Phoenix Star Party Tonight

[The Phoenix Astronomical Society New Zealand]

The weather is expected to be rubbish tonight but as it will be my last observing session before I head to Canberra to take up my new job I look forward to seeing as many of you at the observatory as possible.

Given the poor weather we'll probably try to use the occasion to run a mini-workshop instead on some aspect of practical astronomy - whatever people want to do the most.

Don't forget the BBQ!

Best regards,

Cameron Jack -VP (out-going)

Star Party Saturday February 26th from 6pm (Rain or Shine):

This year the lunar cycle allows us to once again place the monthly

star party the Saturday directly after Wairarapa meeting. This means

we get two shots at a clear, dark sky each month without interruption

from the moon. Reminders and any cancellations go out on the Phoenix

Announcements emailing list, if you‘re not receiving these then please

join up here: http://groups.google.com/group/phoenix-astro-announcement?lnk=srg.

We‘ll kick off at 6pm with the traditional BBQ. While we wait for the

sky to get dark we‘ll go for a tour through the constellations of

Monoceros and Gemini – which will also be the target of the

telescopes, as we try to track down all the objects to the right of

Orion, as faint as we can find them. In case the weather is inclement

(no stars) then we‘ll fall back a presentation from Stardate just

been: Binocular Summer Deep Sky.

We‘ll be playing a late night movie from 10pm to keep entertained

those people too tired or cold to observe. If the weather‘s rubbish

we‘ll start it a bit earlier.

6:00 pm   BBQ and Get-together

8:00 pm   Summer Night Sky AV

8:30 pm   Tour through Monoceros and Gemini (live planetarium)

9:00 pm   Observing: Monoceros and Gemini OR Binocular Summer Deep Sky

10:00 pm Movie - Bill and Ted‘s Excellent Adventure

Astrophotography

Don‘t forget that we have a working astrograph in the Nankivell

Observatory. You‘ll need a ball mount for your camera and matching

bolt to secure it to the mounting plate - which simply has four holes

spaced out along it for bolts to run through. The maximum realistic

focal length that can be mounted this way is about 300mm, which should

be plenty to get some great images. For information about getting

started contact Terry Galuszka Ter...@astronomypix.com.