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Galloway Autumn Star Camp 2018


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Brilliant ! Praying for your clear skies.

I cried the first time that I saw dark sky.

Not for the views , but for what has been lost to us. Without being pretentious , I can imagine ancient man ( woman) standing in awe, what on Earth have we done !

We're at Glenluce, 20 miles distant , overlooking the bay for a week's holiday , clear skies !

Old Nick.

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Hi Folks,

Saturday Night Report....

Well, it has been a cracking day here in sunny Scotland.

The skies started to go blue around 09:00am.... we had a cold wind for a good part of the day but it absolutely no wind at present and long may it stay away.

Phil and myself went to Port William, it was really wind there, we could see the Isle of Man, so we did the honourable thing, we waved to Hadyn and Christina, but they didn't wave back.

So we phoned Hadyn and he was driving to the campsite at Ballaugh, site of a great Isle of Man (IoM) Star Party 3 weeks ago. Christina took the call and we complained that they hadn't returned our wave.

Hadyn was getting practice in for the long drive to SGL Lucsall next week.

After that we went birdwatching at Wigtown Bay Hide, saw some redshanks and a flock of geese.

Tonight, the skies are clear, it is getting colder so everyone is out and well wrapped up.

Yes Stu, Paul and family arrived safe and sound yesterday and currently chasing the stars.

As per usual great views of the Milky Way and constellations plus all the usual culprits.

Mars is showing nicely and Saturn is dropping below the Horizon in the southwest.

Orion will be up around 03:30 am on Sunday morning, that will be time for a wee dram and some soup!

Then at 06:15 am the Japanese Grand Prix starts, so it will be a busy night here in beautiful Galloway.

Trust the folks going to The SGL Star Party enjoy great clear skies,

Hadyn no doubt will give the SGL gang a rundown on the IoM event

I better get back out to enjoy the marvellous views.

Cheers till tomorrow.

Adrian

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I am glad you all got a clear night. Hope the views were worth the travel and effort to get there. A shame Wookie had a problem with his mount and was in pain. (know that problem only too well).

Wish you all safe trip home.

Derek

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Hi Nick,

I did not know you were up at Glen Luce. Phil and myself were up to Glen Luce Saturday afternoon. The sky in this corner of Scotland was  brilliant  last night till about 03:00 am this morning.

I went to bed at 02:00 am but got up again at 04:35am and the sky to the east was clear. The Orion constellation looked absolutely beautiful over the Solway Forth.

Went for the constitutional dog walk with Bud. It started to rain at 10:00am, luckily most of those with tents managed to get packed by the  time the rain got serious. It looks set in for the day.

I agree with Ian, when I closed the legs on my carbon fibre tripod, ice came off the legs.

I am going home tomorrow, so hoping the rain eases off and disappears before I need to pack up.

The only damage occurred during the windy weather was my Kampa Utility /Toilet tent which I use to cover the Dob. Two poles broke and the cloth the poles go through was ripped to shreds. Their guy lines are totally unsuitable as they appeared to be made of a poor quality cotton. I have a larger Kampa Utility tent that got two poles broken in March here. The supplier sent me two replacements after trying to get Kampa involved. The quality of the larger tent is very good, and I suppose the tent was not made to stand up to the 60mph winds we had in March. 

Phil and myself are going to the Harbour Inn in Garliston for the Sunday roast.

We have had a number of nights in which we saw stars. Less nights for the craic, but enough to make it a very enjoyable star party.

Trust the SGL Star Party gets a good number of clear nights.

Good Luck.....

Adrian

 

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Just astounding Orion. Great to catch the MW brushing this and the feet of Gemini. I counted 12 stars in the bow of Orion, before losing count ! All around were signs of nebulosity. Bins showed the area to be absolutely packed. Never seen Orion that good , even from North Skye. Definitely coming back ! 

Hope everyone enjoyed the sky !

old Nick.

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23 minutes ago, cotterless45 said:

Just astounding Orion. Great to catch the MW brushing this and the feet of Gemini. I counted 12 stars in the bow of Orion, before losing count ! All around were signs of nebulosity. Bins showed the area to be absolutely packed. Never seen Orion that good , even from North Skye. Definitely coming back ! 

Hope everyone enjoyed the sky !

old Nick.

I told you Galloway is good Nick.

We had some good views on the north of Skye for a couple of hours last night with the bins, although we didn't have a scope set up to take full advantage. 

No frost though for us.

Wind and lashing rain today and probably no views to be had tonight by the looks of it.

I hope all those who are travelling home have a safe journey.

See you all for the spring bash if there is one :wink:

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2 hours ago, Adrian Condon said:

The only damage occurred during the windy weather was my Kampa Utility /Toilet tent which I use to cover the Dob. Two poles broke and the cloth the poles go through was ripped to shreds. Their guy lines are totally unsuitable as they appeared to be made of a poor quality cotton. I have a larger Kampa Utility tent that got two poles broken in March here. The supplier sent me two replacements after trying to get Kampa involved. The quality of the larger tent is very good, and I suppose the tent was not made to stand up to the 60mph winds we had in March. 

You seem to have a lot of bad luck with tents Adrian.

I have the same large Kampa utility tent which was pitched at the same event and didn't any trouble with it.

It was rather windy and could be where you're pitching in the bottom corner of the site being more exposed. 

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Hi Damian.

I agree, it is winder in the corner, I think you have some protection from the hedge.

I like the bottom corner...... because I can talk to the farmer who owns the field as he is a friend of one of my best friends in the Isle of Whithorn.

Plus less light from the others who camp nearer the facilities block.

My big Outwell tent takes the same bashing and it survives.... of course it costs a lot more.

Anyway, trust you are in the best of health and we will be seeing you at Galloway soon.

Cheers

Adrian

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Thanks to all who organised the Galloway Star Party. Drumroamin is a gem of a campsite and the Saturday skies were epic. Hope the couple with the tent and no instructions got it packed  before the rain set in. 

Many thanks to Ian (Uplooker) for showing me the difference a filter makes to the Veil Nebula and giving me something else to buy.  

Hope everyone got home safely. 

John

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Got home at 1630. Tired and ready for the tea Liz has made, if nothing else - it’s not Irish stew.

Brilliant SP, as always. Thanks for your organising skills Mike @Demon Barber, would not have happened with out you. Also Leslie and Ralf for running a fabulous campsite. Saturday was definitely the night, good thing we had other entertainment on the cloudy ones.

Good to have met some old and new faces, look forward to seeing you all in Feb.

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Thank you to everyone at SP great event sorry did not meet everyone. Hopefully I will be more mobile and not in so much pain next time Saturday night was absolutely superb I bagged my nemesis M51 and the scope is brilliant. Sadly the mount wasn't.

Great to meet Ian again (Uplooker) manged to see the witches broom through his 12" absolutely stunning Thanks Ian. 

So thankful to meet new people who came over and had a look at the scope and said it got a bit of dirt but should be fine which it proved to be.

We got home at about 4.30 all tired. Report to come later or tomorrow when I can get my notes together.

Paul  

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Hi Ian,

Glad you got home safely and the A75 closure was not a major problem.

The weather here is back to windy, the grass has dried out amazingly, given the rain only stopped around 16:00 hours.

I took some shots of the Milky Way last night, which I hope to put one on the site when I get home.

I think I will treat myself to a walk to Mike's static van soon for a quick chat with Phil, Kenny and Mike.

It is very quiet here now and no red lights to be seen.

Hoping that the wind may blow the clouds away, so I have my tripod and camera at the ready.   (So has Phil!)

David, hope your back was not too painfully driving back to Perth ( Scotland ).

Trust everyone had a safe and uneventful journey home.

Yes, Saturday night was brilliant..... definitely worth doing the 800 mile round trip!!!!!

To Julian and Dai who unfortunately could not make it this time, remember that we do it again in the Spring of 2019........

All the Best.

Adrian

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