Mark wrote; .... and visible during SSP!
Hi Mark,
Speaking of Star Parties, I just got back from 7 days of power observing in
Australia, where about 20 of us were hosted by Tony Buckley, Andrew Murrell,
Lachland MacDonald, and Gary Kopff (Mr. Argo Navis) in Coonabarabran, NSW, about
350 miles Northwest of Sydney. Remote and dark, what a concept, but only 8 miles
from the nearest pub.
The US contingent included myself, Debbie Searle and Sheryl Johnson (stars of
the Obsession video), Dave Kriege (Mr. Obsession himself), and about 16 others
from California, Wisconsin and Texas.
We were set up with a 25" and (2) 20" telescopes, all with Argo Navis and one
with ServoCat, along with a few other smaller 'scopes that I never even looked
through.
No need for me to tell you what we saw down there, because you yourself have
just viewed the same things. But let me tell you, those Aussies know how to
party, and are the best hosts you could ever ask for. They supplied the
telescopes, the viewing spot (complete with cabins), custom-labeled wine
(BlitzKriege), and several nights of barbies & beer (but no Fosters, that's the
crap they use for export). We were treated like family right from the start, and
even invited back, anytime! We stayed in town for AUS$85 per night, no worries.
We got a behind-the-scene tour of the AAT at Siding Springs, the biggest
telescope in Australia, which was just another 8 miles up the road from the
cabins where we viewed.
Andrew Murrell is the Australian version Steve Gottlieb or Barbara Houston (and
only a few others), and it was a rare treat to not only be able to enjoy the
usual and customary eye-candy of the Southern sky, but also have Andrew parade
one obscure object after another, night after night, before my very eyes. The
proverbial kid in a candy store, was I. "Ruprecht 103? No problem, mate, step
right up and have a look". It just went on and on...
See you in July...
\Paul Alsing
Received on Mon Apr 18 16:57:16 2005