2 NEXT MEETING 7.30pm SATURDAY NIGHT 18 April

2
APRIL
2009
NEXT MEETING 7.30pm SATURDAY NIGHT 18th April *Tom Magness ~ Telescopes*
PIMPAMA STATE SCHOOL - HOTHAM CREEK ROAD - TAKE EXIT 49 ON THE M1 - SCHOOL IS ON THE WESTERN SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY
PRESIDENT - NOELEEN LOWNDES Ph 5530 8094
MEMBERSHIP OFFICER - KEVIN DIXON Ph 5537 3852
Visit the society web page at www.sas.org.au for heaps of society info, pics, observing news & lots more!
Society postal address ~ Southern Astronomical Society Inc, PO BOX 867 Beenleigh Qld 4207
SMALL PRINT - Event Horizon is sent by blind carbon copy email so others cannot see your email address - if you do not want Event Horizon emailed please inform the sender. The society webpage & Event Horizon may contain images of or
may identify members/friends attending society & non society events (Meetings, Astroquizz, Combined Societies Meeting, Field Nights - Leyburn Astrocamps, Astrofest etc) if you would prefer this not to happen please advise the society in
writing. If members require a copy of the societies constitution please contact the membership officer by mail or at a future meeting. Images presented in Event Horizon & on the SAS website are presented in good faith as original work of the
person submitting them. The SAS & its members accept no responsibility or liability whatsoever if the person submitting them has used another persons property without their permission or consent.
THE SAS WOULD LIKE TO EXTEND A VERY WARM WELCOME TO OUR NEW MEMBERS
FAIR DINKUM REQUEST has been made for more info about what other local societies are up to. Here are the sites for each of
the other societies in Brisbane BAShttp://www.bas.asn.au/ AAQ http://www.aaq.org.au/cms/ SEQAS http://www.seqas.org/
REDLANDS http://www.ras.org.au/ CONGRATULATIONS to Renato Langersek for sending in his response to last months
quizz very quickly. That puts Renato on equal points with Andrew Durick, with Steve Craft close by, followed by Colin, Steve &
Duncan. So here are the answers to last months quizz. “I originated in the 1970s but still am a big seller to amateur
astronomers even today. Surprisingly I have been adapted by stage lighting technicians in theatres to enable them to point
spotlights in the theatre. My inventor Steve Kufeld passed away in 1999 aged 57. I was based on a WW2 device called the
“Norden bombsight”. I can easily be adpated for most telescopes but am often found on Dobsonian Telescopes. Adverts for
me started appearing in Asro magazines in 1983 & most amateur astronomers may have used me at some stage. I am a Telrad.”
GLEN GREENWOOD had us all worried recently as he had a bit of a cancer scare. Well the really good news is after 2 weeks in
hospital Glen is now pretty certain things are looking very good indeed & he is very keen to meet up with us all again back at
Leyburn hopefully in May. THE 2009 QUEENSLAND ASTROFEST to be held the week of 14-23rd August is approaching very
quickly & registrations are now open - http://www.qldastrofest.org.au/
EVENT HORIZON after being the editor for nearly 5
years I have decided to pass the baton on from next month. We have presented many wonderful images & I have just added up
that comes to over 200 images taken by you in the last 5 years, so thank you indeed. The next editor will no doubt keep up the
fine tradition of presenting your images for all of us to see, but they will need your assistance in sending them in the first
place. Please don’t be an image miser - you spent a lot of time & money obtaining them, now please share them. FELLOW
SUPERNOVA HUNTER & discoverer of 2 Supernova, TG Tan from Perth, will have an article about his search programme in the
July edition of US Sky & Tel. Being an Australian story I do hope that Oz Sky & Telescope also cover the story.
APR
2009
MAY
2009
SATURDAY 18
FRIDAY 24-26
SATURDAY 9
FRIDAY 22-24
7.30PM SAS GENERAL MEETING ~ Tom Magness ~ Collecting older telescopes
LEYBURN DARK SKY SITE ~ a privately owned non SAS organised event
5.30pm COMMITTEE MEETING ~ 7.30PM SAS GENERAL MEETING ~ TBA
LEYBURN DARK SKY SITE ~ a privately owned non SAS organised event
JUNE
2009
SATURDAY 6
FRIDAY 19-21
5.30pm COMMITTEE MEETING ~ 7.30PM SAS GENERAL MEETING ~ TBA
LEYBURN DARK SKY SITE ~ a privately owned non SAS organised event
LEYBURN - DARK SKY SITE
Postcard from Leyburn
Privately owned property - hosts Debbie & Mark Bolton
By entering the site you agree you do so at your own risk
$5 contribution per adult per night
Noeleen & Graham’s Observatory
“SOGGY BOTTOM” LEYBURN WEBCAM
http://leyburn.podzone.net/
LATEST SATELLITE - INFRARED, VISIBLE & WATER VAPOUR
http://www.weatherzone.com.au/satellite.jsp?lt=wzstate&lc=qld&img=s
at_bw&ane=1&anf=1&and=1&ana=3&anb=333&anc=3&lyd=1
2009 DATES APR 24-26 ~ MAY 22-24
LEYBURN 2.5 hrs drive inland from Brisbane & Gold Coast
ACCOMMODATION BYO tent or “first in first serve” a caravan bed (1 of
4 beds available) BYO bedding, sleeping bag, pillow, etc OR
CABINS available in town cost $85 per room - book on 07 46950155
WEATHER very extreme to Brissy, VERY hot/cold - come prepared
KITCHEN VAN onsite with cooking gas, pots, pans, plates, utensils
POWER BYO Batteries GENERATOR onsite to run laptops & GoTo
DRINKING WATER BYO LOO YES flushing onsite - with loo paper
SHOP 5km away - well stocked general store has hot showers ($2) with
great burgers, ice etc & local historic hotel with great value meals
MOBILE PHONE NEXT G works well (& internet) others barely
DAY & NIGHT ARRIVAL LOCK ALL GATES / dip lights at the gate to
main observing field - you will be greeted & guided to a park
CAUTIONS heat / cold, flies / mozzies & the occasional snake.
LEYBURN GOINGS ON ~ MARCH 2009
Seems like a very good turn out but the weather was all over the
place. Ray & Mark spent time tidying up the toilet & fixing a new
toilet seat. A number of new slabs from Steve, Chris & Noeleen were
poured & soon Leyburn will have more observatories than Siding
Spring! There is no doubt that Leyburn is now one of Australia’s
premiere observing / imaging sites. There have been & will continue
to be visitors from all over the world, all spending money in these
tight economic times at the great historic pub, the well stocked local
general store etc. There are plans to offer astronomical viewing
nights & support at the local school - something we did about 6 years
ago & look forward to starting again. I must remind you that if you do
go there, it is a privately owned site that is the property of our hosts
Mark & Debbie Bolton. Everything is done on a voluntary basis & help
with mowing, keeping things clean & tidy (i.e. toilet) & hands on
assistance, taking rubbish to the tip etc is not only appreciated it is
expected as part of having this wonderful place made available to us.
2009 - A CHALLENGING YEAR Leaderboard ~ Langersek 8 Durick 8 Craft 6 Drescher 4 Crane 2 Gillespie 2
My design appeared in a BAA journal in 1971, then Model Engineering Magazine & Sky & Tel in 1972. Incredible but true, my
inventor …. “….”…. decided not to patent me, he donated my design to the amateur astronomical community. In my truest
form, I rely on friction & ball bearings to make me work, unlike predecessors that had “teeth”. My original is on display at
.………………….. In 1979 Pink Floyd had an double album … …. with my inventors surname in the two word title. I am a........
…….
IMAGE GALLERY the aim of the gallery is to present the fine efforts of some of our imagers, experienced or just starting. Efforts that may
have otherwise gone unapplauded. As space is limited the images are small, they may have been cropped & be considerably less detailed than
the originals - you may want to visit the imager’s personal website or see more at http://www.sas.org.au/index.html
all images are copyright
Steve Craft
M83, Meade 80mm refractor on HEQ5 pro mount & Canon 400D. 5 x 10min images stacked
Greg Bock
M42, taken at Leyburn 8x5 min Canon 350D iso 1600
Rob Kelms
His first Moon image - using an Aldi 7 meg camera mounted onto a 8inch Dob with a home made adaptor
Greg Bock
Omega Centauri (NGC5139) 14 x 5 min Canon 3590D iso1600 Windaroo South Brisbane
Gary Gawronski
Comet Lulin, from Redcliffe, prime focus at f6.3, C8. Hand guided, 3min iso 1600
PETE’S FINAL PIC - WEB SITES WORTH CHECKING OUT & BOOKMARKING
Stacks of Astronomy programmes, many for free http://www.pierpaoloricci.it/download/downloadsoftware_eng.htm
Great Aussie buy & sell site for 2nd hand equipment http://www.astrobuysell.com/au/
SASTROGADGETMAN - WHAT’S NEAT, WHAT’S NEW, WHAT’S ON SPECIAL & SHADY DEALINGS (FOR SALE)
SIRIUS OPTICS ph 3423 2355 www.sirius-optics.com.au New Sky Watcher Dobs with Alt/Az GOTO (see ad on website). The 10”
will be available from the end of this month, the 8” late May/early June. Call Sirius Optics to secure your order.
STAR OPTICS ph 5572 3000 www.staroptics.com.au
WATCH THE SKIES - APRIL HIGHLIGHTS
17 LAST QUARTER 25 NEW MOON
JUPITER high in predawn sky SATURN visible most of the night
NEWS NOTES - POSTED ON ASTROMART www.astromart.com
NASA's Kepler Telescope Jettisons Dust Cover, Sees First Light
“Engineers have successfully ejected the dust cover from NASA's Kepler telescope. With the cover off, starlight is entering the
photometer & being imaged onto its focal plane. Kepler is specifically designed to search for Earth-size & smaller planets in the
habitable zone of solar-like stars out to distances of about three thousand light years. Kepler will continuously monitor over 100,000
stars similar to our Sun for brightness changes produced by planetary transits. At the beginning of the mission, planets of all sizes
orbiting very close to their stars will be found. After three years, we will be able to discover planets with orbits of one year, that is those
in the habitable zone of stars like the Sun. If Earth size planets in the habitable zone are common, then life may be ubiquitous in our
galaxy. On the other hand, if no terrestrial planets are found, then “Earths” may be rare.” These are exciting times indeed.
WHAT’S UP DOWN UNDER ~ Andrew Durick “The Deep Sky Guy”
What’s worth hunting down in the SAS 8 inch members hire telescopes (only $10 per month)
OBJECT: IC 2948, Running Chicken Nebula, Hartung 486 (2nd Edition)
Image at right courtesy of The Digitised Sky Survey (DSS)
Just down the road from last month’s object is a large emission nebula IC 2948. This faint
nebula extends south east of Lamda Centaurus. While faint, the nebula can be glimpsed in the
society’s 8” hire scopes. Through an OIII filter many of the nebula’s intricate details come alive.
Within the nebula extents is a sparse elongated cluster Cr 249 which powers the glowing dust.
This nebula is also the site of Bok globules known as Thackeray’s Globules. Not for the visual
guys & girls, but the many photographers amongst us should be able to capture these inky blobs against the nebula. I am
yet to fully understand the running chicken moniker - I just haven’t seen it the many times I have looked at this object …
maybe it will dawn on me next time I point the scope in its direction.
GET A LOAD OF THIS! CANON 500D 15.1 megapixel camera http://www.canon.com.au/eos/range/eos500d/featuresummary.aspx will
be able to do HD movies & this may be very, very interesting for planetary imagers. Also available as a modified camera for astro
imaging by HUTECH http://www.sciencecenter.net/hutech/canon.htm