Cornish astronomy at the Kernewek Lowender

On Friday 13 May, NYPpers Ian Finch and wife Ronnie, Hendy, Skip and Toby started the night with a BBQ dinner. Visiting member Bill Webster from Port Pirie arrived shortly after, along with coordinator Will Godward.

We set up the 15" ‘Scrubber’, and our 12.5" ‘Cooker’. We used the Scrubber for some viewing in the southern regions, and later put the Cooker through its paces as we looked at a few galaxies in Leo, Virgo and Coma Berenices.

On Saturday 14 May, visiting member ‘Philfy’ Phil Fitzpatrick and I spent about an hour after 9 P.M. observing the regions around Omega Centauri, tracking down a couple of fainter galaxies. Steve Cook arrived in his little black Honda NSX, dragging the cloud along behind. After a bit of a chat we packed up for the night.

On Sunday morning, 15 May, I accompanied Steve in his NSX, the 806th entry in the Cavalcade of Cars. It certainly was a great sight to see the varied range of vehicles on display, and even better to be in amongst them on the road.

Later that night, when my eyeballs were no longer stuck to the back of my head, we cranked up the BBQ and prepared for a night of observing. Ian Finch and I were attending the fire when Michael Mattiazzo (‘Matti’) and Philfy arrived. Whilst I was getting some wood at about 6:35 P.M., I heard a cry of “Aurora!” Looking away from the light cast by my torch, I immediately saw a bright beam reaching up past the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). As my eyes adapted I noticed another beam—less intense—further to the south.

We headed away from the lights around the BBQ, hooting with anticipation or cursing with frustration (no tripods, cable releases, etc.) and watched in awe as the spectacle reached its peak. A large subtle pink glow extended across the southern horizon. Up to four beams were seen at a time, with two seeming to merge next to the LMC producing a fat white beam, or skinny curtain. Activity remained for about 15 minutes before slowly subsiding. Skip and Toby witnessed the event from home before heading for the NYPpers site.

Soon visiting member Adam Tucker joined us, setting up his new 12" Dobsonian, along with ours and the Scrubber. Will arrived after work with his big binoculars. Throughout the night, Philfy gave his Televue eyepieces and filters a thrashing, providing us with some great views through the moonlight. Speaking of moonlight, I did find it amusing to hear Matti and Philfy cursing the moon.

The same two guys who will sing its praises next year when it blocks out the light from the Sun, making their trip to the Middle-East so exciting. The onset of dew was earlier than hoped, due to the moisture from the previous day’s rain, and we finally said our goodbyes in the early morning.