STARDATE 2005

Stardate is an astrocamp held near Hastings in New Zealand's North Island in January (nights of Fri 7th - Sun 9th in 2005) of each year. This year's (2005) SD was another great event thanks to the organisation of Richard and Lesley Hall (the Convener), Gordon Hudson, Kay Leather, and others from the Phoenix Astronomical Society.

About 130(?) attendees were greeted with clear skies on the Thursday (for the early birds) and Saturday night (plus Saturday morning for those who got the 'call of nature' in the wee hours). The seeing and transparency were so-so but we weren't complaining. There was the usual selection of scopes ranging from the modest to the whoppers. Dave Moorehouses 41cm (16") binoculars really drew the crowd and many came away after viewing through them shaking their photon overloaded heads.

The lectures were entertaining and informative. One new aspect of this years SD was that those with digital SLR cameras were able to show others their astrophotography efforts from the night before on the big screen via the data projector (like a slide show).

Socially it was great to catch up with everyone - it's so sad to see some fellow astronomers only once a year. The 'beer tent' lived up to its name and many a happy yarn and joke were shared within its confines. It was neat to meet some visiting astronomers from Germany - overseas people are always welcome (the event is normally held in the New Moon weekend in January of each year). The meals were great - plenty of meat!

My apologies if your face is not on this page - it's hard to photograph and then upload so many people (perhaps we should have a 'group photo' next year)... All images by John Drummond.

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I was in Hastings a couple of days before Stardate and witnessed this beaut sunset on the Tuesday night...		Te Mata Peak can be seen in the lower left of this image
We knew Stardate was 'officially' opened when the 'beer tent' went up...		As per usual there were a variety of balls being kicked, hit, or thrown
Dave Brock hates his photo being taken - so here you are Brocky		Some 'JOGgers' ran all the way from Auckland. JOG stands for 'Jafa Observing Group', JAFA stands for 'Just Another Freezing Astronomer' (Yeah Right)...
NZ's astro guru 'Coops' (Ian Cooper) assumes the position		Coops saying, "Get out there and observe!"
Gordon Hudson, the father and originator of Stardates in NZ, watches on		Some of the grounds. The land was originally owned by a Mr Moore (hence the name 'Moores Road) and left to the Presbyterian Church after his demise. The church turned it into a camp. The hall was constructed just after WW2 (I believe).
Newbie to SD was Gisborne lad John Burt. Here he demonstrates how to 'rap'		John's delightful wife Tran - getting ready to video the 'gos' about the author
The ever popular 'Telescope Trail'. Convener Lesley Hall (in the black, with a cap and (frigging annoying) whistle) gets ready to hand out a dollar per inch.		Dave Moorehouses' 16" binoculars were a very popular hit. Whenever I walked past them at night there was a descent sized queue - and WHOAS and WOWS
Stardate regular Malcolme MacDonald discusses his very interesting mount		George Ionas revealing his superb setup - his astro images are looking great!
Olga showing the Drawer where to get the winning lotto number from the drum		Dave B hates his photo being taken so much that I included another! 16" dob
Jethro won the award for the worst maths jokes at Stardate		Ross Skilton demonstrating the movement of his 10" Meade SCT
Brenda Johnson showing that not all scopes at SD have to be handmade		Ursula MacFarlane from Tauranga with her very sci-fi illustrated 6" dob
Chris Picking gets the Space Shuttle ready for liftoff		Off it zooms - points to Chris for hitting a tent upon reentry!!!
Gisborne boys John Burt (left) and John Drummond (author) at sunrise		Robert Snowball came over as the Moon was rising in the Saturday dawn sky
Of real note was the close encounter of Comet Machholz (C/2004Q2) with the Pleiades (M45) - especially organised for Stardate... Thursday night		Two nights later - on the Saturday night (the green patch is from a laser pointer)
The Pot in Orion - 320mm f2.8 @ 800asa. 3 x 5 minute exposures stacked		We had clear skies on Thursday, Saturday morning, and Saturday night. Crux
The Crux region and the LMC and SMC - 29mm @ f2.8, 800asa. 7 x 3 minute		The Moon approaching 'New' on the Saturday morning - in Scorpius

For details regarding Stardate see -

http://www.astronomynz.org.nz/stardate/stardate_astrocamp.htm