At Starfest 2005

Back to Mount Forest for a grand session!

Here are three pretty good guys helping to prepare the GM 8 for the first nights activity. From left to right: Brett Hardy, Tim Appleton and Chris Appleton.

One of the nice aspects of a star party is that you pick up methods and techniques that you might not otherwise come across.

The WO 110 with Ranger is a perfect setup for a Star party.

Here I am using a MX7C and SXV H9C for imaging.

The nice feature of the Kendrick Astro Tent is that no-one walks into your setup by accident. The control area is nice to work in. This compartment screens out insects and provides a measure of privacy during imaging.

With a little practice you can set one of these up in by yourself in about 45 minutes. It comes down in about fifteen.

Image Captures at SF 2005

Chris Appleton had a major part of this years success. He has far more experience and a greater eye for detail than I do. It made sense to point our setup to the south to take advantage of the great summer targets.

M20 gave us the first nights activity.

 Next night NGC 6946 almost at zenith. This object is not really suited for widefield but conditions were good to try it anyway. One of my favourite galaxies. During the capture the galaxy was nearly indiscernable, but Chris did an excellent job of prying the data out. A number of foreground stars are from our own galaxy, NGC 6946 is 10 million light years away.

Lastly, M16 wraps up a successful trio of images.

 Info Sessions:

The North York Astronomical Association does a fabulous job year in and out organizing this event. A wide range of seminars from beginner to advanced. I enjoyed Doug George's session on Maxim DL capabilities and sat in on the Meade launch of their new RC product. Later during the evenings imaging session, Doug popped over to our site to see how we were doing.

The Meade event has just emptied out. This tent seats 700 and has two large presentation screens. Great effort for the organizers and volunteers.

Here is Brett getting ready to roll.

Looking forward to next year already 

At Starfest 2004

Nice to meet people that share your interest.

Mount Forest, Ontario. Starfest 2004 is now a very fond memory. The highlight was a presentation by Connecticut's Robert Gendler featuring some of the finest celestial images ever taken by an amateur astronomer. There was a wonderful flavour to the festival in sharing and exchange of ideas and methods for both visual and my favourite topic "CCD Imaging".

This is Attila Danko's lightbucket. The 25" Obsession was clearly the star of the party. I had a peek through this beauty on the first night. Crisp, colourful and absolutely astounding views. Attila is also responsible for the Clear Sky Clock that so many North American amatuer astronomers use. An excellent start to the party. The inset: Attila on the left.

There was a large group from Ottawa in attendance including two presenters. Debra Tigner shared her experiences as a member of the Puckett Supernova team. Peter Ceravolo gave an insightful talk on telescope optics relating to various CCD chipsets. Both presentations were excellent. The talent here in Canada is something for us to be proud of.  

Equipment was unstoppable!

Around the corner from Attilas' heavyweight rested the majestic Paramount ME. I didn't get too close, it looks like a Celestron 14 and some sort of specialty cover/dew shield. It certainly dwarfs the Meade beside it. Incredible performance. The Paramount is a nice looking piece of equipment. I like the colour. Even at a distance it was easy to see this setup would be capable of some astounding images. I never did meet the owner though. It's likely this owner will be back in 2005. I will wander up and say hello then.

 Two of Ontario's finest imagers....

Pictured here is part of Bob and Jim Andersons outfit. These two are a credit to amateur astronomy plus they have great stuff. By chance I happened to pull in beside them and made friends.

It is little wonder that these guys are producing great images. Bob and Jim are also fine mentors to anyone who asks. They have done exceptional work in gathering data on SX cameras and other astronomy issues for dissemination online.     

The Kendrick tent is wonderful. Spacious and well designed for imaging. Here we see Titan and the parallel plate guiding set up with the Starlight Xpress 9C.