AstronomyNZ

by Kate Robinson

Stardate 2010 will probably be remembered for its weather, which could best be

described as inclement. This isn’t to say though that the weekend wasn’t a success. In

fact, as my first Stardate experience, I can say that I learned a great deal about astronomy,

met some wonderful people and had a really great time.

With the forecast for the weekend not being particularly hopeful for clear skies, a number

of people headed to the site in the Tukituki Valley near Havelock North on the Thursday.

The drive up from Wellington was beautiful – warm and clear with wispy cloud on a

cerulean sky.

 

Camps were being set up around the two paddocks, the upper for families and the lower

for the adults and serious star gazers, with the best all round views of the sky. There was

also accommodation in the bunkhouse for those who weren’t keen to brave the weather in

a tent. I chose to set my little tent up close to the bunkhouse, perhaps a little close to the

junior early risers, but also clear of any potential flooding.

A sausage sizzle was available for dinner and allowed time to meet new and old friends.

I’d borrowed a little telescope for the weekend that was misaligned, so Roger Gibbs of

Masterton set about collimating it for me but didn’t get as far as checking it against any

celestial body. Unfortunately, the encroaching cloud bank finally covered the sky just as

dusk was falling. A brief glimpse of Sirius and the sky was gone – pretty much for the

rest of the weekend!

There were screenings of BBC astronomical documentaries in the hall before everyone

gradually drifted off to bed, with the occasional hopeful look to the sky. It was drizzling

at 2 am when I looked out of my tent, and it got wetter as the weekend progressed.

 

 

Friday was the official start of the weekend. The day was overcast and slow, with people

arriving to set up camp and register. They came from Wellington, Auckland, Rotorua,

Palmerston North, Masterton, Carterton, Levin and Hawke’s Bay. Dee and Ruth Friesan

had come all the way from New Mexico to enjoy the Hawke’s Bay weather. There was

some use made of binoculars and cameras as a kingfisher perched on the flying fox and

made forays to the ground for bugs. Along the river there were several pied stilts and lots

of swifts.

Deborah Hambly of Baylys Beach and Andy Dobson of New Plymouth set up a stall

of items for sale – everything from star charts and planispheres and accessories for

telescopes and astrophotography to a couple of telescopes.

After another sausage sizzle for dinner, Antony Gomez gave the welcoming address

in the hall and introduced the evening’s speakers. Murray Forbes of Wellington talked

about observing a grazing lunar occultation of sigma Scorpii and the results achieved

by the group doing the observing. While this was the most technical of the weekend’s

presentations, it was still easily comprehensible to the non-tech types in the audience.

After supper, John Drummond of Gisborne had spines tingling with stories and pictures

of items large and small that have hit the Earth, and those that are predicted to give us a

close encounter in the near(ish) future. The scariest of these is the Asteroid Apophis (the

Destroyer), whose 7 year spyrogragh-like cycle is likely to bring it into close proximity

with the Earth in 2036. Ohmigosh, whatever will we do to counter this potential threat?

Could we nuke it? How will we survive a catastrophic impact? Stay tuned for the next

exciting instalment!

John followed this talk with a presentation of the RASNZ Astrophotography competition

winners for 2009. Late in the year it was decided to divide the competition into seasons

rather than months in order to get more entries per section. The pictures were wonderful,

but a surprising number of categories had no entries. So go ahead, enter your pictures.

You may even win, especially if you are the only entry!

There was no telescope viewing possible so we skipped straight to the next item, the

movie “Moon”, followed by more conversation and a relatively early night (at least for

those on the upper paddock).

The programmed telescope trail on Saturday morning was delayed due to the rain, and

George Moutzouris’s (Wellington) Kid’s Astronomy: The Solar System talk was well

attended by kids and adults alike. It’s very helpful to be reminded of the basics.

The afternoon sessions were all about getting started in astrophotography (Cameron

Jack of Wellington) and using film instead of, or as well as, digital for capturing those

amazing images (Ian Cooper of Palmerston North).

After afternoon tea Edwin Rodley of Wellington caught us up on the surprisingly large

number of space missions that are currently in progress, and was followed by Gary

Sparks of Napier sharing his experiences of the International Space Camp in Alabama.

They had some great toys to play with and we’re wondering how we can get to borrow

some for the next Stardate.

This year’s Stardate dinner was catered via the Huamoana fish’n’chippie. Orders had

been taken on arrival for a choice of fish, burger, spring rolls or chicken nuggets, all to be

served with salad and chips and a choice of icecream or cheesecake for dessert. A motley

collection of volunteers were swung into action to dish up the meals, and the whole

operation went pretty smoothly once a routine was established. This may become an

annual format, as it provided good tasty food at a fraction of the cost of previous years.

Next, international guest Dee Friesan from Albuquerque, New Mexico, introduced us

to the activities of The Albuquerque Astronomical Society (www.TAAS.org). Dee has

attended a previous Stardate and has made many friends here and it was wonderful to

have him share the variety of activities that his club does to promote astronomy to the

people of Albuquerque.

Other presentations on Saturday evening were Cameron Jack giving the stories behind

the photos in this year’s Phoenix Society Almanac, and John Burt (Gisborne) and John

Drummond providing a double act showing their trip to China for the solar eclipse. As

with Stardate, the weather had been unhelpful at the moment of the eclipse but they

still managed some great photos and video and the travel shots of tours in China were

interesting. The observing for the evening was a washout, so the movie was put on early.

Appropriately it was A. C. Clarke’s “2010”. I had seen “2001, A Space Odyssey” in

2001. Not sure I will be around long enough to see “2061” or “3001” assuming the books

are made into films.

Sunday, lying in my tent with the sun playing on the fly, offered hope of a better chance

to do some observing but the weather was still being temperamental. George presented

the second of his kid’s astronomy talks on the Universe, then tried to show the relative

distances of the objects in our solar system by having the kids stand in the appropriate

place out on the lower paddock. Rain came and spoiled the effect, for while the exercise

was scaled down to be completed indoors, it lacked the visual impact.

The afternoon session had a series of talks on building observatories – Graham Palmer

gave an update on the dark sky observatory being built on a property at Pukerangi,

including information on the legal precedents set for the right of access agreement with

the landowner. The 9 m roof slides off and the project is to be wind and solar powered.

John Drummond used Benny Hill music to drive his audience to distraction while he

showed the construction of his latest observatory (Tui – after the bird and his favourite

beer) then John Burt showed how he constructed a GSO (garden shed observatory),

including the intention that it continue to look like a garden shed to deter potential

burglars.

Other talks on Sunday afternoon were Matariki (John Drummond), Gardening by the

Moon (Vicki Irons of Wellington), and Dee Friesan showing the prehistorical astronomy

practiced in the Chaco Canyon in New Mexico.

At 5 pm the telescope trail finally got underway, as the weather relented and the sun

actually hung out long enough to be seen through telescopes set up by Andy Dobson,

Deborah Hambly and John Burt. After Deborah explained what I was looking at, I was

able to discern a couple of sunspots and some filaments and the orange peel effect of the

sun’s surface.

After dinner of another sausage sizzle, the final talks were given. Richard Hall of

Carterton challenged our understanding of the space/time continuum, taking us at the

speed of light through the centre of the galaxy and down its black hole, showing what

we might experience in there if it were possible to relay the information back out. This

caused a degree of debate in the supper interval – let’s face it – prove it! Ultimately this is

all theory, albeit theory based on sound science and mathematics. There can be no proof.

John Drummond introduced us to Rob McNaught, the most prolific discoverer of comets

on Earth (over 50 at last count) and namesake of the beautiful comet that graced the skies

of Stardate last year.

Finally, Kay Leather of Carterton showed how the Mayan Empire probably met its

demise (drought, over-population and environmental destruction), and why we’re

probably not doomed in 2012 despite the fear-mongering over the Mayan prophesy.

The movie was the modern remake of Journey to the Centre of the Earth.

There were patches of clear sky by the end of the movie and a chance to test the newly

collimated telescope that I had brought with me. Mars rose, there was a brief glimpse of

Saturn (still can’t distinguish the rings in this scope), a quick look at the Orion Nebula,

and all attempts to view alpha Crux thwarted by rapidly moving clouds, and that was that

for the night.

Monday most packed up and went home. A few stayed on to enjoy the quiet of the area,

and a meal in at the Rose and Shamrock pub in Havelock North. Of course the weather

cleared and presented a night perfect for observing for the handful that stayed behind.

I wandered off to visit friends in Wanganui, and caught a nice shot of the new moon

setting in company with Jupiter on my little point-and-shoot Canon.

The weekend had been wonderful. The organizers did a fabulous job and kept everything

running smoothly. The site is in the wine-growing area around Havelock North, and close

to Cape Kidnappers and Hastings, so there were plenty of things to do for the families of

the astronomers. The kids all seemed to have a great time, running around and playing

with a freedom rarely seen in the city these days.

See you all at Stardate 2011.