First Post

[Jimi Lowrey]

:oYEE HA This is going to be fun!:o

[Jim Chandler]

Indeed, it shall.

[Dragan]

I'll have the homeboy on later today!

[Anja]

Got me on board here! This will be fun for you all! Nicely done Dragan! Excited to see what comes of this!

[Michael Sowell]

Hey ALL, Its so good to see the Gang!!!!

[Jim Chandler]

Dude! Welcome! How are you and Elvira getting along?

[Michael Sowell]

we are Great!!! Got get a new picture of her to post, love that hat. somebody should put you in charge of WiFi @ these Major Star Parties!!!

[Jimi Lowrey]

Great to see you here Michael. can't wait to see Elvira!!!!!:o

[Dragan]

Hey ALL, Its so good to see the Gang!!!!

Mikie! Welcome to our new home!! Be sure to get your profile updated with some info and a pic!

Preferably of you wearing a vest alongside Elvira! ;)

[alanlippert]

The Homeboy is taking a break from mirror making is is Online!

[Paul Alsing]

Hi Jimi et all,

Glad to be here, thanks for the invitation.

[Jimi Lowrey]

Wuzzzz up Homeboy WELCOME

[Jimi Lowrey]

Paul Welcome glad you are here!!!!

[Steve Gottlieb]

Thanks for getting this started, Dragan. Hopefully, will have some goodies to post in a couple of weeks.

[Jimi Lowrey]

Steve great to see you here!

check out Object of the week thread

[Dragan]

Hi Jimi et all,

Glad to be here, thanks for the invitation.

Paul, welcome to the group! We're glad you've decided to join us. We're pretty confident we can have a big and bright future here!

[Dragan]

Thanks for getting this started, Dragan. Hopefully, will have some goodies to post in a couple of weeks.

Thanks Steve. Its still a work in progress and I'm sure there will be changes but its a solid start. We're hoping DeepSkyForum will grow and be a respected site for advice and knowledge. And with members as yourself and Paul Alsing, I'm sure we will!

I'm glad you've decided to join!

[Spack]

Hello everyone. Since it is cold and cloudy here in Chicago, decided to register tonight. Nice job Dragan!

[Spack]

Question - "Junior" member status??? I thought I was too old for that!

[Dragan]

lol..No worries John. Its on my "to-do" list.

Junior is going to be removed for all members...

[Jerry Morris]

Yes! This will be a blast!

[Jimi Lowrey]

Jerry we have got to get a picture of you and your 30" up!

[FaithJ]

Hi everyone. Nice to see a Deep Sky forum, this looks really good. :)

[Rip]

Great job Dragan! Congrats to you and Jimi!

[gary]

Hi Jimi,

Thanks for the invitation and thanks to both you and Dragan for establishing the forum.

In 10 days time we have the start of the week-long Eighth Annual Deepest South Texas Star Safari which takes place at Coonabararan,
approx. 6 hours drive north-west of Sydney, Australia.

Coona' is an Australian equivalent of Fort Davis in many ways in that it also acts a service center for a large observatory, namely the
Australian Astronomical Observatory (formerly the Anglo Australian Observatory). The skies there are excellent and the Milky Way arches
overhead at the zenith at these latitudes.

Some of our guests have been here before and I am sure they will be eager to get another fix of some of the fabulous eye candy we have
on display down here.

Weather-wise, the last couple of years have been particularly wet on the East coast of Australia, due to a current La Nina weather cycle
we have been experiencing. Right now it is summer and I can never remember a colder and wetter summer in Sydney than the one we have
been experiencing. But we can't have everything. In other years we would be complaining about the heat and the bush fires. :)

By way of background, apart from being an observer, I am also the Managing Director of Wildcard Innovations Pty Ltd, manufacturers of the
Argo Navis Digital Telescope Computer.

I had the good pleasure of meeting Jimi at TSP 2007 and then we went on to RTMC where we had many an enjoyable conversation over dinner
mainly talking about what was to be Jimi's new scope. I am so looking forward to getting back and having a look through. All reports are that it
is awesome.

Likewise, we welcome Northern Hemisphere observers to come and join us. See http://www.ozsky.org

[Dragan]

Thanks for joining Gary!

One day, I'll make it down under for some deep sky!

[Jimi Lowrey]

Its great to see you here Gary. WELCOME!

[Dave Tosteson]

Jimi and the gang, Thanks for the invite to the forum. Looking forward to some great discussion and sharing of ideas. To Gary in Sydney I am planning to come to Australia for the eclipse. Do you know of any deep sky parties going on in your area in November?

Dave Tosteson

[Jimi Lowrey]

Welcome Dave good to see you here at DSF. I look forward to your input.

[gary]

Hi Dave,

Great to hear you are comimg Downunder for the solar eclipse in November 2012.

Most of us will be heading to in and around the locality of the city of Cairns, in far north Queensland for the event.
Cairns is north of the Tropic of Capricorn and these latitudes of the country are subject to tropical weather patterns.
Unfortunately November is starting to get into the warmer part of the year and with it comes unsettled wet weather.
The eclipse at Cairns is taking place very early in the morning and many of us are hoping for some luck that the weather
will be fine and cloud-free as the sun rises up above the Pacific Ocean and Great Barrier Reef. But the odds aren't the best
but we all live in hope.

Logistically Cairns would be a good 4 days drive from Sydney or 5 days from Melbourne. In that regard, most of us in the
southern east coast cities will fly up there. It is serviced by a large airport that even sees some international flights
come in and out of there, particularly from regions such as Japan. If coming from Chicgao, your best bet would be to fly
either LAX -> SYD or LAX -> BNE (Brisbane) and then a flight to CNS (Cairns). Alternatively QANTAS now fly direct
from DFW in Texas to SYD which is one of the longest commercial flights in the world.

Because most observers will probably fly to Cairns, the logistics of shipping large scopes up there would be difficult
and prohibitively expensive. Though my friend Andrew Murrell has driven all the way up there from Sydney with his
20" Dob on a prior occassion, I doubt few will be so keen to do the drive as it is a long way.

So though some larger scopes may make their way up there, possibly from amateurs who live in Queensland
cities a little south of Cairns, I don't think they will be thick on the ground, particularly given it is not the
best place to be to observe at that time of the year.

The second phenomena is that I suspect many amateurs will take advantage of the trip up to combine it
with a vacation. Some of them have never been to Cairns and in that way it will be a novelty for them
and there are many local attractions. So with that in mind, a quorum of people flying straight back to
Sydney, where the observing weather is more settled, to have a star party is looking unlikely when I have
asked around.

Depending on levels of interest, there might be the possibility of getting some observing in from dark sky
locations more readily accessible from Sydney before the eclipse date. I see some observing friends associated
with helping host the Coona event this weekend and I will ask what their latest thoughts are.

Generally no other major star party appears on the Australian calendar in November.

It certainly would be good to meet you down here.

[FaintFuzzies]

Thanks Dragan and Jimi for starting this forum and looking forward to contributing and learning! :)

Clear skies,
Alvin Huey

[Jimi Lowrey]

Welcome Alvin.

I look forward to your posting here.

[gdjsky01]

Wow! Honored to be here amongst some of the best and brightest. Thanks for the opportunity to lurk and learn

[Jimi Lowrey]

Welcome Jeff Long time no see;)

[deepskywim]

Great to see a forum dedicated to Deepsky observing! I'm looking forward to very interesting discussions here! I'm already very impressed with the number of deepsky celebrities in the list of forum users.

[Dragan]

Great to see a forum dedicated to Deepsky observing! I'm looking forward to very interesting discussions here! I'm already very impressed with the number of deepsky celebrities in the list of forum users.

Welcome Wim and thanks for joining!! We sure hope you enjoy your stay!


:welcome: