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Peak Star Party Lives Again! 21 - 24 October

jamespels

By jamespels
in Star Parties & Astro Events

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osteoblast

osteoblast

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I'd also like to echo all the positive comments. My first starparty and me and my 7 year old son had a great time. We even won the picture quiz (with 11 out of 98! - there was a lovely horsehead and it was fiendish that the monkey's head was actually apus rather than the monkey head nebula) but having a youngster meant we probably got a few extra clues. Shame my son picked the shortbread instead of the nice red wine but he will learn. I'm now looking forward to the next.

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jamespels

jamespels

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I am so glad you all had a great time - it was lovely to meet all the people I have been chatting with this last year. Formal PSP release on the weekend coming up before too long but, on a purely personal level, I had a fantastic time, the friendly atmosphere with everybody welcome all over the site was wonderful and seeing the forest of hands go up when we asked on Friday who was at their first star party made it all worthwhile for me.

Many, many thanks to everybody who "donated" so generously to the badges / raffle on Sunday morning - we have great plans for the funds raised and will keep you up to date through the new PDDS / PSP website (coming next month) and the forums.

Thanks again for your support,

James.

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jamespels

jamespels

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Hi Kerry, great to meet you over the weekend (albeit in passing without too much chance for a long chat!); lovely pics - well done :)

Looks like you had a great time, and congratulations on the new scope - what is it and where did you get it? If you picked up P2V's £6,700 6" frac I'll be a tad jealous!

J.

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kharga

kharga

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I'd also like to echo all the positive comments. My first starparty and me and my 7 year old son had a great time. We even won the picture quiz (with 11 out of 98! - there was a lovely horsehead and it was fiendish that the monkey's head was actually apus rather than the monkey head nebula) but having a youngster meant we probably got a few extra clues. Shame my son picked the shortbread instead of the nice red wine but he will learn. I'm now looking forward to the next.

Don't know if I would have been allowed to give a 7 year old a bottle of wine - not with Policeman Paul on site!

It was great to see his face as he came up to get the biscuits.

Also the look on the face of the young lad who won the binoculars in the raffle :(

Glad you all had a great weekend - I know that we, the sheriffs are cream crackered and glad tomorrow is a day off. :)

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KerryAnn23

KerryAnn23

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haha i would never spend that much on a scope unless i won the lottery lol, i got the scope (skyMaster 130M) from a man on the camping field, really bad with names but he was next to veracocha if thats spelt right lol, i was so happy i forgot to ask all the questions i really should have but went back quite a few times with something to ask and to observe a little on Sunday night....... cant believe its been and gone now, roll on the next one.... well done james and everyone else involved x:-))

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jamespels

jamespels

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Lovely little scope is the SW130 - my father has one and I have been very impressed with the views through it (not sure if it is a -M or not). I guess it helps he lives in the south of France with dark skies and shirt-sleeve observing but that certainly doesn't take away from the scope.

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spaceboy

spaceboy

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That 6" APO was a sight to behold with a stunning feathertouch focuser as well.

I would have settled for the 6" f/12 Achro though :p

How much are kidneys worth on the open Market these days? :(

No good! They're only worth £3000 and you need to keep one :)

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KerryAnn23

KerryAnn23

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i need to get more eyepieces for it and then i might take it to the closest dark spot near me and properly give it a go, glad i didnt plan to test it out tonight as its awful,windy and complete cloud,kind of a good thing though with the lack of sleep iv had lol

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Bellyeye

Bellyeye

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Great weekend - last night blew away the cobwebs!

Cheers James for what was a really successful SP... and also the launch of a celebrity career for Shane & his Dob. Every time I passed there was a gathering of 4 or 5 people queuing at the eyepiece! Hope the guy rope idea works out..and that you enjoyed the derby!!!!

Thanks to Paul and Paul from Macc AS for sorting my PHD problems. Paul's Takahashi was my dream scope of the weekend.

hope to see you all there next year if not sooner

John

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Moonshane

Moonshane

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cheers John - I am already working on it. I can also use the cover and guy ropes as a form of crowd control. certainly enjoyed the Derby! shocking result but glad we were on the right side of it.

I agree Paul's scope was a real stunner.

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MjrTom

MjrTom

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Yeah that was one nice looking scope. :D

I think it was Paul (or his friend) who allowed me to look through his alt/az tracked PST on Saturday morning.

It's the first time I have seen a Hydrogen alpha sun and was taken aback by the view. Watching an especially nice prominence on the limb was a highlight of my weekend.

Just need to convince the wife to buy me a solar scope for Christmas! :)

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DoctorD

DoctorD

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Hi

A big thanks to James and all other people who helped make PSP 2011 such a great family friendly week end especially for us star party newbies.

Unfortunately we did not get to any of the presentations, however my to girls really enjoyed the bottle rocket competition and telescope building.

We spent a lot of time with Nigel and his 6" refractor in the touring field - he really held my kids (8 & 11 years old) interest and went to great lengths to help them see the wonders of the night sky.

I also spent some time with the chap with the 16" Dobsonian - sorry didn't get your name.

My 11 year old (and I) were totally blown away by the views of The Great Hercules cluster, the Ring Nebula and the Dumbell Nebula in this monster scope.

We're all looking forward to next year!

Clear dark skies

Paul

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Paul23

Paul23

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Managed my first full nights sleep since starting with the set up of PSP 2011 last Wednesday:).

Already now to do it all over again for PSP2012 there have been e-mail exchanges already with the marshals on what we may be doing to improve things for next year….

Just to show a few more pics here are some Richard has taken… Look at some of those bottle rocket captions.  Peak Star Party 2011 by R & A Knisely-Marpole

The Peak District Dark Skies group (PDDS) will be running a few more evening events and we will publish these on our website very soon (Just adding the finishing touches to it).

Shane thanks for the views through the big dob. I won’t forget the view of the Orion neb in a hurry, better than some photographs I have seem.

I know I was sending quite a few people up to you and thank you for your time and patience with the number of visits to your dob, you are a great ambassador for our hobby. :D

On a personal note I would like to thank everyone for the generosity you all showed with the purchase of badges and raffle tickets to aid our cause against light pollution in the peak district. It’s very pleasing to find a group of people who all not only share a passion for what they are doing but also care enough to do something to preserve and improve it. You all made the event what it was and I look forward to seeing you all next year. :):hello2::o:hello2::p

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