Galloway Gathering Feb 2015

[Physopto]

Looking forward to being up there from Friday lunchtime. I am just in the process of assembling the good weather and will have sufficient packed by Friday morning before I set off  Ian

Hi Ian,

That's the ticket, positive attitude Just make sure there are some stars and the odd Galaxy in the bag as well. M42 will do for a start!

Looking forwards to opening the bag.

And seeing you of course .

Regards,

Derek

[Demon Barber]

Hello All,survived the wind and rain,field has drained compleatly ,and the weather is even as i type getting better,un is out and evryone is getting their gear set up in anticipation of at least  a small hole in the clouds tonight,

Regards

Mike

[Adrian Condon]

Hi,

Great difficulty trying to identify a bright object in the sky!

There is lots of clear sky at present.

Scopes are ready for an good evening.

The hills across Wigton Bay are crystal clear. The sun is setting in the west and Phil is waiting for the Milky Way to appear.

The wind has dropped and I am about to change out of my shorts into warmer clothes. They tell me that the temperature is dropping fast..

We are having an early dinner so that we don't miss a glorious opportunity of the attractive dark skies in Galloway.

Cheers for now

Adrian

[jamie56]

Hi Mike,

heading down tomoz, was hopeing for today but never made it, hope the cloud has legged it its fairly cloudy up my neck of the woods, see you all tomoz.

jim

[Adrian Condon]

Hi Jim,

Tonight the night.

Clear skies abound, Just come in for a rest and a whiskey.

Standard Dark Galloway skies, everybody is making up for last night's miserable rain and wind.

I think the skies will be clear till 03:00am tomorrow morning.

I am leaving about noon tomorrow to meet up with my mountain friends in the western dales for the weekend.

I am going to SGL X in March, I hope to be back in Galloway in November.

Trust you have a safe trip.

And, the clear persist.

Cheers

Adrian

[Adrian Condon]

Hi,

Great night's display of stars etc, we had the odd cloud or three, I went to bed at 01:45am, the others being mad stayed up until 04:00am imaging.

The temperature was near freezing but the wind had died down making it bearable.

This morning there are clouds with blue bits.

Mike has done another plate loaded breakfast, this is very useful for when the wind blows!

The weather for tonight now looks more promising than the earlier forecasts this week.

As I am going to another function for the weekend going up a mountain, I have the car nearly packed.

Phil is being a good guy, he has just finished the washing up.

I must go and have a shave and shower.

Clear skies make live more interesting.

Cheers

Adrian

[mapstar]

Sounds like you had a good night guys.

Thanks for the usual update Adrian and I bet your gutted leaving although I'm sure conquering the next mountain summit will be just as pleasing

I'm wishing this bit of glass was finished so I could join you to peruse all those fine dark skies.

Aaaaah well back to the grind or polish at this stage!

Fingers crossed for you tonight guys and looking forward to all those image's appearing on the thread

Keep up the posts and great to know what I'm going to be doing this time next year and at the back end of this year

Damian

[Demon Barber]

Hi All,frustrating night so far,nice earlyshow of crescent moon venus and mars,then very heavy dark clouds,rain,temperature really dropped sharply,clear - rain- clear- cloud and it has gone right up to now 1.50am,no one imaging , to much moisture,just a few hardy souls observing ,and for a change drinking an Irish whiskey ,here`s hoping it stays clear, will see what tomorrow night brings!

Damian here`s hoping your polishing stays on schedule

Regards

Mike

[Physopto]

Hi everyone,

In addition to Mike's update yesterday.

Rained most of the night, although there were some nice clear spells. Bit to windy though. Raining now and feels like forever, reminds me of Kielder! Xcweather gives clear about midnight but the wind will be too much. Also gives clear spells for tomorrow but off home anyway. Mike is not well with a chest infection. Not a good ending really. Still there is always the next star party at Kielder for us then here again.

Regards,

Derek

[Daniel-K]

no snow yet guys?

[Adrian Condon]

Hi Derek,

Trust you are getting extra clear skies....

I had a good weekend, went to the top of Whernside from Chapel-le-Dale, the annual dinner was good. We had some snow on Saturday morning but blue skies for most of the dsy.

Clear skies on Friday night, great views of the skies from the bunkhouse. Skies clear on Saturday night after 22:00.

Wet drive home.

Mike got back home safely.

Hope you managed to gather some interesting images over the weekend.

Cheerrs

Adrian

PS..... Looking forward to November.

[Physopto]

Hi Derek,

Trust you are getting extra clear skies....

I had a good weekend, went to the top of Whernside from Chapel-le-Dale, the annual dinner was good. We had some snow on Saturday morning but blue skies for most of the dsy.

Clear skies on Friday night, great views of the skies from the bunkhouse. Skies clear on Saturday night after 22:00.

Wet drive home.

Mike got back home safely.

Hope you managed to gather some interesting images over the weekend.

Cheerrs

Adrian

PS..... Looking forward to November.

Hi Adrian,

Nope, I packed up everything on Saturday as was too windy and unpredictable. So no more imaging, wind very high and plenty of rain/sleet. We are still at the site as wind a bit too much for towing at present and not in any rush. Leaving in the morning, wind dropped then (I hope). Ground very wet now, a bit like Kielder, --------  on a good day,

I've booked up for Kielder and here at Galloway for  next autumn, here's hoping for  great star camps. I think we are due some now!

Glad you had a good time and some blue skies. Hope all goes well.

 Regards,

Derek

[Physopto]

Hi Damian,

Boy that was quick! I only just posted.

Hope all is well with the mirror grinding / polishing and you are getting on better than when I last spoke to you. Looking forwards to the unveiling, in fact we all are. Mike is always singing your praises. Says your last effort was really excellent and from the pictures you showed me, I agree with him.

Sorry there will be nothing from me this time, things just not working. The A.O. unit refuses to work under Maxim DL. It will work with the utility program but not when I need it to do so. I think a call through to Starlight Instruments is in order. But I need some good weather at home to retry new ideas first. I'll beat the problem if it kills me. I am going to start from the beginning and reset every thing from the ground up. I'm also going to check the new mount for backlash and its mounting to the scope for cone error. New shims are called  for I am sure. Not had the opportunity as yet. The weather was poor this time so really you missed very little, apart, of course,  from our sparkling wit!!!!!

Regards,

Derek

[mapstar]

Hi Damian,

Boy that was quick! I only just posted.

Hope all is well with the mirror grinding / polishing and you are getting on better than when I last spoke to you. Looking forwards to the unveiling, in fact we all are. Mike is always singing your praises. Says your last effort was really excellent and from the pictures you showed me, I agree with him.

Sorry there will be nothing from me this time, things just not working. The A.O. unit refuses to work under Maxim DL. It will work with the utility program but not when I need it to do so. I think a call through to Starlight Instruments is in order. But I need some good weather at home to retry new ideas first. I'll beat the problem if it kills me. I am going to start from the beginning and reset every thing from the ground up. I'm also going to check the new mount for backlash and its mounting to the scope for cone error. New shims are called  for I am sure. Not had the opportunity as yet. The weather was poor this time so really you missed very little, apart, of course,  from our sparkling wit!!!!!

Regards,

Derek

Hi Derek,

I was on the thread so straight on it.

Shame the weather (and equipment) has provided no Image's from you this time, me and Kieran were looking forward to them seeing as we didn't get up there. We got out the other week though for a few hours at our usual spot although my scope looked rather pitiful being just the 2" finder   I had good fun with it though. Kieran managed CCD images of Comet Lovejoy and M1 crab which look very nice. He also did a cracking Orion nebula in Jan 

Mike is too kind in every department which we all know already   and I hope he's feeling a lot better. The mirror is coming on slowly as is the thread on here. The trials and tribulations take some putting together.

I've just zipped an email off to Starlight myself as I ordered the focuser for the build nearly a month ago and not heard anything? I'm sure they will reply quickly 

I'll not miss the winter bash and Kieran is looking forward to it lots 

Cheers

Damian

P.S. hope it doesn't kill you sorting that equipment out 

[mapstar]

Just to update

Wayne Schroder of starlight instruments has just emailed back to say they have assembled my focuser.

He has apologised for the delay and will be shipping it out by the end of the week.

Quick customer service

Happy days

[Physopto]

Excellent  news. Now ONLY the rest to do! Eh?

Two words in the English language that should be banned ONLY and JUST.

[Physopto]

no snow yet guys?

Been some sleet but so far no snow!

Derek

[Demon Barber]

Hello All,a big thankyou to everyone who made the spring Galloway Gathering 2015 a succcessful event ,just a shame the weather did not play fair.

Thank you to Lesley and Ralph for once again making everyone welcome,and for keeping the high standards we have come to expect.

I`m sure the weather did not dent everyones spirit,there were some nice equipment setups and a fair share of gremlins with the electrics,it never fails to amaze me how people overcome the problems and still stay so positive.

I was not able to get round everyone due to me having a chest infection which is still causing me problems, i hope to see everyone in November.

I hope everyone got home without any problems and have got all their gear dryed out,my car is still half full.

Bookings are open  for the November Galloway Starcamp 2015 and are filling up quickly so make sure to get your name down asap.

Regards

Mike

[Uplooker]

Hi Mike,

Apologies for not posting on this thread since getting back from the SP. I  would like to echo what you said regarding Leslie, Ralph & the campsite. The weather did not dent my spirits, although it could have been better. As always, its the people that really make star parties and this one was no exception. It was good to meet up with those from the November SP.

I would particularly like to thank you, Kenny and Phil for making me feel very welcome in the van. I must be going soft, but it was nice to be able to stand upright and a hell of a lot easier to cook.

I am trying to give my liver a rest from the whiskey

I have not booked for Nov, yet, but will do very soon.

Thankfully I did not encounter the snow that had been forecast on my way home but did have to contend with a lot of rain.

I look forward to seeing you all again in November.

Clear skies,

Ian

[Physopto]

Hi Derek,

I was on the thread so straight on it.

Shame the weather (and equipment) has provided no Image's from you this time, me and Kieran were looking forward to them seeing as we didn't get up there. We got out the other week though for a few hours at our usual spot although my scope looked rather pitiful being just the 2" finder   I had good fun with it though. Kieran managed CCD images of Comet Lovejoy and M1 crab which look very nice. He also did a cracking Orion nebula in Jan 

Mike is too kind in every department which we all know already   and I hope he's feeling a lot better. The mirror is coming on slowly as is the thread on here. The trials and tribulations take some putting together.

I've just zipped an email off to Starlight myself as I ordered the focuser for the build nearly a month ago and not heard anything? I'm sure they will reply quickly 

I'll not miss the winter bash and Kieran is looking forward to it lots 

Cheers

Damian

P.S. hope it doesn't kill you sorting that equipment out 

Hi Damian,

I'm glad you got out a bit even if it was with a titchy scope. Somat is always better than nowt!!

Is Kieran going to post the images or has he already. I'd be interested to see them, in fact I'd guess most of us would. Especially Orion for me, as it is always my favourite. Weather has put a stop to a lot of fun recently. Still, a way to go before we loose all the dark nights yet.

Regards to you both,

Derek

[mapstar]

Hi Damian,

I'm glad you got out a bit even if it was with a titchy scope. Somat is always better than nowt!!

Is Kieran going to post the images or has he already. I'd be interested to see them, in fact I'd guess most of us would. Especially Orion for me, as it is always my favourite. Weather has put a stop to a lot of fun recently. Still, a way to go before we loose all the dark nights yet.

Regards to you both,

Derek

Hi Derek,

I'm sure Kieran wouldn't mind me posting a link to his Flickr site so you can keep up with his recent photo's

https://www.flickr.com/photos/astronomer69

Lot's on there and you can trace his history back and see how he's improved over the years

Regards

Damian

P.s. like the little quote 

[kenny k]

Hi folks,hope everyone got home safe from another great stay up in Galloway.The drive home was'nt too great but well worth the trip.Thanks to Leslie &  Mike for organising and Uplooker for the grub he dshed up in the van!

Here's a image of M45 from Thursday night,nothing special but at least i manged to get something..better than November which was a washout for me anyway

Kenny

[Uplooker]

Very nice Kenny,

What are the capture details, camera, filters, exposures etc? Did you get sorted with Photoshop?

Ian

[kenny k]

Very nice Kenny,

What are the capture details, camera, filters, exposures etc? Did you get sorted with Photoshop?

Ian

Hi Ian,just had a quick play with levels & curves for the first time in cs2 still tryin to figure it all out.

Stacked in DSS,10 x 90 secs with 60da, no calibration frames.Its a start....

Kenny

[Physopto]

Hi Ian,just had a quick play with levels & curves for the first time in cs2 still tryin to figure it all out.

Stacked in DSS,10 x 90 secs with 60da, no calibration frames.Its a start....

Kenny

Hi Kenny,

Nice shot of the Pleiades. As you said at least you got something. So you did better than me for sure.  See you at the next camp.

I stayed for another few nights and it was very windy with virtually no clear skies, at least not for long. So we all think positive thoughts for the next camp!!!

Regards,

 Derek