’
.
Presidents and representatives from the Astronomical Societies in South East
Queensland, presenting Terry Lovejoy with the prestigious ‘Discovery
Award for 2007’.
(From left) Noeleen Lowndes (SAS), Terry Lovejoy (Comet Lovejoy discoverer)
Ross Spence (RAS), David Durham (BAS), Darren Bennett (SEQAS) Roy Axelsen
(AAQ) Tony Healey (ATMQ).
.
Terry Lovejoy proudly holding his ‘Discovery Award for 2007’.
For the discovery of ‘Comet Lovejoy’ on the 15th March 2007. Officially
named Comet Lovejoy C/2007 E2 http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2007%20E2;orb=1
.
Michael Karban from York Optical in Brisbane presents Dennis Lowe from SAS
with a pair of Celestron 10x50 binoculars, which was kindly donated for the
lucky door prize.
1st INTERNATIONAL SIDEWALK ASTRONOMY NIGHT MAY 19, 2007
We’d like to invite all amateur astronomers to take their telescopes
out to the sidewalk on the evening of May 19th.
We know that many amateurs have commitments with local observatories, planetariums,
libraries, etc on the Saturday evening near first quarter Moon, but if you
can spare some of your members, it would be great if they could find places
where people AREN’T expecting to look through a scope. Most outreach
is focused around people who already know they want to see the night sky,
that’s why they are at an observatory or planetarium, but we need to
expose people who don’t even know yet that they are interested in astronomy.
It is so important that “amateurs take telescopes to the people”
( John Dobson). The truth is most people aren’t at the observatory,
most people are out having dinner, going to the movies, shopping, etc.
Sidewalk Astronomy does not have to be a large, highly coordinated event.
It’s very simple – grab a scope and go stand on the corner, in
front of the movie theater, next to a convenience store, near a subway or
busy bus stop, by a book store – anywhere there are large numbers of
people walking by. One or two scopes at any given location is more than enough.
You all know that you don’t need a huge scope to look at the Moon, so
take your smaller scopes out. Many times, individuals and clubs contact us
asking about how to do sidewalk astronomy. They usually are trying to get
several people out, they want to promote it with local media, they worry about
permits, they want to know what information they should give people –
all kinds of questions. It doesn’t have to be that difficult. Find somewhere
near where you live, grab a scope and go.
We will post on our website who is going out on the night of May 19th. We
don’t need to have an exact location yet, but you do need to send contact
information that you don’t mind being posted on the internet. Later,
when you have exact locations, we will post them, along with minimum times
you expect to be out. If you have the exact location already, that is fine
to.
On the evening of May 19th, we encourage you to take a few photos when it
doesn’t disrupt observing and to try to keep some kind of count of the
number of people that look through your scopes. If you have more than one
scope at a location, please only count the people once. We’d like to
get an idea of how many people we reach.
Afterwards, for those who send us photos and/or summaries of their activity
that night, we will be sending them a founders button of some kind ( I could
use someone to design that….) and we will possibly be putting together
a commemorative booklet of the event for John.
The Odyssey, 23 May to 23 June 2004
Or, How to Drive around Australia (not Cape York or Tasmania sadly) in 32
days!
Yes, we (Gary, John and me) are living proof that it is possible to drive
around Australia in 32 days or, to be really accurate, 25 days of actual driving
as we did have seven days when we were doing other things. We travelled nearly
18,200kms and averaged just over 726kms per day (over the 25 days) with our
longest drive being nearly 1100kms from Undara to Mount Isa. We often set
off between 3-3.30am to give us a good head start with the distances we had
to travel. Why did we do this? Other than the fact that we are completely
mad, principally it was to see the very rare transit of Venus which had the
longest view from the west coast. Gary thought that if we were going half
way round Australia then perhaps we should continue the rest of the way and
be done with it!
Sun 23 May Jimboomba to Mackay: We set off from Gary’s place at 3am.
We had around 970kms to travel to Mackay. This was just a driving day. I hadn’t
been north of Noosa on the coast road so it was all new to me. We had a bit
of rain on and off during the day. Our evening’s slumber was rudely
disturbed when an alarm clock in the neighbouring cabin went off at midnight!
Well Gary certainly solved that little problem by going around and disabling
the power to the cabin. I wonder how long it took them to figure that out?
Mon 24 May Mackay to Undara: Another 3am start as we had another long drive
ahead to our destination of the Lava Tubes at Undara (inland from Cairns).
From Townsville we took the Hervey Range Road which enabled us to bypass Charters
Towers and was a shortcut up to Undara. From the top of the Range we were
able to look down on old disused runways from WW2 days. We also saw our first
piece of mega machinery when we passed a big flat bed truck with an enormous
cog wheel on it. From the look and size of it, it would be mining equipment
heading for the Mt Garnet mine. At Undara we stayed in a permanent tent which
was a very generous sized elevated canvas construction.
Tue 25 May Undara: We had a full day tour starting with a walk around the
rim of Kalkani Crater (we saw a Striated Pardalote (a little bird) or as Gary
preferred to call it a ‘strangulated cantaloupe’) and then we
were escorted into five of the lava tubes. It was a very interesting tour
and Joe, our knowledgeable guide, showed how volcanoes have shaped much of
the geology in that northern region of Queensland. We saw our first live snake
that night. It was about eight inches long and it was crossing a path in front
of me. I called John and Gary over and they came with cameras and video camera.
It was a feisty little thing and would rear up as the boys were trying to
stop it heading into the grass when they wanted good close up photos of it.
Wed 26 May Undara to Mount Isa via Normanton and Karumba: Our longest driving
day of the expedition. We set off at 3am to head west towards Normanton. When
refuelling at Croydon (about four hours later) the boys nearly fainted because
the diesel was $1.07 a litre! Little did we appreciate how shortly we would
view that as a reasonable price. From Croydon we headed to Normanton and then
on north to Karumba on the Gulf of Carpentaria. We have a photo of Gary standing
in knee high water near a sign warning of crocodiles in the area! Back in
Normanton we took photos of Krys the Crocodile, a life size replica of the
largest crocodile ever caught in Queensland. He was shot back in 1959. He
measures nearly 9m in length and needless to say all his other measurements
were equally impressive. From there we headed south down the Matilda Highway
towards Cloncurry. It was a very hot day of travelling through real outback
country. There was literally nothing to be seen (other than grass) from horizon
to horizon. This was the way Burke and Wills went on their ill-fated journey.
As we got near Cloncurry the thunderstorm we had seen brewing decided to try
to drown us. It failed! After arriving at Cloncurry we turned west for the
final 100kms to Mount Isa.
Thu 27 May Mount Isa: A rainy day, so perfect for doing an underground tour
of a section of the famous Mount Isa mine. The tour is run by ex-Miners and
we had to don safety overalls, helmets, gumboots and headlamps. A most fascinating
tour and we got to try some real mining equipment. At one point, following
a warning, we were plunged into complete darkness. It was an extraordinary
sensation with absolutely no perception of any light whatsoever.
Fri 28 May Mount Isa to Renner Springs: This was principally a driving day.
Again we headed west towards the Northern Territory border and then on into
infinity or so it seemed! We stopped at the Barkly Homestead Roadhouse; an
oasis in the midst of thousands of hectares of grass, scrub and red earth.
Here we met Psycho Cocky, the most bitter and twisted excuse for avian life
you have ever seen. There was a big notice on the outside of the aviary saying
to keep fingers out. He would come to the edge of the wire, looking very cute
and then he would just launch himself at you, like a maniac! We headed west
again and when we got to the Stuart Highway intersection (Alice Springs to
the left, Darwin to the right) we headed right and stopped to refuel at the
Three Ways Roadhouse. After the cheap prices back in Mount Isa, the boys needed
CPR when the diesel price was $1.27! Not only was it expensive but the pump
wasn’t even functioning correctly. On we went to the little town of
Renner Springs for a welcome place to rest our weary heads. Quite a cool and
rainy day.
Sat 29 May Renner Springs to Katherine Gorge: A very early start to the day
especially as I forgot to adjust my alarm clock back for the 30mins difference
in time zones. So when I leapt out of bed it was actually 2.30am not 3am.
When I realised what had happened I thought it was hysterically funny (me
being a morning person) however John and Gary where not quite so thrilled!
We drove off north into the blackness through intermittent rain. The boys
were desperate for breakfast but we didn’t find any places open until
we got to Katherine around 9am. It was a short drive to the Gorge where we
were camping for the night. We had a half day tour of the Gorge. What a magnificent
area it is. Most impressive flood markers at 21metres!
Sun 30 May Katherine Gorge to Darwin via Litchfield National Park: A more
leisurely start to the day with breaking down the tent and then heading back
to Katherine for breakfast. Then, heading north again, we set our course for
Darwin. We headed west when we saw signs indicating Litchfield National Park.
We climbed around waterfalls (one with a warning about crocodiles!), the boys
took some great photos and video, and we had another encounter with a snake.
This one was big and nasty and actually reared up to strike towards the car!
We got to our accommodation about 7pm and then headed in to have a look at
the city of Darwin and have a nice dinner.
Mon 31 May Darwin to Katherine via Kakadu: Temperature wise we were very
lucky as Darwin was in the grip of a 60 year cold snap. The locals were all
moaning and wearing big overcoats while we were saying how pleasant it was.
We started off the day by heading towards Kakadu National Park and we stopped
at the Adelaide River to go on a ‘Jumping Crocodile’ cruise. They
get them to jump out of the water because a staff member on the boat dangles
huge pork chops over the side and by flapping them up and down on the surface
of the water the crocodiles will come and try to get them. It is astonishing
to watch these massive animals launching themselves out of the water. It is
estimated that along the stretch of river there are about 6,000 crocodiles.
We headed towards Kakadu but when we realised it was going to cost us nearly
$50 just to drive through the Park gates, we decided to head back the way
we came and go straight to Katherine so we would have a shorter drive to Kununurra.
Tue 1-Jun Katherine to Kununurra: Another early start as we headed west to
Western Australia. Yet more astonishing scenery which would have a very interesting
geological history I am sure. We stopped at the Victoria River Roadhouse for
a yummy breakfast. We nearly got up close and personal with a bustard (Gary’s
arch nemesis in the bird world) which slowly took off in front of us from
where it had been standing in the middle of the road! We started to see lots
of huge bottle trees and we went off road to get a picture of us and the car
in front of a big one. When we got to the NT/WA border we went through a Quarantine
stop where the car was inspected to ensure we didn’t have prohibited
items like fruit and vegetables. As if!!!!!
Wed 2 Jun Kununurra: An action packed day of a different nature. We were
collected from our accommodation and driven to Lake Kununurra where we boarded
a float plane (Alligator Airways) for a two hour flight from Lake Kununurra,
over Lake Argyle (the artificial lake created for the Ord River Development
Scheme) and continuing down to the Bungle Bungles before heading back over
the Lake Argyle Diamond mine and then landing on Lake Argyle for a hearty
breakfast. After breakfast we were collected and taken for a two hour boat
cruise (complete with expert commentary) on Lake Argyle. The estimated number
of crocodiles is 60,000. I’m glad none of us fell overboard! That was
followed by lunch and then onto another boat for a two hour trip (another
expert commentary) down the Ord River (lots of freshwater crocodiles inhabit
this area but they prefer eating dragonflies to people!) to Lake Kununurra
again and back to our accommodation.
Thu 3 Jun Kununurra to Halls Creek (China Wall and Wolfe Creek Meteor Crater):
Back to our early starts as, like thieves in the night, we slipped away and
headed west towards Wyndham and then south to Halls Creek. What a poor sad
town (razor wire, armour-plating everywhere) and the native inhabitants were
very sad specimens indeed. After a brief stop to find our accommodation we
headed off to see China Wall, a very little version produced by nature rather
than a billion Chinese slaves. From there we headed to the Tanami Road (which,
if you continue for 1068kms, goes to Alice Springs) to see Wolfe Creek Meteor
Crater (nearly a kilometre across and 305,000 years old), a must see for all
astronomers. It is Australia’s version of Meteor Crater in the USA (about
25,000 years old). It is a return trip of around 300kms over wildly varying
road conditions. I expected to see it looming out of the distance but we were
almost there before a slight rise indicated where it was. Far from it being
only us there, I was surprised to see six other vehicles. John and Gary climbed
down the ‘Go down here at your own Peril’ path and walked about
half way across the crater and then turned left and walked up and out again
about a quarter of the way around. I amused myself by watching a groovy little
orange coloured spiny lizard. What a shockingly harsh environment for the
poor little sod to survive in!
Fri 4 Jun Halls Creek to Broome via Derby and the Prison Tree: Off again
early, our next major town was Fitzroy Crossing also a rather sad town. On
the way to Derby we stopped at the Prison Tree. The tree is believed to be
around 1,500 years old and has a girth of 14.7 metres. This remarkable boab
tree was used by the early police patrols as an overnight lock-up. The prison
tree dates back to the 1890s. To keep unwanted members of the public away
from the tree, they have very cunningly erected a sign which says that snakes
inhabit the tree, which is my idea of a natural deterrent! We headed on to
Derby for a look around. It is a very nice little town and very different
from Halls Creek and Fitzroy Crossing. Derby has the biggest extremes of tidal
heights with variations of up to 11.3 metres. We tried to get a plane tour
up to the horizontal waterfall but sadly were about half an hour late. From
there we headed to Broome and just out of town we came across our first accident
where a caravan had decided to go in a different direction than the car towing
it.
Sat 5 Jun Broome to Karratha: This was principally a driving day that was
one of our longest and hottest. We moved out of the hot humid tropical zone
into the hot un-humid zone as we skirted the Great Sandy Desert. The boys
had a $12.50 burger at the Sandfire Roadhouse out in the middle of nowhere!
Evidence of the inundation from the March cyclone was very evident with huge
chunks of road completely washed away. Very evident too were the iron ore
origins of the area. Sturt Desert Peas were growing on the sides of the road!
Sun 6 Jun Karratha to Exmouth: The final leg of the journey to reach our
destination for the Transit. The boys enjoyed a $10.50 burger at the Nanutarra
Roadhouse also in the middle of nowhere! The weather was gloriously fine with
bright blue skies and there were four emus wandering about on the lawn at
our accommodation looking like they owned the place. We met up with Tony,
Anne-Louise and Rigil Surma-Hawes (from BAS) who had flown to Perth and then
motor-homed up the coast.
Mon 7 Jun Exmouth: A rest day at long last. Gary spent the day swimming with
the whale sharks. He was knackered and sunburnt by the end of it, but had
a wonderful time. John and I joined Tony, Anne-Louise and Rigil in the motor-home
and trundled around town, did some shopping and purchased some real food and
then checked out places to view the transit.
Tue 8 Jun Transit: We awoke to a windy but fine day. We set up the binoculars,
cameras and video cameras near the Vlamingh Head Lighthouse. We had an horizon
of approximately 240degrees and we watched whales moving up the coast and
coming around the point. Nearby were the huge antennas (100m high!) of the
secret US Communications Station at North West Cape. The transit started at
1.10pm and our last view was at 5.30pm as the sun disappeared below our western
horizon. Much to the chagrin of our fellow astronomers who thought we were
insane to travel so far, most of them saw very little or nothing through the
clouds and rain that hung around the east coast. We ended the day very satisfied
with our experience but absolutely exhausted and wishing we had included a
rest day.
Wed 9 Jun Exmouth to Monkey Mia via Carnarvon: We dragged our sorry carcasses
to the car for a ‘not too early’ start. While principally a driving
day we decided to take a break and walk along the Mile Long Jetty at Carnarvon.
It was the oldest, most rickety thing you have ever seen and more amazing
is the fact that a small train still trundles back and forth along it as a
tourist attraction! By the time we got to Monkey Mia (late that afternoon)
we were way too late for the dolphin feeding which is 9am each morning. Gary
kept asking where the monkeys were!
Thu 10 Jun Monkey Mia to Perth via the Pinnacles: An early start with a long
drive ahead of us. We were definitely heading towards civilization as traffic
and rural properties started coming closer together. We turned off Highway
1 to divert to the coast where the Pinnacles are situated. It was a much longer
detour than any of us had realised. After paying to enter the National Park
we drove round the prescribed path and marvelled at the thousands of obelisks
(big, small, round, pointy, rough and smooth) that the area is named for.
Then it was back onto Highway 1 and the drive to Perth. Our drive ended in
heavy rain.
Fri 11 Jun Perth to Albany via Cape Naturaliste, Cape Leeuwin and Pemberton:
It was still raining as we headed out in the morning to head for the Capes.
It was very cold and blowing a gale but the rain had stopped by the time we
got to the lighthouse at Cape Naturaliste. We enjoyed a guided tour to the
top of the lighthouse (about 70 steps). Then we followed the tourist drive
round to Cape Leeuwin where the Indian and Southern Oceans meet. The tourist
drive passed numerous boutique wineries, cheese makers and signs indicating
caves to be explored but unfortunately we were too pressed for time to be
able to go in. Still very cold and blowing a gale we enjoyed a guided tour
up there too although the 180 steps to the top were definitely more exhausting!
From there we headed to Pemberton, the home of the Gloucester Tree where you
can climb up to the ‘old fire lookout cabin’ 58m above the ground.
We enjoyed the novel experience of having incredibly tame ringneck parrots
and western rosellas calmly fly onto our heads. John and Gary also shared
the novel experience of having said parrots slip down their follicly-challenged
heads and then dig their claws in to stop the inevitable slide! We left there
for the long drive on to Albany and our beds for the night.
Sat 12 Jun Albany to Esperance via Wave Rock (Hyden):
Off early again, we went into town first to take pictures of Dog Rock (a natural
rock formation) before we headed off north up small country roads towards
the small town of Hyden where Wave Rock is situated. What an amazing sight.
It looks like a huge wave carved in rock (surprise, surprise). We climbed
to the top and were buffeted by the strong winds. Thankfully the rain had
left us. We also checked out another rock formation in the area called the
Hippo’s Mouth. Then we were off through hectares of flat agricultural
land towards Esperance. We marvelled at the many place names in WA which end
in ‘up’ and made up our own versions like “Filler’up,
Wakem’up and Giddy’up! Once we got to Esperance we did another
long walk along the jetty there as we waited for our Chinese takeaways. We
looked for Sammy the Seal only to discover he was a statue and not real as
we had believed. It was another very cold and windy night.
Sun 13 Jun Esperance to Cocklebiddy: We headed 204kms north up to Norseman
(the name of the horse which uncovered a gold nugget in the area with a resulting
gold rush) before hanging a right and heading east along the Nullarbor Plain.
There were plenty of trees and shrubs all across the Nullarbor. The ‘no
tree’ thing is definitely untrue these days. We took photos at the start
of the longest straight in Australia; it was 149kms before there was a slight
bend. Balladonia Roadhouse about 190kms east was the town near where SkyLab
crashed back in the 70s. The fuel there was a heart stopping $1.38 per litre.
Another 244kms saw us at Cocklebiddy. We set off for the Cocklebiddy caves
where the boys went climbing down into a vast hole in the middle of nowhere.
I climbed part of the way down and they just about disappeared in the inky
blackness. Our only companions were hundreds of little swallows. The ever
darkening sky saw them climb back up and we watched the sun set. Back at the
Wedgetail Inn we enjoyed a hearty country dinner.
Mon 14 Jun Cocklebiddy to Ceduna via the Great Australian Bight: Back to
a super early start as we wanted plenty of time to view the lookouts along
the Great Australian Bight. What an awe inspiring piece of coastline it is!
Some of the lookouts were fairly ordinary but the few in the middle were spectacular.
The boys particularly enjoyed walking near the edges where there were signs
which warned that it was unstable! We dragged ourselves away eventually and
kept on heading west. More heart stopping fuel prices along the way and at
the Nullarbor Roadhouse we were astonished to find the ice-cream cabinet placed
behind the counter! Freaks!! Just before Ceduna we had to go through another
Quarantine station. It was cold and wet as we walked along the jetty at Ceduna.
Tue 15 Jun Ceduna to Tailem Bend: Gary had a terrible start to the day when
he discovered one of his thongs was missing! Where would he be able to purchase
another pair in the middle of winter? We were back in familiar territory now
having returned home this way after our trip to Ceduna for the Solar Eclipse
in December 2002. This time we didn’t get lost going through Adelaide
and we spent the night looking over the start of the Murray River.
Wed 16 Jun Tailem Bend to Peterborough: Gary’s quest to buy new thongs
bore no fruit this day as he tried shop after shop, in town after town, along
our route. Most understandable were the looks of “Are you insane?”
on the faces of the shop assistants. A familiar stop was the BP Roadhouse
at Kingston S.E. The boys still remembered the fantastic food they had there
previously and they ate heartily again this time. Further on we were finally
able to close a chapter on visiting the Tantanoola Cave that we had been forced
to drive by on our earlier trip. It was a most glorious limestone cave and
absolutely spectacular.
Thu 17 Jun Peterborough: Another cold start to the day as we headed out to
the Twelve Apostles so the boys could take photos at sunrise. Then we headed
off for our 45min Helicopter tour of the Great Ocean Road. It was a wonderful,
if expensive, way to seeing the whole region. We could only marvel at the
power of Mother Nature as we saw how the entire coastline has been worn away
by the power of the southern ocean. We filled in the day by visiting Loch
Ard Gorge, London Bridge, Razorback and the other scenic lookouts. Our evening
finished on a high as we saw “rafts” of penguins (a technical
term which describes how they group together) coming back to shore after their
day spent feeding out at sea.
Fri 18 Jun Peterborough to Cowes via Melbourne Planetarium and Penguin Parade:
Another early, cold and wet start. We got to the Planetarium early but found
it full of schoolkids so we decided to forgo it and head towards Cowes. On
our way through Dandenong we stopped and went to the movies to see Shrek 2.
We identified very closely with Shrek, Fiona and Donkey’s journey to
the Kingdom of Far, Far Away! Once we got to Cowes we headed to Penguin Parade
where you can view the penguins returning from their day out at sea. The viewing
area is accessed by extensive boardwalks where you can then follow the penguins
returning to their burrows all around the area.
Sat 19 Jun Cowes to Nowra: Principally a driving day as we headed towards
the Blue Mountains. We made good progress around the southern coastal road
then headed up through the dairy and cheese country towns of Bega and Bodalla
to Nowra.
Sun 20 Jun Nowra to Katoomba: Leaving the coast road we headed cross country
up through the hills. We stopped at Fitzroy Falls where it was cold and frosty
but spectacular. It was then on to the Blue Mountains. We saw our second accident
when we passed a nose to tail coming together of four cars out on a Sunday
drive. Activity ensued when we went climbing down to see Wentworth Falls.
It was very hard going but the boys went the whole way! We enjoyed a delicious
Mexican dinner at Casa Juanita in Wentworth Falls that night.
Mon 21 Jun Katoomba: The rain had left us and we got snow instead. On our
way to the Jenolan Caves we passed patches of snow on the roadside. We enjoyed
more activity when we took a cave tour comprising nearly 1000 steps. The limestone
caves had amazing formations in them with names like shawls, the wedding cake
and the cathedral. On our way home we stopped at a patch of snow and the boys
built a little snowman. They then filmed the car running over it!
Tue 22 Jun Katoomba to Coffs Harbour: Another driving day as we set off back
down the mountain and headed into Sydney morning commuter traffic. It took
us two hours to get to the freeway and we didn’t go anywhere near the
city. It was an easy drive to Coffs Harbour even though there were extensive
road works all the way. Once at Coffs Harbour we climbed Muttonbird Island
and when returning to the car we bought fish and chips for dinner and some
gourmet ice-cream for desert.
Wed 23 Jun Coffs Harbour to Mudgeeraba: Finally here it was; our last day
on the road. A later start than usual as we headed off north. We had a good
breakfast at Grafton and went through yet more road works until we literally
reached home. We drove up the drive at about 11am. The Odyssey, 32 days of
the most amazing experiences and sights, was now at an end. We were all tired
but invigorated by our adventure. So many people say they want to drive around
Australia but never do. We can now mark it off our ‘list of things to
do’ and put it on our ‘list of things to do again but differently’.
A few more rest days wouldn’t go amiss! We had such a fantastic time
we would all have happily set out immediately and done it all again.
Addendum
On Sunday, 15 May 2005, we got together again for another war council to
plan the “Up the Back Passage Tour’ of May/June 2008 or 2009.
This is a half-Australia trip where we go down to Dubbo, Broken Hill, Coober
Pedy and then up the middle via Lambert Centre and Chambers Pillar, Ayers
Rock, Alice Springs, Wycliffe Well (near the Devil’s Marbles) and Katherine
before a detour west to Kununurra in WA where Gary and John will be able to
fulfil their dream of a three day canoeing adventure down the Ord River from
Lake Argyle to Kununurra. The following day, as long as the freshwater crocodiles
haven’t turned nasty, we will be exploring Echidna Chasm and Cathedral
Gorge in the Bungle Bungles. From there it is back east to Daly Waters, Camooweal,
Lawn Hill National Park and back home via Cairns and Mackay.
18TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON GENERAL RELATIVITY AND GRAVITATION
AND
THE 7TH EDOARDO AMALDI CONFERENCE ON GRAVITATIONAL WAVES
8 - 14 JULY 2007
Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
http://www.grg18.com
http://www.Amaldi7.com
Joining forces in Sydney in 2007 these conferences will bring together
the world's leading scientists working in the fields of General
Relativity and Gravitation.
The program for GRG18 will incorporate all areas of General Relativity
and Gravitation including Classical General Relativity; Relativistic
Astrophysics and Cosmology; Experimental Work on Gravity and Quantum
Issues in Gravitation. The Amaldi 7 program will cover all aspects of
Gravitational Wave Physics and Detection.
Sydney is situated on one of the world's most beautiful and famous
harbours. Renowned for its iconic landmarks, the Sydney Opera House and
Harbour Bridge, Sydney boasts many attractions including stunning
beaches, fantastic shops and restaurants.
The conference will be held at Darling Harbour located within walking
distance of the heart of the city. It is one of Sydney's most exciting
tourist precincts offering waterfront restaurants and cafes, beautiful
gardens and a range of exciting attractions.
To find out more about GRG18 or Amaldi7, please register your interest
now at www.grg18.com or www.Amaldi7.com
COMET
MCNAUGHT
Comet McNaught's orbit 7pm January 18th facing SW
(From Starry Night Pro Plus 5) Click image to enlarge.
All images below were taken by SAS members except where noted
Terry Cuttle - AAQ
Michael Scotson – SEQAS
and are copyright, and are loosely in reverse chronological
order
Coments below are emails from Peter Marples unless otherwise stated, and refer
the to the photos as marked..
Down to batch B photos
Down to batch C photos
PHOTO BATCH A BELOW:
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1) Image by Renato Langersek |
2) Image by Renato Langersek |
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3) Image by Brendon Downs |
4) Image by Terry Lovejoy |
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5) Image by Phil Pidgeon |
6) Image by Chris Wheeler |
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7) Image by Noeleen Lowndes |
|
Image 1, 2, 3, 4
Our members & friends continue to document this unprecedented major astronomical
event with fine images under moonlight and to make them available for the
enjoyment of our membership & friends through this list.
I have much pleasure in sending you the images submitted from last night by
Renato Langersek, Brendan Downs and Terry Lovejoy.
Image 5, 6, 7
Shame about the weather, here are a couple of nice pics of Comet McNaught
The first was taken by Phil Pidgeon of the comet over Bunkers Hill near Toowooomba
on Friday 19th Jan with a Canon 400D
The next is a pretty one from Chris Wheeler on Sunday Night 21st Jan over
Shailer Park
The last one a bright comet from Noeleen Lowndes taken on the 22nd January
from the Gold Coast
Up to batch A photos
Down to batch C photos
PHOTO BATCH B BELOW:
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1) Chicken McNaughts |
2) Image by Roy Duncan |
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3) Image by Andrew Durick |
4) Image by Andrew Durick |
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5) Image by Alan Gould |
6) Image by Alan Gould |
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7) Image by Michael Scotson |
8) Image by Michael Scotson |
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9) Image by David Rigley |
10) Winning Image by Peter Marples |
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11) Image by Brendon Downs |
12) Image by Brendon Downs |
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13) Image by Noeleen Lowndes |
14) Image by Noeleen Lowndes |
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15) Image by Emanuel Conomos |
16) Image by Greg Bock |
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17) Emanual, Graham, Julian, Pat, Peter & Ray |
18) Image by Terry Cuttle |
Image 1, 2, 3, 4)
Hi all, now this is interesting,
On Tuesday I reported that both myself and Noeleen thought the comet nucleus
seemed brighter on Monday evening than on Sunday, we were both very sure of
this despite the obvious situation of the comet moving a bit higher into the
sky. So the question was asked is it actually brighter than it should be.
Now it seems to be without doubt that Noeleen’s, mine as well as Colin’s
observation (unknown to us at the time) seem to be in agreement (in so far
as it was brighter) with people taking more serious estimates. So despite
the Moon please keep watching the comet as who knows what could happen –
see notes below.
There are also some nice pics attached here.
Chicken McNaughts sent in by Osamu Yamashita – now Mr Mcnaught is really
famous when you get this sort of stuff.
Roy Duncan – a nice pic from his driveway at 17 Mile Rocks –
18TH Jan 400ASA film & 200mm lens and canon SLR on tripod
Andrew Durick – pics taken over the weekend (Canon 400D I think) from
Casino in NSW one in monochrome is effective
Thanks
Peter
From Colin
“This just came through.
Andrew’s latest magnitude estimate has the comet holding its brightness!
Read the last sentence of his comments.
Something may be happening at the nucleus……it should be fading,
and between 1st and 2nd mag by now”
Andrew Pearce C/2006P1
2007 Jan. 24.53 UT: m1=-0.3, Dia.=3.5', DC=9...naked eye...Andrew Pearce
(City Beach, Western Australia)[Coma diameter meaurement made with 20x80B.
Despite the Moon clearly having an effect on the brightness of the sky background,
the southern component of the tail still remains relatively easy to see and
in fact can be traced as far as a position close to Gamma Tuc. The total length
of this component is 26 deg. The southern component of the tail is the more
strongly defined with the PA of the tail southern component at the coma being
160 deg. Within 3-5 deg of the coma, the comet now has a somewhat unusual
appearance of a bright tail (southern component) and a distinct wide fan which
has a leading edge in PA 100 deg. In effect it appears as a 'tail within a
tail'. The northern component has a distinct and well defined edge at PA 100
deg despite the much fainter surface brightness compared to the southern component.
The northern component is suffering the most from the brighter background
sky and in fact could not be traced any further northward than a line running
from the comet out through the stars Alpha and Beta Grus. This northern fan
is distinctly fainter than the southern tail component. Magnitude estimate
corrected for extinction as per the ICQ table as have all observations reported
so far been so corrected. No distinct fading has occured over the past 2 days
and there is a high degree of confidence in this total magnitude estimate.]
Regards
Andrew Pearce
Western Australia
Image 5, 6, 7, 8)
Some interesting shots indeed. I have not seen a negative done yet of McNaught
and this certainly brings out some detail.
ALL images taken with cameras sitting on fence posts!
On Saturday night while we were at the “hill” Alan Gould stayed
back at the Leyburn campsite and took this wonderful image and negative.
Details
McNaught: single 2 min exposure at 400ISO with Canon 350D on a Fence Post
as I had no tripod. Camera exposure started with hand-held IR device. Processed
in Picture Window Pro 3.5
The youngest person to send me his images is Michael Scotson at 16 years
old. Michael is a member of SEQAS and the youngest & keenest amateur astronomer
I have met in a long time & am proud to present his images from pretty
much typical Brisbane skies.
Details
He used plain old film
The attached images were taken from the crematorium (!!) at albany creek,
with around 1 second exposure time ISO400 F:2. With a pentax K1000 50mm lens.
Sitting on a Fence post.
Image 9 & 10)
As I suspected Comet images being sent to me have now slowed. I have attached
a nice pic from David Rigley from Saturday night at Leyburn. The streak is
probably a plane.
Many have asked where are my images? So I have attached my only comet image
taken with a Cananon 349C facing North, exposure taken on 24th December I
think it’s one of the better ones as you can see the tail very clearly!
The comet continues to put on a fine show and I highly recommend visiting
spaceweather.com if you have not already as there are many very stunning and
beautiful images from all over the world.
The apparent brightening I noted yesterday is most probably just due to the
comet rising higher into the darker part of the sky, unless something happens
with the nucleus (i.e a major outgassing) so it is still well worth watching
as Comets are unpredictable.
The media have finally started to run with this and Noeleen is getting heaps
of calls from Newspapers, TV, Radio etc, lets use this to our advantage in
getting the message of obtrusive lighting – light pollution across.
If we want our kids and theirs to see wonderful celestial sights with their
own eyes from our suburbs (ie the Milky Way) then people need to know that
floodlighting chimney stacks from below with massive overkill, advertising
billboards overlit from below, highway / street lighting that are not shielded,
all send massive amounts of light skyward and cause those halos we see over
our cities and towns and is taking the natural night sky away from everyone.
It is costly (waste coal, electricity), can be unsafe (glare while driving),
it changes the day/night cycle of many animals (I am told bats & many
birds etc), it is plain ugly, it is pollution.
I would like to thank all those who submitted their pics so that everyone
on the list could share in them. Many are now on the SAS webpage as a mark
of respect to your fine efforts. We are getting emails from parts of the world
congratulating you also.
Image 11 & 12)
Here are some images from Brendan Downs taken from a lookout near Ipswich
(not that far from Brisbane for those who don’t know) They give some
idea of how lovely this comet is being seen by many people. I love astro pics
that show people, trees etc in them – they give the viewer another dimension
to this historical event. If you took your first image or have pics of the
comet that are not in the mainstream or simply a story of how you saw the
comet please send to me and will let others know.
Had a quick look last night in between clouds and the comet looks brighter
and the tail longer – very easy naked eye from the suburbs. Noeleen
also reports the comet looking brighter – Colin & Terry what’s
going on, is this correct? Will advise when I get the people in the know response.
Image 13 & 14)
Noeleens words are spot on….
“The other picture shows us looking at the spectacle and how large this
event really was as compared to us trying to capture it with our camera”
Image 15, 16, 17, 18)
Emanuel Conomos took his first Astrophoto (he tells me he is 60 years old
– but I don’t believe him he looks much younger!) – look
at the results! CONGRATS Emanuel its just been sent to 130 readers!
There is a panorama courtesy Greg Bock of the hill I affectionately called
Comet McNaught Hill from Saturday night
A pic of (a young) Emanuel Conomos to the left, Graham Lowndes (Graham really
got into the spirit and excitement of this event and is now a firm believe)
in the background, Julian West opening a superb bottle of red, Pat Pearl waiting
to get stuck into the port, and Me strangling Ray Suckling – why? Comet
madness I thinks
An awe inspiring pic from Terry Cuttle from the AAQ taken last night from
North of Brisbane
Up to batch A photos
Up to batch B photos
PHOTO BATCH C BELOW:
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1) Image by Gary Gawronski
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2) Bob, Gary, Lindsay, Colin.
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3) Image by Renato Langersek
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4) Image by Greg Bock
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5) Image by Noeleen Lowndes
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6) Image by Noeleen Lowndes
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7) Image by Osamu Yamashita
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8) Image by Osamu Yamashita
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9) Image by Greg Bock
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10) Image by Greg Bock
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11) Image by Greg Bock
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12) Image by Greg Bock |
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13) Image by Renato Langersek
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14) Image by Gary Gawronski
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15) Image by Noeleen Lowndes
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16) Image by Phil Pidgeon
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17) Image by Andrew Durick
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18) Image by Mike Adams
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19) Image by Renato Langersek
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20) Image by Zac Pujic
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21) Image by Greg Bock
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22) Image by Osamu Yamashita
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23) Image by Phil Pidgeon
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24) Image by Phil Pidgeon
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Image 1 & 2)
Just in from Gary Gawronki from last night – they are very nice indeed,
what a great idea.
In the pic are Gary, Colin Drescher, Bob and Lindsay. Terry Lovejoy took the
pic
Image 3, 4, 5, 6)
The pic from Renato of the comet over Brisbane is absolutely sensational what
do you think?
Noeleeen’s beautiful images are also attached – sorry I had to
reduce their size dramatically.
And Bockies under trying conditions last night at Tamborine – but what
an amazing pic!
Have received to questions, the first was from Zac Pujic asking if Comet
McNaught was really that much better than Comet Hyukutake in 1996?
Myself, Zac, Ray Suckling, Colin Drescher, Kevin Dixon and Greg Bock (and
from memory I think John & Dianne Hughes? Brendan Downs, John Connolly,
Pam Taylor and Mark Bolton) saw the brilliant Comet Hyakutake from a dark
sky near Maroon Dam. But I understand and respect Zac’s questioning
here as he is a long time highly accomplished observer with many, many observational
and imaging achievements under his belt but unfortunately he hasn’t
seen McNaught from a dark sky. So sorry Zac, until last Friday Comet Hyakutake
(with its searchlight tail soaring and bending many degrees into the sky,
looking very much like the Arabic swords in the sky that seemed to herald
plagues and war) was the most spectacular comet I had ever seen. And sorry
to you Comet Hyakutake your place has been filled by Comet McNaught but your
memory will not fade either. I will now remember Comet McNaught looking like
pictures I have seen of the Old Faithful geyser in the USA or maybe more appropriately
as the blow hole at Kiama on the NSW south coast shooting up high into the
sky with its spray fanning out into the distance.
There really is a huge difference between Hyakutake and McNaught from a dark
sky, and while time may have eroded somethings and increased my waistline
it has not eroded my memory of that wonderful comet at all.
How great is Comet McNaught? The Northern hemisphere thought the show was
all over a week ago as the comet headed South into our skies and now the huge
tail extends well into their Northern skies, I think we win again!
When I saw Halley’s Comet in 1985 & 1986, I saw it from a great
height as Terry Lovejoy and I were contracted by TAA airlines to be the flight
astronomers to point Halley’s out to the passengers. Halley also looked
very nice but at different times to what I think many expected and absolutely
nothing as spectacular as Hyakutake or McNaught.
I also saw Hale Bopp though it was long past its Northern hemisphere glory.
So two spectacular comets in my lifetime AND Halley’s Comet (as well
as Hale Bopp) - more than most dedicated comet viewers can dream of.
I have also been asked how long we will be able to see Comet McNaught. I
will get a detailed response from Colin Drescher on this but in the short
term the Moon is now the issue and this will make the extended tail difficult
to see naked eye, but who knows what to expect in 2 weeks as the Comet (though
fading) moves higher and into darker skies, as we have seen they are unpredictable.
If I were Rob Mcnaught I would be getting say a 1000 numbered memorial prints
framed, autographed and flogged off at $500 a pop (hey cricketers do it),
he could use the proceeds to fund any number astro projects or simply have
the reward he justly deserves! But having met Rob McNaught first at Mt Kaputar
in 1987, then again at Astrofest in 1990 something, all I can say is that
he seems to be a quiet man who lives and breathes this wonderful science and
hobby – in fact Colin tells me he only needs one more comet to have
the most comets bearing his name!
So now I have 2 problems for my Supernova search – the Moon and all
this bloomin’ comet dust – had to clean my corrector plate when
we got back from Leyburn!!
Image 7 & 8)
A picture is worth a 1000 words………. Lovely pics taken last
night from Mt Tamborine by Osamu & Miyoko who are calling it Comet Mc
WOOOOOOW and I agree!
Imaged with - Camera Nikon D70 / Nikkor 50mm F1,2
I have just seen some of Phil Pidgeon’s from Friday night that he took
from near Toowoomba and they are very, very beautiful images, as soon as I
get these and Noeleen’s I will pass them on. Please remember all images
I send out are copyright to their owners. Also remember due to the sizes of
the images I mostly have to reduce them down.
Phil Pidgeon and I saw the comet very easily naked eye tonight from his backyard
at Forestdale. The comet was about the same height as Venus and about 2 hand
widths (little finger to thumb) to the left of Venus, we found it naked eye
at about 7.30pm. We also saw several shafts of light up to about 20 degrees
in 7x50 binoculars in between cloud. Greg Bock took his boys to Mt Tamborine
where they could see the comet and geyser like tail very easily naked eye,
so hope this helps those who have not seen it to locate it tomorrow.
The Moon will soon start to interfere with images and naked eye views so
bear this in mind.
Image 9, 10, 11, 12)
Just got back from a wonderful weekend at Leyburn.
On Friday night we watched in amazement as Comet McNaught set along the Leyburn
tree tops at first we thought the show was over – but no it had just
begun. For the next hour we watched in amazement as the tail of the comet,
get longer wider and brighter – much brighter than the Milky Way or
the Large Magellanic Cloud! A sight that I cannot describe other than to say
Oh Boy! The guys there took some marvelous shots, I rang several people in
excitement and Colin Drescher at first refused to believe me!
On Saturday Noeleen arrived and brought with her the most stunning comet
images I have ever seen – and you will see them very soon along with
others as the arrive. The first ones from Greg Bock are attached – all
taken with a Canon 350D and they give an idea of what can be seen naked eye!
On the Saturday we scouted around Leyburn looking for a high hill to get
a view to the horizon. To our good fortune we found a 300 acre winery at the
back of Leyburn with a 500 meter plus hill – flat & 360 degree views
along the whole horizon!
At 645pm Myself, Chris Wheeler, Greg Bock, Pat Pearl, Colin Drescher &
nephew Josh, Noeleen & Graham Lowndes, David Rigley, Ray Suckling, Kevin
Dixon, Julian West, Mike Adams, Bob Clark and Emmanuel Conomos (think I got
you all) drove to the hill. Armed with bino’s, chairs, red & white
wine, port, nibblies, cashews dips etc we sat on top of the world, we left
our daily problems far behind us to view and celebrate the most beautiful
comet in history.
In a scene reminiscent of the final scene from Close Encounters we watched
the skies and waited, the comet coming into view around 7.15pm.
We also viewed a beautiful thin crescent Moon and stunning Venus sink into
the distant horizon. Many images were taken and these along with video and
stories will be part of the next SAS meeting in February – ALL contributions
are welcome!
The comet got brighter and brighter in the darkening sky the tail growing
to 3, 5, 7 degrees, we simply stopped making estimates for a while just taking
in the magnificent spectacle. Once the comet set real show began. The tail
now became a geyser or fountain spraying into the black sky, the Milky Way
and the LMC once again retreated to the beauty of this brilliant sight. At
its best the tail rose some 30 plus degrees into the sky and extended up to
an estimated 50 plus degrees ALONG the horizon – NAKED EYE!
All were in absolute awe.
Greg and I discussed the wonderful sights we have seen over our years as
Amateur astronomers – Halley’s Comet, Supernova 1987A, Comet Hyakutake
and Hale Bopp, The Leonid meteors shower, Shoe Maker Levy crashing into Jupiter
(Greg, Zac Pujic, Greg Thompson and I were among a very small number to visually
see the plume from the G Impact and the resulting bruising that looked like
someone had taken a bite out of Jupiter – Zac officially reported it
and the acknowledgement can still be found somewhere on the net) We asked
ourselves on Friday night, was this better than Shoemaker Levy? On Saturday
night the answer was clear – now you should go out and see what we decided,
it’s very clear.
If you can, head to Mt Tamborine tonight along the Western edge where hang
gliders leap from, you should see something similar to what we saw –
stay until at least 8.30pm take your family and friends you may never see
something like this again, especially if it clouds out in days to come.
This was a thought that Myself, Greg and others had, we wished our wives and
families could have been there last night on that hill on top of the world.
Greg Thompson was at Mt Tamborine last night and from what I can gather this
is the best comet he has ever seen and he should know, he has seen many, many
comets.
Our good friend Alan Gould stayed back at the campsite and he was also rewarded
with some stunning images.
So here’s your chance looks good for tonight go and see what all the
fuss is about
Didn’t mean to make it a war and peace novel but I am stunned.
Image 13 & 14)
After a week of cloudy weather we finally had the opportunity to image comet
McNaught without waiting for holes in the sky. Attached are 2 image I took
from the water reservoir at Springwood last night Jan 18th 2007. One is through
my LX200 10"/f10 the other using 70mm focal length of a zoom lens piggyback
from it's top. Both images were taken using my Alpha 100 digital SLR on ISO
100 and 10s exposure time.
Enjoy
Renato
Image 13,14,17,18,19)
I hope you don’t mind but here are some more fabulous images from Renato
Langersek – wow! Gary Gawronski & Mike Adams – whahoooa ,
just had to send them – again copyright and all that stuff.
If you haven’t already just get out and have a look tonight –
grab your camera and send me some pics, I will try and get as many distributed
as I can.
This is a truly amazing site that you should show to your family and friends!
Check out how long that tail is and how curved it is!
Anyway off to Leyburn now – Good luck all!
Peter
Image 15,16,17,20,21,22)
Well what can I say, last night was a fabulous from the Springwood Rd Water
Tower
I have been sent some absolutely stunning images from our members including
Greg Bock, Phil Pidgeon, Osamu Yamashita, Andrew Durick, Noeleen Lowndes,
Zac Pujic and Ikufumi Makino (Northern). A selection is attached, I have had
to resize them but if you want them in all their glory please contact their
owners. 3 really struck me as simply beautiful images the first from Osamu
– breathtaking. From Phil an inspiring image over the Southern suburbs
of Brisbane and from Andrew of the comet superbly framed over house. The images
are COPYRIGHT to their owners and must not be used elsewhere unless you obtain
permission from their owners.Yep I did catch it on my 2 meg pix mobile phone
but daren’t show it in the company of such wonderful images!
Thanks
Peter
Image 16)
Please find attached my latest attempt to capture this magnificent ..................
thiing!
Taken from the Springwood Reservoir in Logan City and looking west. Note the
Ikea Logan building in the lower left corner which has obviously overexposed.
The original image was 5.1MB so I have reduced the size significantly so that
you can easily view it. The most amazing thing I find about this image is
the length of the tail which seemingly stretches right to the top of the frame.
If you would like a larger image let me know.
Hope you enjoy it.
Kind Regards
Phil
Image 24)
Quick report more to come, SAS members including Colin & April Drescher,
Renato Langersek, Phil Pidgeon, Warren Sayer, Robin Cox & others tonight
successfully observed, imaged and videod Comet Mc Naught from the Springwood
Rd Water Tower, just several degrees above the horizon. From the oohs and
ahhs I heard on the tape (over the phone) it was impressive with one member
of the public saying it left comet Halley for dead. Colin noted easy naked
eye with fan shaped tail, as bright or brighter than Venus.
Our mate Peter Elston (QANTAS captain) just sent me an SMS noting “spectacular
from 37000 feet & brighter than Venus” Myself, Warren & Phil
tried Toowoomba last night with no luck and tonight I sat on my house roof
- again no luck just cloud!
The comet is now rising into the Southern Skies about 2 degrees higher each
night and will be a spectacular sight for weeks to come as it moves into a
dark sky (although it will start to fade). This Leyburn weekend should see
the comet in all its glory.
Attached is a cropped & reduced size image taken through a small cloud
break in the last few minutes before the comet set tonight by Phil Pidgeon
Peter
Up to batch A photos
Up to batch B photos
Up to batch C photos
More photos
to view
SAS viewing of the Transit of Mercury on the 9th November 2006
After the severe thunderstorms that swept through the Gold Coast on Wednesday
afternoon, we were pretty sure that a viewing of this rare Transit of Mercury
might not eventuate. But on the morning of Thursday the 9th of November at
4.00 a.m. the clouds had started to thin and stars could be seen breaking
through the dawn sky. This was the sign that all systems were go!
When we got to the Esplanade North Park at 4.45 a.m. there was a large band
of cloud on the horizon, and we realised we were not going to witness Mercury’s
first contact with the solar limb at 5.12 a.m.
At approximately 5.35 a.m. there was a small break in the band of clouds
and we scrambled to get our first view of the event. First of all we could
not believe our eyes as it looked like Mercury was as big as Venus…then
we looked again and realised that what we were viewing just off the limb of
the sun was a huge Sunspot (Sunspot 923). Mercury was indeed there, but it
was so tiny compared with this huge sunspot.
It was only clear for about 10 minutes, and then thin cloud started to come
across the sky. Ever so quickly we all clicked away hoping to get some shots
before more cloud covered the sky completely. We didn’t want to take
too many shots of this first view because after all, there was still four
hours left of the transit. But to our dismay that was to be the first and
last opportunity to see Mercury on the solar disc, just over 15 minutes in
total that was it!
We waited & waited for it to clear but by 8.00 a.m. more dark clouds
started to roll in, then all of a sudden we knew that it was over and just
had enough time to pack up and run for cover before the rain began to fall.
But at least we made the effort to see the event and ‘YES’ we
did get the pictures to prove it!
Please find below some photos from the morning, other members who also came
along to witness the event were Don McNaught and Yamishita Osamu and his wife.
Michael Adams also chased the transit to a couple of viewing places on Tamborine
Mountain and may have been able to view the event for a bit longer than us.
And if you missed seeing it this time, well maybe next time in 2032 you can
go out and view it again…I’m not sure I’ll be around for
that one!
Best wishes to all
Noeleen Lowndes
Click on photos to enlarge!
Photos 1-6 by Noeleen
Photo 1.
This photo of the Transit of Mercury was taken at 5.40 a.m. with my Canon
350D SLR camera and Meade 8” SCT telescope at prime focus, exposure
time was 1/100th second and ISO 100. A full aperture ‘Thousand Oats
Solar Filter’ was attached to the front lens of the telescope for safe
viewing of the Sun.
Photo 2.
Kevin Dixon with his 10” telescope fitted with a solar filter. SAS members
Kay Simmons and Lyn Ahern came to view the event and were lucky enough to
also see Mercury on the solar disc in H-Alpha light through the clubs Coronado
PST that Kevin set up next to his telescope.
Photo 3.
Ray Suckling is here with his amazing solar viewing telescope that projects
the sun’s image in a black box behind the telescope for safe viewing.
SAS members Phil Pidgeon and David Rigley look on.
Photo 4.
O… where art thou…thy Sun!
Phil and I having a bit of fun waiting for the sky to clear, but alas it wasn’t
to be!
That’s my telescope safely fitted with a solar filter. The planetary
model came in handy for explaining to the public what we were viewing….
if the clouds weren’t in the way!
Photo 5.
Phil Pidgeon shows Kay & Lyn the view through his large refractor telescope
that’s safely fitted with a solar filter. Phil has a new Canon 400D
digital SLR camera fitted to the back of his telescope; he also captured some
great images of the transit.
Photo 6.
David Rigley with his Sky-Watcher ED80mm refractor, a perfect telescope for
viewing this event. David drove down to the coast from Brisbane to be with
his fellow club members for the transit.
Photos 7, 8 by Phil Pidgeon:
Photo 7) Early in the transit at around 6:00 AM,
Photo 8) Taken around the 9:40AM mark when I got home.
There a break in the cloud layer at my place and I managed to throw the gear
together to bang this shot off and a number of others following this. I also
took some images at around 10.12AM to 10.14AM just after another break but
the planet had disappeared just right of the two faint sunspots at the top
of the image.
Photos 9-12 by Osamu & Miyoko
After we left Paradise Point, we chased "Blue Sky", and drived to
west......Ormeau....Tamborine...Beaudesert.....finally we got "Blue Hole"
at Jimboomba.
Just 10minutes...we could see Mercury's transit.
(Please note that Mercury will not be as large as Venus that transited the
Sun on the 8th June 2004)
‘The Southern Astronomical Society Celebrates its 20th Anniversary’
(1986 to 2006)
The Southern Astronomical Society is celebrating its ‘20th Anniversary’
in the enjoyment of astronomy & space for amateur astronomers in South
East Queensland.
On the 12th August 2006, many members of SAS came together for our AGM at
Gainsborough Greens Golf Club, to celebrate the clubs achievements over the
past 20 years. We still have quite a few founding members in our club, and
these members shared stories about the early days of SAS with us all. Some
surprised photographs from the past were also shown, which brought back many
happy memories of bygone days; was everybody really that young once! (Please
see some photographs below)
Commemorative ‘20th Year Membership Certificates’ were presented
to Peter Marples, Ray Suckling, Glenn Greenwood, Warren Sayer, Jim Smith &
Gregg Thompson who were all founding members of the club and are still members
of SAS today. Awards for ‘Outstanding Member’ were also handed
out to our Treasurer, Bryan Pott and Librarian, Chris Wheeler. Thank you to
these members for all your contributions this year.
Peter Marples was then presented with the 2006 ‘Member of the Year
Award’ for all his contributions over the past 20 years. Congratulations
Peter!
The next twenty years is going to be even more exciting in the field of astronomy
& space. The incredible optical equipment that the amateur astronomer
is able to obtain and use today opens up a whole new universe to explore,
and we’ll be here at SAS to help everyone to enjoy it!
Photo 1. A group photograph of SAS members celebrating our 20th
Anniversary at the AGM on the 12th August 2006 at Gainsborough Greens Golf
Club.
Photo 2. Peter Adam a past President of SAS, reminiscences the past years
of SAS.
Photo 3. Bryan Pott received ‘Outstanding Member Award’ from Noeleen
Lowndes (President)
Photo 4. Peter Marples received the ‘2006 Member of the Year Award’
Congratulations!
Photo 5. Eric Vandersande with his children Jessica & Michael were very
happy to win one of the lucky door prizes of a family pass to the Sir Thomas
Brisbane Planetarium.
Photo 6. Flash back photo to 1988. Here we have a very young Peter Marples,
Ray Suckling, Jim Smith & Michael Bates at a SAS display.
Photo 7. Flash back to 1992: Here we have Peter Adam & Warren Sayer at
another SAS display.
‘Saturn in the Park’ for the Gold Coast Community
Because this is a very special year for our club, we decided to share our
20th year celebrations with the community. On Saturday the 6th May we held
a FREE ‘Saturn in the Park’ event at Paradise Point in conjunction
with my involvement with NASA’s Saturn Observation Campaign. Please
find NASA’s ‘SOC’ web site at: http://soc.jpl.nasa.gov
This was a very exciting evening for the general public; we set up our telescopes
all along the Esplanade at Paradise Point, right along the waterfront. The
setting was lovely, with the stunning colours of sunset reflecting on the
Broadwater and a perfect clear sky. While we were setting up our telescopes
the excitement began to build, as people walking by with their children and
dogs wondered what we were doing. We’d done a lot of advertising for
the event, and received wonderful support from our local newspaper the Gold
Coast Bulletin and radio stations ABC 91.7 & 102.9 Hot Tomato. We were
expecting many hundreds of people to come, but what really happened was amazing!
By nights end, over one thousand people had come look through our telescopes,
it was like a great big party, with cars full of people arriving and leaving
all night. Everybody just loved looking through our telescopes at the beautiful
ringed planet Saturn, the Moon, Jupiter, and the constellations of the night
sky. We had people from all works of life and from all different age groups
coming together to enjoy the wonders of the night sky it was fantastic!
On the evening we had 20 members who kindly brought along 22 telescopes for
viewing the night sky, without this wonderful support from our many members,
the night would not have been the success it was.
I would very like to acknowledge and thank our members: Kevin Dixon, John
Connolly, Ray Suckling, Bryan Pott, Peter Marples, Phil Pidgeon, Renato Langersek
(SAS Wizard) Bob Clarke, Warren Sayer, Ron McNaught, Mark Gasper, Michael
Adams, Lyn Ahern, Kay Simmons, Colin Drescher, Robin Cox, Warwick & Monica
Burgess, Ray & Joy Murray, for giving up there time to share the wonders
of the night sky with so many people, we all had a wonderful night under the
stars. (Please see some of the photographs below from the night)
Your president
Noeleen Lowndes
Photo 8. A group photo of some of us SAS members setting up early for the
Saturn event.
(Left back row) Warren Sayer, Kevin Dixon, Bryan Pott, Peter Marples, Don
McNaught, John Connolly, Mark Gasper, Phil Pidgeon, Bob Clarke (Bottom Left)
Noeleen Lowndes, Ray Suckling & Robin Cox.
Photo 9. Little Mary-Lou O’Neil and her mother Louise are very excited
to have their first look at Saturn through my telescope.
Photo 10. Warren Sayer having a lot of fun explaining to people what they’ll
be looking at through his telescope.
Photo 11. My niece Gabby Nelson (right) and her best friend Teagan Nowicki
are having a wonderful night at the telescopes.
Photo 12. Our SAS Wizard (Renato Langersek) having lots of fun sharing his
love of astronomy with the public.
Photo 13. Phil Pidgeon our club secretary, busy showing the night sky with
our SAS club telescope.
Photo 14.‘WOW’ everybody wanted to look in Warwick Burgess’s
big 22-inch telescope! His lovely wife Monica came and helped him too on the
night.
Photo 15. Now… just how big is Saturn…it’s this BIG! Colin
Drescher has a bit of fun with my model of Saturn, while Warwick Burgess,
Robin Cox & Joy Murray look on in the background ?
Photo 16. A group photograph of SAS members at the end of the night, on our
wonderful ‘Saturn in the Park’ evening for the community. Happy
20th Anniversary SAS!
'Congratulations'
To the past and present committee members of the QLD Astrofest for being awarded
'The Queensland Astronomical Societies Achievement Award for 2006'.
For their many years of service, in making Astrofest a renowned and rewarding
event for all astronomers in South East Queensland.
Some of the members present from the QLD Astrofest committee being awarded
the Œ2006 Achievement Award¹ at the Combined Societies Meeting on
the 19th May 2006.
From Left: Bob Grimes (The Amateur Telescope Makers of QLD) Tony Dutton from
(The Astronomical Association of QLD) Terry Cuttle from (The South East QLD
Astronmical Society) Warren Sayer from (The Brisbane Astronomical Society
& SAS) Peter Marples and Colin Drescher from (The Southern Astronomical
Society).
Combined Societies Meeting' Friday
the 19th May 2006
The 2006 'Combined Societies Meeting' is being held at Griffith University
'Nathan Campus' at Kessels Road, Mt Gravatt in Brisbane starting at 7.30
p.m. The Meeting is being held in Lecture Theatre 0.04 Science2 Building
(N34) please find below a site map for the University. Free
undercover parking is provided in the Ridge Carpark (N38) after 7.00 p.m.
This will be a presentation evening, where we get to see and hear what the
other members of the astronomical societies of South East Queensland have
been up too over the past year. After the meeting a lovely supper will be
supplied for the enjoyment of all.
Some lucky person will also win a wonderful lucky door prize, which has
generously been donated by Lex Neilson from Star Optics at Mermaid Beach.
So
please come along and enjoy a great evening of astronomy & space.
Noeleen Lowndes (President)
Click here for a PDF map of Nathan Campus
'Saturn in the Park' (Click here to see photos)
As part of the 'SAS' 20th Anniversary Celebrations and NASA's Saturn
Observation Campaign you are invited to come along on Saturday the 6th May
2006 for a FREE viewing through large telescopes to see the beautiful planet
Saturn in the night sky. Please see the flyer below for all the details (Click
to enlarge).
'Combined Societies Meeting' Friday the 20th May 2005
The 2005 'Combined Societies Meeting' is being held at Griffith
University 'Nathan Campus' at Kessels Road Mt Gravatt starting at 7.30
p.m. The Meeting is being held in Lecture Theatre 0.10 in the Macrossan
Building (N16) please find below a site map for the University. Free
undercover parking is provided in the Ridge Carpark (N38) after 7.00
p.m.
This will be a fun evening where we get to see and hear what the other
members of the astronomical societies have been up too. After the
meeting a lovely supper will be supplied for the enjoyment of all.
There is a great lucky door prize which has generously been donated by
Ron Gibson from Sirius Optics. So please come along and enjoy a great
astronomy evening.
Noeleen Lowndes (President)
'The Great Logan Star Night'
Saturday the 14th May 2005 starting at 6.30 p.m.
At 'Riverdale Park' Armstrong Road, Meadowbrook.... Logan City.
Come along and enjoy a evening under the stars, and be dazzled by the
most amazing sky objects! Look at the rings of Saturn, find Jupiter's
moons and the Great Red Spot, see the many craters on our Moon.
Members from the Southern Astronomical Society are proud to present this
evening for the community of Logan. Just $5 per family. All Proceeds go
towards the building of the new Logan City Hospice.
Many thanks to member Phil Pidgeon for co-ordinating this event.
Please find the flyer below with all the details for the evening. Come
along and have a great night!
‘The Southern Astronomical Society supports charity
event for ‘Spacewalker’ opening’
On Saturday the 18th December many ‘SAS’ members had a lot of fun
supporting a special charity event for the opening of ‘Spacewalker’
a new space odyssey attraction in Surfers Paradise. Over a thousand people
came to the gala ‘Space Street Party’ and many people donated a
gold coin to Moon gaze through our telescopes, which went towards the Children's
Ward at the Gold Coast Hospital.
This spectacular attraction has been created by astronomer Gregg Thompson
a past member of ‘SAS’ with his partner Deborah Kelly, and what
an incredible job they’ve done, the universe walk is fantastic! If you
would like to know more about ‘Spacewalker’ please go to the web
site at www.spacewalker.com.au
Many thanks to Renato Langersek (SAS space wizard), John Connolly (Galileo)
Ray Suckling, Greg Bock, Kevin Dixon, Julian West, Vince Higgs & Erwin
Van der Velden. We all had a lot of fun on the evening, and our telescopes
looked fantastic all spread out along Elkhorn Avenue in Surfers Paradise!
Please find some photo’s below, and thank you to everybody for supporting
this most worthwhile charity event for the Gold Coast Hospital Foundation.
Noeleen Lowndes (President)
'SAS' supports the 'Spacewalker Charity Event' on Saturday the 18th December
2004
Members from the Southern Astronomical Society are proudly supporting this
charity launch event for a new space odyssey venture called 'Spacewalker'
which has just opened in the heart of Surfers Paradise.
The space themed street party which starts at 6.30 p.m. in Elkhorn Ave Surfers
Paradise is hoping to raise over $30,000 for the Gold Coast Hospitals Children's
Ward.
Please see the flyer attached for all the exciting details and the many prizes
that have kindly been donated by the sponsors. Many people will be Moon gazing
through our telescopes, come on over and say hello to us you may even catch
a meteor and win a fabulous prize!
SAS RECEIVES GRANT
The Southern Astronomical Society has received a grant from ‘The Queensland
Government’s Gambling Community Benefit Fund’.
The Southern Astronomical Society Incorporated has much pleasure in acknowledging
that ‘The Queensland Government’s Gambling Community Benefit Fund’
has provided a grant for the sum of $ 8614.00 to our society.
This amount is for a data projector, laptop computer and a fully automatic
Meade LX 90 telescope. These items will greatly benefit our society by giving
quality up to date information about astronomy and space to the community,
and for use at our meetings for members presentations.
We thank the Queensland Government for this grant as the Gambling Community
Benefit Fund, improves the lives of Queenslanders through investing in Queensland’s
communities.
Noeleen Lowndes (President)
Greg Hornsby (Secretary)
SAS SCIENCEFEST FUNDRAISER NIGHT
Cancelled due to bad weather, will be re-scheduled.
ASTERIOD TOUTATIS
Congratulations to 'SAS' member Scott Sinclair who captured images of Asteroid
Toutatis on the 28th of September 2004 that are featured on NASA's Near Earth
Objects home page. To see the story and his animation of the event please
go to http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news144.html
QUEENSLAND ASTROFEST 2004
See "Camps & Field Nights/QLD Astrofest"
for photos of 2003, 2002, 2001
See also http://members.optushome.com.au/earthlight/astrofest.htm
for details and application form.
FRED WATSON LECTURE at
QUT
Dear Colleague,
I am pleased to be able to invite you to QUT, Faculty of Science's next public
lecture Astronomy with Attitude - given by Fred Watson. Dr Fred Watson is
currently Astronomer-in-Charge of the Anglo-Australian Observatory at Coonabarabran
in north-western NSW. Since helping to revolutionise the way astronomers work
in Australia, by pioneering the use of fibre optics in telescopes in the 1980s,
Fred has become an award-winning broadcaster and writer on astronomy. He is
a dynamic speaker and I am certain you will enjoy his presentation.
Please join me at this Lecture and at the Networking Event immediately following.
All details are below and on the eflyer attached.
Astronomy with Attitude
Join Fred Watson of the Anglo-Australian Observatory as he explores cutting
edge astronomy topics accompanied by stunning celestial images and inside
information on our growing understanding of the complexities of the Cosmos.
Public Lecture
Date: August 17th, 2004
Time: 4:00 - 5:00pm
Venue: Queensland Museum South Bank - Lecture Theatre (Level 2)
Networking Event
Date: August 17th, 2004
Time: 5:15pm - 5:45pm (immediately following Fred Watson's lecture).
Venue: Queensland Museum South Bank - Outside the Lecture Theatre (Level 2)
Bookings Essential
Please RSVP to 07 3864 2152 or sci-enquiries@qut.edu.au
I look forward to seeing you there,
Graeme George
Professor Graeme George
Dean, Faculty of Science,
Queensland University of Technology,
GPO Box 2434,
Brisbane, 4001, Australia.
Telephone: +61 7 3864 2203
Facsimile: +61 7 3864 1508
email: g.george@qut.edu.au
www.sci.qut.edu.au/profiles/george/
CRICOS No: 00213J
TRANSIT OF VENUS 8TH JUNE 2004 TAMBOURINE MOUNTAIN
After arriving on the mountain in light rain! We were extremely blessed that
the clouds parted for just one hour to view and photograph this very special
event. We missed first contact but what excitement when it finally cleared
and we all saw the black silhouette of Venus against the brilliant golden
orb of our mighty star the Sun! Fantastic!!!
Many people driving past got a chance to view this wonderful phenomenon through
our telescopes and Colin's large binoculars. Please see below some photographs
taken with my Canon Digital 300D camera using a Meade 8-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain
telescope fitted with a Thousand Oats solar filter.
All the images were taken at prime focus some with a F 6.3 focal reducer
inserted for the full images of the sun. Exposure times were 1/100th second
set at 100 ISO. What a wonderful experience can't wait until 2012 to do it
all again.......Best wishes to all Noeleen Lowndes :)
2 COMETS at LEYBURN at ASTRO CAMP in MAY
See "Camps & Field Nights"
COMET NIGHT for the Queensland Renal Association
Comet viewing and sausage sizzle.
Proceeds to go to the QLD Renal Association.
Robina Library Parkland, Monday 10th May 6pm-9pm
Click HERE to read poster
Click HERE to print the picture below with white
sky
COMBINED SOCIETIES MEETING - Friday the 7th May 2004
The 2004 'Combined Societies Meeting' is being held at Griffith
University 'Nathan Campus' at Kessels Road Mt Gravatt starting at 7.30
p.m. The Meeting is being held in Lecture Theatre 0.10 in the Macrossan
Building (N16) please find below a site map for the University. Free
undercover parking is provided in the Ridge Carpark (N38) after 7.00 p.m.
This will be a fun evening where we get to see and hear what the other
members of the astronomical societies have been up too. The winner of
the '2004' Discovery/Achievement award will be announced and a lovely
supper will be supplied for the enjoyment of all.
There is a great lucky door prize which has generously been donated by
Bryan from A.S.S.T. So please come along and enjoy a great astronomy
evening.
Noeleen Lowndes (President)
Click here for a PDF map
SATURN VIEWING NIGHT AT MOUNT TAMBOURINE on Saturday the 27th March
With help from members from the Southern Astronomical Society an evening
is being held to view this spectacular planet Saturn through our telescopes
on Saturday the 27th March at Staffsmith Park Tamborine Mountain starting
at 6.30 p.m. The park is situated in Eagle Heights on the corner of Central
& Southport Avenue, please see the map included for directions to the
park.
You can find more information on the evening at the Tamborine Mountain Library
or phone the librarians on 5540 5473. If the day is cloudy or raining unfortunately
the event will be cancelled.
Please remember to bring along warm clothing as the evening may be cool,
come and enjoy looking at one of the most beautiful planets in our Solar System.
"AMAZING SATURN" at Tambourine Mountain on 25th February 2004
A exciting day was held at the Tamborine Mountain library for the community
for NASA's 'Saturn Observation Campaign'. In the little under 5's session
the children's faces all lit up when they heard all about the Moon, stars
& planets and becoming a astronaut and blasting off into space seemed
like a really fantastic thing to do!
A adult session was held where everybody enjoyed listening to the incredible
mission to Saturn by the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft which will finally arrive
on the 1st July to begin a tour of the Saturnian system for the next four
years. Please go to the web site at http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov
to find out about this incredible mission.
Much activity was happening at 3.30 p.m. where many youngsters were busy
making their own special models of Saturn to take home and hang in their rooms.
I would very much like to thank my mother Pam and the librarians Karen, Arne,
& Helen for all their help and hospitality on my day at your lovely library.
I would also like to thank the Beaudesert Shire Council for hosting this
special 'Amazing Saturn' day for the 'Saturn Observation campaign'.
Noeleen Lowndes
NASA's 'Saturn Observation Campaign' member for 2004 :)
One of the photographs from the little under 5's event held at the Tamborine
Mountain Library.
Jed Heslop (left) & Damon Scaturchio (Right) proudly showing their drawings
of Mr Dinosaur looking through his telescope at the stars :)
(Click on photo for enlargements)
Click here to read previous SOC entry
Click here to see the SOC page
BRYAN POTT'S GRANDFATHER'S ASTERIOD
The Minor Planet (3196) Maklaj = 1978 RY.
Minor Planet Circular No. 12971.1988.
Discovered 1978 Sept 1st, by N. S. Chernykh at the Crimean Astrophysical
Observatory Russia. certified by International Astronomical Union (IAU) and
the Russian Academy of Science (RAS).
Named in honor of my Great, Great Grandfather, Nikolaj Nikolaevich Miklukho-Maklaj
(1846-1888) a prominent Russian anthropologist and ethnographer who studied
the native populations of southeast Asia, Australia and Oceania.
Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay was a Russian, born on 17th July 1846 into a hereditary
baronetcy created by Catherine the Great. The Maclay in his name is explained
by Scottish blood. He became an explorer, artist, naturalist and humanitarian,
and the first anthropologist and white man to work and settle in Papua New
Guinea., for example, people there ate human flesh, they were very short of
protein, so for a white person to say to the ship who brought him there "you
go off and maybe come back in 18 months time"... it was pretty fearless.
He is known in Russia as the 'Moon Man' originaly named by the natives of
Papua New Guinea, because they had never seen a European and thought he had
power over the light of the moon.
Working in the wake of Charles Darwin's scientific revolution, he spent long
periods in Papua New Guinea during the 1870s. He won the affection of the
people, while collecting the first scientific account of their society. Nikolai
Miklukho- Maclay fought for the rights of native peoples, warning of the dangers
of white encroachment. He arrived in Australia, moving his base to Sydney
in 1878, he sought protection for Aborigines, from colonialism. He discovered
and catalogued species with meticulous care and was fighting for the rights
of indigenous people long before the issue was on the political agenda.
Miklukho also studied marine zoology and worked on two groups of animals
almost at opposite poles of marine life, the fishes and the sponges.
He started Australia's first Marine Biological research Station, at Watsons
Bay, studied sharks, the tree-climbing kangaroo, dugongs and dingoes.
After seeking permission from Czar Alexander III, he married Margret Emma,
the daughter of five times Premier of NSW, Sir John Robertson,
they set up home at Wyoming, Birchgrove at Balmain. They went with their
two boys to Russia in 1887 and he died there in 1888 from diseases obtained
in his travels. After his death, his wife presented his collection including
autographed photographs of the Russian Royal Family, and the Skulls from various
parts of the Pacific, to the Maclay Museum at Sydney University. The State
Library has portfolios full of his impassioned letters to prominent citizens
on behalf of native people, his Scientific reports, drawings, photographs
and watercolours. Some of his diaries and letters are in the Mitchell Library,
one Note book is written in three languages, and he spoke and understood several
more, including a dialect of northern New Guinea, where the Maclay Coast was
named after him in 1871 - 1873.
The rest of his collection is housed at the Miklouho-Maclay Institute of
Ethnology and Anthropology, Moscow, Russia.
Miklouho-Maclay's widow, Margret, returned to Sydnet to live after the death
of her husband, upon whose tombstone in St Petersburg she had inscribed 'NBDCSU'
(Nothing But Death Can Separate Us).
His three grandsons Paul Maclay (now deceased) a former ABC radio announcer,
in Sydney, and Kenneth Maclay aged 91, a retired Solicitor who is my grand
father, presently living on the Gold Coast. Also Kenneth's brother Rob Maclay
(now deceased).
Information supplied by Bryan Pott, son of Denise Miklouho-Maclay, Great
Granddaughter of Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay.
Thanks to Gary Gawronski and Colin Drescher for the diagrams.
Click on Skymap images below to see large images
Click here to see a brief AVI movie of
the asteriod in motion (In centre of view)
SAS MEMBERS PHOTOS IN IRISH ASTRONOMY MAGAZINE
Denton Walter wrote an article entitled SPOTLIGHT ON CRUX in the Irish Astronomy
magazine ASTRONOMY AND SPACE.
It features photos from SAS members Greg Bock, Noeleen Lowndes and Erwin
Van der Velden, which Denton saw on the SAS website.
Click here to read the article and see
the photos in PDF form.
ASTRONOMY AND SPACE magazines web address is http://www.astronomy.ie
