| StarDate 2011 Review |
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Report by Vicki Irons (photos unless noted by Mary-Anne Jack)
Although many people arrived on Thursday and enjoyed some wonderful, clear observing until 2am, the official programme didn’t start until Friday. The weather dawned hot and humid on Friday, tents sprouted up all over the place, the Tukituki river was investigated in its new path, and the beer tent caught the delightful cross-breeze. A big crowd came together over the sausage sizzle at 6pm where new faces were welcomed amongst the old hats. The opening talk by Antony Gomez, Phoenix president, was “Just 6 numbers” after Martin Lord Rees’ book of the same name. It raised many questions, and caused wonderment at how our universe is so well put together for humans. John Burt’s talk “It’s Life Jim, But Not As We Know It” about DNA, mutations, and alien life, segued perfectly and was both informative and entertaining. After this illuminating talk we ventured outside to near full dark and enjoyed telescopic views of the homunculus in Carina, the Tarantula, 8 burst and Orion nebula among others. While gazing skyward we were treated to many meteors, iridium flares and even a fireball which caused a collective gasp of “Wow”. Its lingering trail was photographed by John Drummond. Saturday dawned mercifully cooler so the Telescope trail was delightful and informative along with the sad (or lucky) news the great binoscope is for sale (my lotto ticket didn’t win!). The usual (or unusual) fascinating innovations from telescope twiddlers amused and amazed. Telescope Trail Report by Cameron Jack (photos by Edwin Rodley and Cameron Jack) Not many new scopes were seen on the trail this year, and given the level of chatter about observatories I think I can see where people’s efforts are going instead. However there were still some very impressive scopes on display. Laser pointers and computer enabled alt-az mountings are becoming the norm. Meanwhile George Moutzouris talked with our younger astronomers about objects visible to the naked eye, and a short excursion to look at the sun through Terry Galuszka’s solar scope was delayed by sudden cloud cover (which would turn to be a bit of a theme!) After lunch Murray Forbes talked about the power of the Sun, Ian Cooper alerted us to the unpredictable nature of our star and Jibu Stephen illustrated solar flares and loops with fabulous little movies. After a break the astrophotographers talked technique and demonstrated devices. Around 6 the fish and chip dinner was handed out, eaten and cleared away in time for the live streaming video talk (www.nightskiesnetwork.com) by John Whitby. Fascinating what technology can do now. As dark descended the night was clear enough to see Europa disappear behind Jupiter, enjoy the slim crescent Moon and simple sights of M42, M41 and M45 before the cold front condensed the moisture into clouds. The observation then became of human and Vulcan nature in the excellent Star Trek alternative/prequel which was enjoyed by a large crowd. Sunday morning’s adults-vs.-kid soccer game had been well co-ordinated with the help of young Philip Gibbs and was energetically pursued by some, despite George continuing to be chased by the rain powers! After some sound competition the adults scraped through a win 5-4. Then it was time for the second part of George’s kids programme, and our younger astronomers battled more impending rain to map out the size of the Solar system. Before breaking for lunch, Vicki talked about basic shadows, etc. and this year’s coming treat of two lunar eclipses. Afterward, Terry Galuszka took us through building his own observatory: over 600 hours with very little monetary input (for those less energetic Ivan Vasey showed the simplicity of a SkyPod, which costs considerably more but takes only a few hours to clip together). Then Don McLaren outlined the collective thought and effort put into the building of Pukerangi Observatory for Napier Astro Society. The considerable support of the President Gary Sparks and their fund-raising efforts certainly helped. How we came to know the speed of light was explained by Vicki Irons, followed by Gary Sparks suggesting yet more ways to spend astronomical amounts of money on another target - stamps! After dinner Paul Moss talked about “Sharing Space,” another educational and inspiring way of presenting astronomy to a wider audience, followed by Terry Galuszka’s tour of solar system favourites which was combined with “Tidal Forces,” highlighting the correlation between our Moon’s cycle and Earth’s quakes. Finally, Ian Cooper entertained indoors by showing us the weather website, which was all bad news and clouds over Hawke’s Bay so the classic 80’s movie “Tron” coloured the evening. Mass exodus on Monday - in keeping with the weather forecast - left the campsite bereft of the great group who had come together to enjoy astronomy and Dave Moorhouse’s magnificent binoscope for probably the last time. Yet another stimulating Stardate, enjoyed by many from all over New Zealand. |
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