The Society
Astronomy
Resources
2005 NYP Report
Eight NYPpers, the President, Michael Mattiazzo, and a visiting member with a few kids enjoyed a clear night on 7 January. A variety of instruments were used to view and image a number of deep sky targets, along with a couple of comets. We finished at around 4:00 a.m.
On 8 February 11 NYPpers and a visitor enjoyed reasonable skies.
On 27 February a group of 10 NYPpers met to observe the occultation of Jupiter by the Moon; a wonderful sight in a clear sky.
11 March found six NYPpers and a couple of visitors waiting patiently for the clouds to part. We were rewarded with some fine views of the glossies, C/2005 A1, and Saturn.
On 1 April Will, Ian F, and Ian P had a viewing night with the local Moonta scout group. A total of 21 scouts enjoyed the night sky with us. We had some great views of Jupiter and Saturn, the southern sky and C/A1 LINEAR.
On Tuesday April 5, the two Ian’s, Will, Tony, Skip, and Toby managed to make the most of a clear night. The 15-inch ‘Scrubber’ was set up at the back of our shed and saw first light with its new mirror coatings. We were impressed with the performance, and many thanks must go to Blair for his hard work getting the ‘scope up and running, and for delivering it to our door on Easter Saturday!
On Friday 8 April, about nine NYPpers, along with President Michael Mattiazzo, entertained about 14 visitors. 12 or so visitors were brought along by member Noel, representing the University of the Third Age, as well as a couple of interested women from Moonta who responded to our monthly article in the local paper. Eventually it was down to Matti and Hendy who flew the banner until nearly 5 a.m.
On 6 May four NYPpers entertained about eight visitors in clear, cold conditions. Using the 15-inch, along with the Ians’ ‘scopes. We observed Saturn and Jupiter, as well as a varied range of objects in the southern skies.
Between 13 – 15 May, the NYPpers held an astrocamp during the Kernewek Lowender festival
On 3 June Tony, Skip, Toby, Carol, Ian, Gordon, and Will along with five visitors had some views through the patches in the clouds. A donated computer from Will, and a donated 19-inch monitor from Ian was set up with a couple of star programs. We did some more viewing once the cloud cleared around 1 a.m. and finished at around 2 a.m.
On 26 June 26, Tony, Will and Veris got together for the joining of the Planets; Venus, Mercury, and Saturn. We had some great views once the cloud cleared. We tried viewing through the 15-inch but the best views were through binoculars. We also tracked down a couple of comets. The Deep Impact of comet Temple 9P was going to be the main interest on 8 July, but the clouds just wouldn’t budge. We had four NYPers turn up with two visitors.
On 5 August five NYPers turned out and were soon joined by 10 visitors. We had some great views of the southern sky.
On 2 September Ian F, Will, Ian P, and three keen visitors turned up hoping the cloud would clear, but had to give up once it started to rain.
7 October was clouded out again, but the three NYPers that were there had a great night of catching up, finishing at around 10:30pm.
NYPpers had their monthly viewing night on 4 November. It turned out to be one of their biggest! Earlier in the week, we advertised a Mars viewing night in our monthly article in the local paper. So with Mars the main focus for the night, the members started arriving early at about 7:30 p.m. Not long after our first group of visitors arrived. The sky and weather were excellent; one of the best nights we’ve had for the past few months - not a cloud to be seen. Our first visitors were a group of 15 people from the University of the Third Age, which was organised by Noel & Gordon. Mars was the main object viewed during the night, showing some nice surface features and viewed through a range of telescopes. We also had a great show over the western horizon, with the Moon, and the two planets Mercury, and Venus. Lots of NGC and Messier objects were also observed. By 11 p.m. the constellations Orion and Taurus had risen high enough to view. Even though they were still low on the horizon, and looking through the neighboring town’s lights, the public enjoyed viewing the Pleiades and M42. By 11:45 p.m. most of the visitors had left, so after a short coffee break the members tried out their observing skills. We attempted to view the Horsehead Nebula, but I think only one of us saw it. After a bit more observing, we finished up around 1 a.m. Overall, we had a great viewing night with a total of seven NYPpers and 25 visitors. Hopefully our viewing night on 2 December will be clear. All are welcome.
In summary, the NYPpers have had a great year of viewing and socialising. We had over 19 viewing nights and over 100 visitors for the year. We have really made ourselves known to the local public. The NYPers are a small group but growing fast. We look forward to another great year.