Theatre Hipparchus

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.