Re: Australia Octobert 2009

  Sounds like a fantastic trip Mark!

  How long we're you there and what time of the year?

   Unfortunately I only have two weeks.

   Dennis

--- On Wed, 7/1/09, Mark Buxbaum <markbuxbaum@No-Spam> wrote:

From: Mark Buxbaum <markbuxbaum@No-Spam>
Subject: Re: [TAC] Australia Octobert 2009
To: tac@No-Spam
Date: Wednesday, July 1, 2009, 1:52 PM

I did a combination of traveling around solo
and attending public star parties.
It was the best of both worlds!
I had a superb time.
Best Regards Mate.
Mark

Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2009 13:18:15 -0700
From: szsherm@No-Spam
To: tac@No-Spam
Subject: Re: [TAC] Australia Octobert 2009

Dennis,
I truly can't say if it would be better to go with a group or alone. How many nights do you think you will spend observing? (Allow 20-50% loss to account for weather) Will you go with a list of objects you want to observe  (highly reocmmended)? I would also say that as you will be unfamiliar with the sky, it may be more difficult to locate objects than you might think, so a go-to scope would be very helpful, IMO. I would not worry about finding objects in the LMC - I'd say those will be pretty easy to find, for the most part (just use a wide-field long fl eyepiece, you'll see what I mean.

It might be worthwhile contacting Bruce Sayre who has been there several times for the installation of at least a couple of his 22" binoculars. (http://www.foothill.net/~sayre/)

Shneor

--- On Wed, 7/1/09, Dennis Beckley <dbeckley94510@No-Spam> wrote:

From: Dennis Beckley <dbeckley94510@No-Spam>
Subject: Re: [TAC] Australia Octobert 2009
To: "TAC mailing list" <tac@No-Spam>
Date: Wednesday, July 1, 2009, 12:02 PM

Thanks Shneor.

Would like your opinion regarding going with a large group (the Three Rivers Fondation) in March or just going by myself in October. The guys in Australia are very keen on first time Southern Sky observers going with the group in March where there will be an abundance of expert volunteers with their big dobs available to to show various objects.  They say the chance for clear skies are better in March than October as well. The other alternative is just to rent Timor cabin that comes with a 12 inch dob to work through various objects on my own.

Generally I like to work alone and wouldn't anticipate trouble locating any objects that I might want to see.but the problem is I might get bogged down looking at various lessor objects say for instance in the LMC and miss some of the real southern highlight objects.

Is it better just to regard this trip as an overview to whet my appitite for future more detailed trips and benefit from the collaborative effort of the group or just go for it on my own and perhaps get more hands on scope time?

Would really appreciated your input.

I believe former TAC member Bill Drelling want on the group trip with Anne Adkins last March and I will try to get his input.

Thanks again,

Dennis

--- On Wed, 7/1/09, Shneor Sherman <szsherm@No-Spam> wrote:

From: Shneor Sherman <szsherm@No-Spam>
Subject: Re: [TAC] Australia Octobert 2009
To: "TAC mailing list" <tac@No-Spam>
Date: Wednesday, July 1, 2009, 8:16 AM

Hi Dennis,
Yes, I rented in Sydney, at the airport.

Sorry to hear Magellan is closed, hope all is well there.

Shneor
--- On Tue, 6/30/09, Dennis Beckley <dbeckley94510@No-Spam> wrote:

From: Dennis Beckley <dbeckley94510@No-Spam>
Subject: Re: [TAC] Australia Octobert 2009
To: "TAC mailing list" <tac@No-Spam>
Date: Tuesday, June 30, 2009, 3:58 PM

  Thanks Shneor.

   Paul Alsing said that he got an international driver's license at AAA before he left but sounds like it may not be a requirement.  Did you rent a car in Sidney to drive to the Magellan Observatory?  BTW, I checked the Magellan Observatory website and it said "close until further notice"?!  Hope nothing bad happened to the site.  They had some bad brush fires in Australia last year.

Dennis

--- On Tue, 6/30/09, Shneor Sherman <szsherm@No-Spam> wrote:

From: Shneor Sherman <szsherm@No-Spam>
Subject: Re: [TAC] Australia Octobert 2009
To: "TAC mailing list" <tac@No-Spam>
Date: Tuesday, June 30, 2009, 3:27 PM

My California license was fine (although I did get an international license just in case). I was there in April, I think.

--- On Tue, 6/30/09, Dennis Beckley <dbeckley94510@No-Spam> wrote:

From: Dennis Beckley <dbeckley94510@No-Spam>
Subject: Re: [TAC] Australia Octobert 2009
To: "TAC mailing list" <tac@No-Spam>
Date: Tuesday, June 30, 2009, 11:41 AM

  Thanks Shneor.

  Will check and see if Magellean Observatory is  available at that time.

  Were your there in October?  What was the weather like?

  Did you need to get a special international driver's license or is a California license good enough?

  Thanks again and good to hear from you.

  Dennis

--- On Tue, 6/30/09, Shneor Sherman <szsherm@No-Spam> wrote:

From: Shneor Sherman <szsherm@No-Spam>
Subject: Re: [TAC] Australia Octobert 2009
To: dbeckley94510@No-Spam, "TAC mailing list" <tac@No-Spam>
Date: Tuesday, June 30, 2009, 11:19 AM

Hi Dennis,
Google Magellan Observatory and call or email the owner; see if his servo-catted 24" in a dome is available when you want to rent it. You only pay for decent observing nights, but you'll have to pay for every night at the guest house (which has a well-equipped kitchen).
I rented a car in Sydney and drive south, about 2/3 of the way to Canberra. You can also take a train to the nearest town and will be picked up. (There are a couple of supermarkets in the town, and you can stock up on provisions there). Driving, BTW, is on the "wrong" side of the road...That's as far as memory goes, though I may be able to find more detail in old email.
Clears,
Shneor

--- On Mon, 6/29/09, dbeckley94510@No-Spam <dbeckley94510@No-Spam> wrote:

From: dbeckley94510@No-Spam <dbeckley94510@No-Spam>
Subject: [TAC] Australia Octobert 2009
To: tac@No-Spam
Date: Monday, June 29, 2009, 8:05 PM

Hi Fellow Tacites,

I need some group input on an observing trip to Australia that I'm planning on doing over the new moon period in October 2009.  The round trip non-stop airfare from SFO to Sidney is as low as $588 on expedia or $689 on Quantas.  If you have MegaStar or some similar planetarium software program input Sidney for your location and October 19th as the date and print out two charts - one at 10:00 pm and one at 3:00 am and you'll see why I'm so excited!

The Large and Small Magellanic Cloud regiions are very high and up all night. The eta Carinae regions arise very early in the morning. Just about every cool Souther Sky Object is there for the viewing!  Hard to imagine a better time to be there!

Normally the Obsession Group has a party going over and has big scopes set by the local Australian observers at Coonabrabran. However this year their big party was in March.

I know many TACO's have done the trip (Steve Gottlieb, Albert Highe, Bob Jardine, Shnear Sherman, Darrell Lee and others) and I'd like to know how they handled trips to Coonabrabran or the Magellan Observatory.  Like to know things about renting scopes over there, travel, lodging, the weather in October, all the little details so I can start making plans.

Although this may be a little off-topic observing in Australia and how to do it may be of general interest to the group. I can also be reached privately at dbeckley94510@No-Spam  The airfare to Australia has always been the limiting factor for two people but now, thanks to the economic downturn, Australia is much more affordable so no more excuses for me.

Thanks for all your input.

Dennis Beckley

-----Inline Attachment Follows-----

---
June 28, 2009: TAC Web Page Updated http://observers.org/TAC.cgi/Announcements/
Star Party! CalStar: Sept 17-20: http://www.observers.org/CalStar
TAC mailing list - to join, manage, or leave: http://nine.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/tac
-----Inline Attachment Follows-----
---
June 28, 2009: TAC Web Page Updated http://observers.org/TAC.cgi/Announcements/
Star Party! CalStar: Sept 17-20: http://www.observers.org/CalStar
TAC mailing list - to join, manage, or leave: http://nine.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/tac
-----Inline Attachment Follows-----
---
June 28, 2009: TAC Web Page Updated http://observers.org/TAC.cgi/Announcements/
Star Party! CalStar: Sept 17-20: http://www.observers.org/CalStar
TAC mailing list - to join, manage, or leave: http://nine.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/tac
-----Inline Attachment Follows-----
---
June 28, 2009: TAC Web Page Updated http://observers.org/TAC.cgi/Announcements/
Star Party! CalStar: Sept 17-20: http://www.observers.org/CalStar
TAC mailing list - to join, manage, or leave: http://nine.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/tac
-----Inline Attachment Follows-----
---
June 28, 2009: TAC Web Page Updated http://observers.org/TAC.cgi/Announcements/
Star Party! CalStar: Sept 17-20: http://www.observers.org/CalStar
TAC mailing list - to join, manage, or leave: http://nine.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/tac
-----Inline Attachment Follows-----
---
June 28, 2009: TAC Web Page Updated http://observers.org/TAC.cgi/Announcements/
Star Party! CalStar: Sept 17-20: http://www.observers.org/CalStar
TAC mailing list - to join, manage, or leave: http://nine.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/tac
-----Inline Attachment Follows-----
---
June 28, 2009: TAC Web Page Updated http://observers.org/TAC.cgi/Announcements/
Star Party! CalStar: Sept 17-20: http://www.observers.org/CalStar
TAC mailing list - to join, manage, or leave: http://nine.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/tac
Windows Live™: Keep your life in sync. Check it out. 

-----Inline Attachment Follows-----
---
June 28, 2009: TAC Web Page Updated http://observers.org/TAC.cgi/Announcements/
Star Party! CalStar: Sept 17-20: http://www.observers.org/CalStar
TAC mailing list - to join, manage, or leave: http://nine.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/tac


      

---
June 28, 2009: TAC Web Page Updated http://observers.org/TAC.cgi/Announcements/
Star Party! CalStar: Sept 17-20: http://www.observers.org/CalStar
TAC mailing list - to join, manage, or leave: http://nine.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/tac