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Galloway Autumn Star Party 2016

Demon Barber

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Adrian Condon

Adrian Condon

Posted
Posted

Hi,

We have had a few rain showers this afternoon. It is not raining at present and a good number of stars are visible, but the seeing is very watery.

Three of us (Dai and Hadyn) went birdwatching in Wigton this lunchtime and saw a good number of different bird species, KingFisher, Egrets, Curlews, Peregrine Falcon, Shelduck, Dunlin, Oystercatchers, Teal, Redshank, Black Headed Gull, and a few others I cannot remember.

Had dinner, cooking outside in the dark and wind is interesting. I had Ribeye steak, Mushrooms and New Boiled Potatoes. We do not go hungry here.

Must decide what to do astronomically, the wind is getting stronger, so it is more than likely time to abandon my shorts and put some winter gear on instead.

Trust the members joining us tomorrow for the weekend ave a safe trip.

Cheers

Adrian

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mapstar

mapstar

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, astronymonkey said:

Shame I got here in the dark or in would have said hello to a few folk but ive had tea and unpacked the car but not had chance to set any kit up.

The warm room is a good place to start for a cloudy night as many pop in there or just knock on Mike's caravan door with the wind sock. 

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kenny k

kenny k

Posted
Posted

Hi folks,the car's pretty much packed.Ive got tommorow off work so hoping to set off early in morning and arrive after lunchtime..the forcast looks good for the weekend up to now?

See you's tommorow.

Kenny.

Ps..save me some blackpudding?

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mapstar

mapstar

Posted
Posted

Morning all,

Broken clouds gave a few fleeting glimpses last night although not worth getting the scope out.

Surprised at the early posts as some were up testing optics till 4am :drunken_smilie: 

It looks a lovely day and as Mike says we can only hope the forecasters have got it right as it's gonna be a great weekend.

Time for a shower and grab some breakfast to bring the heeed round 

 

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Adrian Condon

Adrian Condon

Posted
Posted

Hi David,

If you were gracing us with your presence there would be no need for camp photos. We are experiencing some showers at the moment but have patches of clear sky with some nasty looking cloud formations over Newton Stewart. There is a crescent Moon to the south.

Anyway, we will keep you posted.

Cheers

Adrian

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Adrian Condon

Adrian Condon

Posted
Posted

Hi Dai,

Trust you have got home to South Wales safely. We are experiencing clear skies at present with dew forming.

Julian's trailer was covered in ice about an hour ago.... The temperature was 4 degrees it is now a dizzy height 5 degrees!

Everybody is busy doing visual or imaging.

I have come into the warmth of the games with Hadyn for a wee dram.

Shame you had to leave early, as clear nights are forecast for the next three nights.

Trust you felt the long journey was well worth it to experience dark skies that Lucksall could only dream about.

Hadyn wishes you the best and we hope to see you again.

Cheers

Adrian

 

 

 

 

 

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astronymonkey

astronymonkey

Posted
Posted

Well, despite the forecast being for poor skies until midnight we have been blessed with clear skies since sunset. The showers arrived this afternoon but ended around 4pm but with damp air dew has been an ongoing issue.

The sky is clear but a little bit hazy which is taking away some of the detail on nebulae and galaxies but hopefully the gentle breeze will  imporove that over the coming hours.

So far my viewing has included most of the usual favourates including :

The veil, M81 & 82, orion neb, dumbell, pliades, m13, ring neb with a few other bits and pieces along the way including a decent meteor.

Its been a good night so far.

Cheers

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astronymonkey

astronymonkey

Posted
Posted

Its time for bed! Its been a good night which got clearer after midnight but still with a bid of background  haze.

A breeze has picked up which meant views were not pin sharp but they were perfectly acceptble.

In addition to my earler post i picked off the pinwheel galaxy , crab, whirlpool and also spent about half an hour trying to spot the horse head but never managed.  Even in Damians 22inch with a H beta filter i couldnt see it but maybe the sky conditions  just werent good enough.

There were also plenty of meteors too but with tomorrow night promising to be better than tonight the im hoping the horsehead will be on show.

Cheers

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mapstar

mapstar

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, astronymonkey said:

 spent about half an hour trying to spot the horse head but never managed.  Even in Damians 22inch with a H beta filter i couldnt see it but maybe the sky conditions  just werent good enough.

 

My filter isn't up to much (bin fodder) we'll borrow Grahams tonight and it'll be easy to spot.

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Adrian Condon

Adrian Condon

Posted
Posted

Hi Damian,

Ian deserves the title, when I asked him how many he had eaten, he told me it was bad manners to ask!!!!!

There is a crescent Moon being chased across the sky by Mars. The Milkly Way is showing, there is fireworks in the distance.

I had pie and mushy peas, followed by vegetable Chilli and finished off by two slices of Mrs Hadyn's nice fruit cake.

It is great to have a shared meal at an event as superior as The Galloway Autumn Star Party.

Must do some imaging now.

Cheers

Adrian

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Mr Flibble

Mr Flibble

Posted
Posted

Hey everyone,

The forecasts are still looking good for you for tonight and sunday. Wish I was still there under that gorgeous milky way with the owls hooting away in the distance.

My trip home took 8.5 hours but my time at the site more than made up for the journey. Great campsite, great skies and great company. Hoping to make it back again next year.

Mike I hope you're having success imaging your b mask this evening and that you get some really nice spikes :happy6:

Adrian I hope you start collecting some photons now that Julian has set up your rig for you :icon_biggrin:

Hayden I hope that crab sandwich was well worth the wait and you get some good views of the ring tonight.

Ian, congrats on winning the pie contest!

Damian, really enjoyed catching up with you and hunting for the horse on the tuesday. I've had a quick scout around online for a deal on a hbeta but nothing yet other than normal retail price. A few non-brands on ebay but doubt they would be a wise choice. I'll pm you if I come across anything. Fingers crossed for clear skies for you at the end of the month as well.

Keep the posts coming..........

Dai

 

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astronymonkey

astronymonkey

Posted
Posted

Its frustrating as we.have high cloud at the moment so although there are stars it is very murky with no wind. The temparature is low however with crost on the scopes and there is still a feeling of dampness in the air.

Having looked at the infra red satlite image it does seem to be clearing from the north east but given the speed of the clearing it looks like things may improve around 1pm.

So fingers crossed its going to improve , but nothing that simple in this hobby .

Cheers

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astronymonkey

astronymonkey

Posted
Posted

Well, things did improve slightly but brought a bit of breeze along with it. There was still quite a bit of skyglow from high mist which washed out a lot of the contrast which was a huge shame a apart from that the sky was clear.

Managed to spot the Leo triplet of galaxies so not too bad, but the horsehead still hid from view due to the haze.

Off to bed now.

Cheers

 

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Adrian Condon

Adrian Condon

Posted
Posted

Hi Dai,

Thanks for a mention in Despatches!

The clouds rolled in late last night, it was clearing from the East at 12:45am.

I got up at 04:52am, the skies were clear all round, though a bit hazy, Good views of Orion, M45, and Vega was hovering over Wigton. 

Why was I up so early, well.... it was very windy, I thought Julian tarp over his tent was blowing off, but as luck would have it, the running repairs we did on Saturday morning held. 

I am currently getting ready to go for a walk with Lesley and Bud, it is freezing with the breeze, so I have changed out of my shorts......

Will keep you posted.

Cheers

Adrian

PS.... were you the star of your nephew's fifth birthday party and will you be invited again?

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