Well after 6+ months of planning and organising, it’s now finally time for IISAC2008 to begin. It starts tomorrow, Thursday, for 3 great nights with friends and hopefully 3 great nights of astronomy and astrophotography. Unfortunately the weather predictions are looking pretty ominous – it rained all day today  and although it’s likely to clear for some of the day tomorrow, there are predictions for showers and thunderstorms on at least 2 of the 3 days.  I’m just hoping it’ll clear after the storm so we can get at least 1 clear night in.

The trailer is packed, the car is packed and I don’t think I’ve forgotten anything. Unfortunately Kate and the kids won’t be joining me this year, i’ll be on my own. I’ll certainly miss them but I do understand how it is hard work for Kate there, with 3 young kids, trying to keep them entertained. Due to my need to keep the camp running smoothly, I don’t get much spare time to spend with my family so it makes it more difficult for Kate.

Hopefully I can bring home some great stories and great photos. See you in 4 days!

Here’s hoping for clear skies!

I’ve added a few new images to my Gallery in the last few days. The first set is of the equipment I use for my astrophotography – both planetary imaging and widefield DSO imaging.

12" newt on EQ6

The photo above shows my 12″ Newt on top of the EQ6, and was taken in early July 2008 at a planetary imaging camp with Anthony Wesley, at Nambucca Heads on the mid-north coast of NSW. It’s the setup I use for planetary imaging. Unfortunately during that week the seeing wasn’t good enough to obtain any really good images, but it was clear sky all week and was still a fantastic week of astronomy.

Deep Space Imaging Setup

The photo above shows my widefield DSO imaging setup on the EQ6, taken from my backyard. It includes the ED80 as the main imaging scope (the black one), with the Canon 350D attached, and the 80mm f/5 refractor (the white one) as the guide scope – with the DMK21AU04 (small blue camera) acting as the guide camera. The guide scope and guide camera work together in combination with software on the laptop to keep the mount tracking accurately by nudging in the appropriate direction when the star starts drifting.

There are a few other photos of my setup there, but I still need to add a few more and properly categorise them.

I’ve also added some new family photos to the Gallery, taken last weekend at Nords Wharf, north of the Central Coast on the way to Newcastle, on the edge of Lake Macquarie. The family and I went there for a picnic lunch, to a nice park/playground where the kids could play. It was a nice couple of hours. We also went to the beach at Catherine Hill Bay afterwards – it’s a lovely spot and was really busy on the hot Sunday.

Mike, Kate, Jacob, Eliza and Abbey

The photo was taken using a timed exposure, with the 350D on a tripod.

Thanks for looking.