If anyone is interested, the Brecon Beacon Astrocamp are now taking bookings for their Star Party from 7th to 10th Sept. this year. I'm going as an alternative to Kelling Heath as that place is too bloody windy.
ASTROCAMP (http://www.astrocamp.org.uk/)
Yes I would be interested, I'm booked for Kelling but that's in October this year.
I haven't seen a star party advertised anywhere, Do you know if there is any hook up?
Carole
Carole yes there are hook ups but not many apparently so book-up quick if you want one.
Obviously it is in the Brecon Beacons, but looking at the website I can't find details of the venue anyone know the campsite in question?
Ivor it's this place... http://www.cwmduholidaycottages.com/
Definitely looks remote enough, how well attended is it?
Apparently over 200 last year.
Isn't this the same place that was publicised last year and the media photos showed awful light pollution ?
I know the Beacons and they are really remote so it was unexpected.
I don't think it's going to be pitch black for sure. However there is a considerable amount of LP at Kelling Heath too and it will certainly be better than Rother Valley or Blacklands.
Anyone know how to find out how many cloud free minutes they have on average at that time of year?
According to http://www.need-less.org.uk/ Cwmdu in the Brecons is just a bit darker than Kelling Heath
According to this tool, rough figures for Limiting Visual Magnitude are:
Mark's 5.15
Mick's 5.3
Rother Valley 5.3
Kelling 5.5
Cwmdu 5.7
Exmoor 5.9
Kielder 6.75
Galloway Forest 6.8
Remote North coast of Scotland 7.85
Mark
But when there is cloud it doesn't matter what the visual magnitude is. :(
And traveling to the furthest reaches or close to home the cloud has the same effect.
Tony G
Tickets are available now. I've booked.
I've booked, but the receipt doesn't mention either my name or the fact that I've booked hook up, though my Paypal Receipt does, so I presume they get this at the bookings end.
Carole
I've booked too!
Carole...I contacted the chap via Facebook as Astrocamp has a page. He did confirm that as soon as all the electric hook ups have gone the option will be removed from the bookings page. He also said they will be in touch at a later date to confirm bookings and give details etc.
Kylee ;)
Oh great Kylee, so with Mike that makes 3 of us going.
Carole
It'll be my first Star party.....really looking forward to it. :D
Quote from: Carole on Jun 29, 2013, 12:02:49
Oh great Kylee, so with Mike that makes 3 of us going.
4 - Petra is going too.
Yay....girly gossip then ;)
Quote4 - Petra is going too.
Great.
QuoteIt'll be my first Star party.....really looking forward to it.
I thought you were going next week Kylee, or do you mean first public star party?
Carole
I am going at the weekend...tried my tent out for the first time today! It's been in the loft for over a year...brand new. Thought I should try it ......knowing my luck there would have been a vital piece missing.
Yeh...my first public star party, also my first DSC. ;)
Really looking forward to this....see those of you who are going soon :D
Yeah me too. Should be a nice change.
Yup, really looking forward to it.
Big panic this morning though as my mains to 12V adapter seems to have died, it was starting to be a bit dogy at Mark's. Have ordered another and hope it comes quickly. I run my dew heaters, CCD camera and EL panel from it!!!!
See you all there guys.
Carole
Have a good time. how long you going for?
Quote from: Fay on Sep 02, 2013, 16:46:48
Have a good time. how long you going for?
Fay
I think the answer is in the title 7th to 10th September :roll:
Tony G
Aw shucks did not see it
Quote from: Carole on Sep 02, 2013, 15:50:20
Yup, really looking forward to it.
Big panic this morning though as my mains to 12V adapter seems to have died, it was starting to be a bit dogy at Mark's. Have ordered another and hope it comes quickly. I run my dew heaters, CCD camera and EL panel from it!!!!
See you all there guys.
Carole
You can borrow mine if it doesnt Carole.
Thanks Les, hopefully it will come in time.
Carole
Hi from the Brecon Beacons, it's lovely and dark here, you can see the split in the milky way. We had an unexpected few hours partially clear this evening, so you had to pick where you imaged but closed down just after midnight when it started to rain.
Journey was quite long and I impressed myself that I only took 1/2 hour longer than Mike to get here with 2 toilet stops, not sure how often Mike stopped though. About 200 miles.
The Sky at Night team are filming and both Lucie Green and I gather Chris Linott are here though I haven't seen him. Lucie did some filming with Mike's set up with the coronado, and my camping observatory drew some attention from the S@N team. Kylee is here with her mum, Mike, Petra and myself.
Mike got some wide field and milky way shots.
Fingers crossed for more clear evenings.
Carole
We have lots of new television stars being created then ..... Mike, Carole, Kylee, Petra and.... and ..... :o
The sky last night was fantastic. Very little light pollution here and milky way visible from horizon to horizon.
As Carole said, Lucie Green spent some time with my gear and the society coronado filming a spot. A nice sun halo had appeared and they took the opportunity to film a short segment about it. Later one of the cameramen attached a Mallincam (very nice) to it to film a very large prominence.
Chris Lintott was filming a segment with someone who had baked some astronomical themed cakes.
Pete Lawrence is apparently here but haven't seen him yet.
Later when it was the dark the TV crew were wandering around with a night vision camera and spent some time filming Petra and I with Petra's 6" babydob.
Although the sky was fantastic it wasn't great for imaging as clouds kept rilling in then clearing away then repeat. So I just set up my Nikon with fisheye to do some shots of the sky.
This morning it is cloudy and looks like it might rain. It rained a little over night too but there is a possibility of another clear night tonight.
Went to the toilet and Chris Lintott was in there having a shave.
The campsite has WiFi, which is impressive, although it is slow and unreliable. Better than nothing though as there is zero mobile signal up here.
Pictures to follow...
Lucie Green and the Stargazing Live crew filming a short segment with my gear and the Coronado.
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/25623517/Photo%2007-09-2013%2016%2057%2055.jpg)
Cameraman with a nice Mallincam attached to the Coronado.
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/25623517/Photo%2007-09-2013%2017%2053%2018.jpg)
The view through the Mallincam.
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/25623517/Photo%2007-09-2013%2017%2057%2040.jpg)
We had a planetary imaging talk late morning followed by a Q&A filmed session with the Sky at Night team. Then this afternoon we had an excellent talk in the pub from an Astrophysics student on Exoplanets etc and "is there life elsewhere", followed by an Astronomy quiz which the S&N people all joined in as well. First prize was an Altair Astro Triplet refractor and not a small one at that!!!! We didn't win it.
It's been raining but we are as ever hopeful it might clear for tonight.
Carole
Cool!
That Mallincam looks the business.
What's the red "string" wrapped around the tripod legs?
Mark
Quote from: Carole
"is there life elsewhere"
Yes - plenty of it - just down the road at Myrthyr Tydfil.
Quote from: MarkS on Sep 08, 2013, 20:03:22
Cool!
That Mallincam looks the business.
What's the red "string" wrapped around the tripod legs?
Mark
My guess is Firemans Hose (that red liquorice stuff).
Myrthyr Tydfil! Richard Burton had fantasies about that place. remind me to tell you one day...........................
Well last night was grim, clouds, clouds and more clouds and it's been raining all night.
Fingers crossed that tonight will be ok.
Carole
Mark - The red stuff is electro-luminescent wire. I've spiraled it around the legs and it glows dimly red. It stops other people and also myself from accidentally kicking the tripod legs. Duncan, it looks exactly like red licorice laces.
Yesterday was cloudy. The Sky at Night crew came around again filmed me setting up and then James (I think that's his name) did a short interview piece with me and my kit. They asked me to send any pictures I did to them but it was cloudy all night and nobody got a thing. Later they filmed Lucie Green in front of my kit as the cameraman thought the glow from my laptop screen onto my face looked cool. Most of the night they were filming either Lucie, Chris or Pete saying how great the skies were and how clear it was. Even though in truth it was clouded over. Obviously some clever editing will take place with some shots of clear skies in-between from Saturday night. The BBC crew are packing up this morning and leaving.
It absolutely chucked it down last night and now it is foggy across the valley. Forecast says there is a chance of clear sky tonight so fingers crossed.
Mike
Quote from: Mike
The red stuff is electro-luminescent wire.
That's exactly what I need at home for marking the outside steps in the dark.
Sounds like you're having a great time there despite last night's weather. Looking forward to watching the programme.
Lunchtime Monday, the clouds are clearing. It's forecast to be clear tonight and tomorrow night, so might stop one extra night.
Carole
Well last night was clear but there was a lot of moisture. A lot more light pollution was visible due to it. Still a lot better than Kent though.
Tried to image but it was very frustrating. Got about 5 frames of the Crescent and then clouds rolled in. After that it was wave after wave of clouds followed by clear sky. Really frustrating.
In the end I kept losing my guide star so gave up.
Same here. Really excellent sky at first, then it filled with moisture, then it dripped on my laptop, then my laptop filled with moisture and died, then it clouded over.
I had one of those evenings where nothing would go right on Monday, typical when you have lovely dark skies.
Had just done an alignment and stood up and hit my head on the counterweights so had to start all over again. I can't remember all that happened but I know I had to align about 4 times in all. Then I found my dew heaters weren't working. Swapped my hub to my spare which worked the last time I used it, swapped my power supply, but still not working. All dewed up by this time.
In the end I went round the large group of Astronomers a couple of rows down and asked if any-one could help. Some-one loaned me a hairdryer, and some-one else loaned me a dew heater controller (not used one of those before, as my DH's are just plug and play). Got the guide DH going but the main imaging scope was only warm on one side. Subs don't look good, so I don't think they did the job properly. Stayed up a lot later than Mike, but then went down with a really rotten cold.
Feeling really rotten - Faced with the prospect of stopping another night in the cold and damp or driving home 200miles and getting back in the warm I decided the latter was the sensible option.
I could have done without all the packing up and such a long drive, I just wanted to crash into bed.
On the way home I got held up for half an hour on the M4 between Bristol and Swindon area, because there was a car on fire in the central reservation, high flames and black smoke, I was about 7 cars back. 3 policecars, 2 ambulances and the fire brigade were called. No idea what happened as I couldn't see a 2nd car, so presume it hit the central reservation because that's where it was parked, the car was smashed in at the front and totally burnt out. Also can't find anything in an internet search.
Carole
Carole
Oh my God Carole!! what a nightmare! you sure you are not affected buy hitting your head on the counterweights? how bad to not feel very well and have to drive home
Quotehow bad to not feel very well and have to drive home
Yes it was pretty awful, I managed to sort of overcome it to a certain extent whilst driving but as soon as I stopped at a service station for the loo and got out of the warm car into the colder air, I felt dreadful, not really well enough to drive, but had no choice.
The car is still packed and won't get unpacked until I am feeling a bit better, spending a lot of today in bed.
Carole
I commiserate.
I missed the recent transit of Venus for similar reasons. I was driving back through France overnight with all my imaging gear to an area in the North which had a good weather forecast for the morning. Had a terrible cold and pulled over in a service station because I was shattered and it would be unsafe to continue. Fell asleep and never made it to the North and consequently missed the transit it because it was cloudy where I was.
Get well soon!
Thanks Mark.
Incidentally I heard a piece of information which I was gobsmacked at.
There was a guy at Astrocamp who lives somewhere in the London area, who came laden with a huge backpack and 2 cases on wheels - including his camping gear and astronomy kit which apparently wasn't a small scope.
He got a taxi to a railway station in London, caught a train to Abergavenney and then a taxi to the camp site from there. What determination!!!! I saw him as he departed with huge backpack in place.
Apparently the taxi driver had a shock when he picked up the luggage.
Carole
That's real dedication!
What a wonderful time I had...and more importantly made wonderful memories with my Mum. Especially on the last night we just sat together watching the meteors shooting overhead. Used my scope for visual which was fantastic and took my first few images of the Milky Way which I am pleased with. All in all a fantastic experience.
Received this info from Spaceweather.com today:
QuoteMETEOR NEWS: Earth is passing through a stream of debris from an unknown comet or asteroid. It happens every year around this time and produces a minor shower known as the "September epsilon Perseids." This year, Earth ran into an unusually dense patch of meteoroids, which produced an outburst of meteors over Europe near midnight on Sept. 9-10.
Must account for the number of meteors and fireballs we saw on Monday evening, some in colour.
Carole
There was quite a lot that night.
I also, was quite surprised by the number of meteors I saw that night. It seemed too many to be random. Interesting to know there was definite cause.
Now I have managed to empty the car I have retrieved my camera, and here are some photos from Astrocamp:
My view from my tent which was opposite Mike and you can see the lovely rolling hills behind, they were in a westerly direction.
(http://gallery.orpington-astronomy.org.uk/albums/userpics/10047/normal_My_view.JPG)
Lucie Green and soundman talking to a young girl at the camp
(http://gallery.orpington-astronomy.org.uk/albums/userpics/10047/normal_Lucie_and_child.JPG)
A talk on planetary imaging. The screen was too bright for the detailed stuff so groups of us hovered around a laptop afterwards.
(http://gallery.orpington-astronomy.org.uk/albums/userpics/10047/normal_Imaging_talk.JPG)
The Sky at Night Team during the filmed Q&A session/Space Surgery
(http://gallery.orpington-astronomy.org.uk/albums/userpics/10047/normal_SkyatN_team_2.JPG)
(http://gallery.orpington-astronomy.org.uk/albums/userpics/10047/normal_SkyatN_team.JPG)
Carole is this an IR modded camera as these photos have a very weird colour cast?
Liked this one :)
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7426/9728143622_178dde0c4f.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/red40/9728143622/)
Astrocamp Cwmdu Sep 2013 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/red40/9728143622/) by kylee40 (http://www.flickr.com/people/red40/), on Flickr
Iridium Flare on the 9th September at Astrocamp.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3805/9733916044_2363ca7578.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/red40/9733916044/)
Iridium Flare over Cwmdu (http://www.flickr.com/photos/red40/9733916044/) by kylee40 (http://www.flickr.com/people/red40/), on Flickr
Quoteis this an IR modded camera
Yeah, I forgot until after I had posted them.
Carole
There are a few clips up on the S@N website.
At the end of CLIP 1 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01j0z44) you can briefly see Petra and I.
(BTW, when they were filming that segment with Chris and Pete it was 100% clouded over)
Lucie Green is using my mount with the OAS Coronado on it in CLIP 2 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01j0zqg).
Quote from: Mike
At the end of CLIP 1 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01j0z44) you can briefly see Petra and I.
I like the hat!!
That's my Biggles hat. I look great in it don't I? :-?