2013 Queensland Astrofest

While visiting family recently in Brisbane, Australia, myself and my wife Denise attended the Queensland Astrofest Star Party www.qldastrofest.org.au/ at Camp Duckadang, Queensland. Located approx. 2 hrs. drive north-west of Brisbane, the 9 day-long event is located in a rural area adjacent to the Brisbane River.

When we left the southern suburbs of Brisbane, we took the M7/M2 Motorway west to Ipswich. After passing Ipswich, we left the motorway and took the Brisbane Valley Highway – a normal two-way road. It’s quite scenic in parts and passes along the top of the Wivenhoe Dam.

Eventually, we reached D’Aguilar Highway and took a left towards the town of Moore. Just before entering the town, we spotted the sign for the star party and took a right for the village of Linville. After passing through the small village, the road immediately narrowed to the width of a single vehicle. Driving along for another 7 miles without meeting any other car on the road, we eventually met the Brisbane River.

For those who have visited Brisbane, the Brisbane River forms a major water feature through the city – comparable to the River Thames in London. However, the star party is located near the upstream end of the river where it flows as a relatively small stream – see photo in later post. Note the bridge – yes, you drive across that. It has no rails or safety barrier on the side – that’s to allow the river to flow across the bridge during major flood events. The road is only wide enough for one vehicle at a time, so driving in and out of the star party when tired at the middle of the night is probably best avoided! To be precise, the river flows in two tributaries, both similar in size with two separate bridges in close proximity to each other. After passing over the second bridge we immediately turned into the campground. We had pre-booked via the star party website to stay in the lodging for two nights. We brought our own sleeping bags and blankets as the dorms, which have bunk beds, are not heated.

Upon arrival, we checked in at the registration where we met with Wendy, Diane and Bob. After purchasing some Queensland Astrofest clothing (polo shirt and t-shirt) and some red film for my torch and camera LCD screen, we got our beds ready. As stated previously, the lodges are unheated with several bunk beds in each lodge. During the day, the winter sun brought the temperature into the mid-20s.C. However, at night, the Sun sets quickly and the temperature plummets to a fraction above zero! The temperature drop reminded me of previous trips to see solar eclipses; such was the dramatic speed at which the temperature fell. If you plan to attend the event, it is extremely important that you bring plenty clothing, both for observing and sleeping in.
So, in terms of the event itself, the star party is quite different to what astronomers in Ireland may be used to. The event primarily revolves around observing and astrophotography with very few talks during the day. In fact, the only talk advertised in advance was by Anthony Wesley of planetary imaging fame on the final day of the event.

I estimate that there must have been at least 200-300 people in attendance at the event, split approx. 40:60 between astrophotographers and visual observers. Scopes ranged from 6” dobsonians to premium refractors to 18” dobsonians.
The star party is located at 27deg south of the equator. For southern sky observers this means that Sagittarius is directly overheard in the winter sky with approx. half the night sky revealing constellations which astronomers in Ireland could never see from their back garden at home.

Unfortunately, I hadn’t prepared much for learning the southern sky before I left home, so on my first night observing I was busy studying Collins’ Stars an Planets guide to identify the “new” constellations. It was a great buzz to see all those constellations which after many years of observing the night sky, I could finally see from this new observing site. I also brought my Canon 400d, Sigma 10mm fish-eye lens, Canon 17-40mm lens, Canon 100-400mm lens, iOptron Skytracker and a tripod.

Below are just a few notes I made:

The Star Party – the event appears to be very well organised. The site has a good dark sky with Brisbane light pollution quite low over the south-eastern horizon. A canteen is provided on site where you can purchase lunch and dinner. Tea/coffee is available throughout the night.

Amateur Astronomers - At the star party, we were very fortunate to meet up with some very generous amateur astronomers (Jerry, Mike, Hermen, Chris, Peter, Wes, Greg and Jonathan to mention but a few) who shared their time and telescopes with us. Many thanks guys!

The Sun – the Sun rises in the east and sets in the west, as it does in Ireland. However, as it crosses the northern half of the sky, rather than the southern sky like we have in Ireland, the Sun and it’s shadows appear to be travelling in the opposite direction to what we are used to seeing – a little peculiar to witness to be honest.

Darkness – as I mentioned earlier, darkness arrives quickly. Within the space of 1 hour, it changes from the Sun shining brightly above the horizon to complete darkness with a significant drop in temperature. The zodiacal light formed a very bright cone shape of light over the western horizon and was quite obvious to the naked eye. For the two nights that we stayed at the event, the weather remained perfectly clear and the zodiacal light remained quite clear for a few hours after sunset. Some of the resident amateur astronomers jokingly referred to it as “light pollution”

The Moon and Venus – Venus shone bright for a couple of hours in the even sky shortly after sunset set in the middle of the Zodiacal Light. A very young thin slender moon was visible on both nights.

Milky Way – the southern sky Milky Way is noticeably brighter than what we see in Ireland. As I mentioned earlier, Sagittarius is directly overhead, along with constellations such as Antares, Corona Australis and Scutum. It really is spectacular to see and well worth a trip south of the equator just to see it.

Omega Centauri – Often described as the southern hemisphere’s equivalent of M13. Complete nonsense – Omega Centauri is in a class all by its own! After seeing it dazzling us through a 14” scope, we immediately slew the scope to M13, which looked insignificant in comparison. It is like comparing the view of M13 with a 20” scope to that through a 4” scope. Omega Centauri is spectacularly bright and is an easy naked eye object!

Large and Small Magellanic Clouds – when I first saw these, I thought there were small clouds which drifted across the sky. It was only after a few minutes that I realised what they were. Sitting relatively low over the south-eastern horizon, the SMC and LMC can be seen relatively easily with the naked eye and are a few times larger than a full moon. To the naked eye, they appear as large nebulous regions separate to that of the Milky Way in a region of the sky which has relatively faint stars. Both the SMC and LMC are great to pan a scope through with dozens of clusters on show. The LMC is also host to the Tarantula Nebula which was a real treat to see

Located just above the SMC is 47 Tuc – a mag 4 bright globular cluster well worth a look and the only cluster to be overshadowed by Omega Centauri.

Eta Carina – one of the largest diffuse nebulae in the sky, it was a joy to observe in a variety of scopes ranging from 70mm refractor to 18” dobs. You could spend hours just observing this target. Lovely intricate detail visible in larger apertures.

NGC4755 – Jewel Box Cluster in Crux – one of the nicest and most colourful clusters in the night sky that I have seen.

M7 – a nice bright open cluster in Scorpius

NGC 5286 – nice bright open cluster in Centaurus

Binary stars – got to see Alpha Centauri – well worth a view.

Worth the tip – absolutely! The views of the Milky Way are spectacular. If you can at all, try and attend a star party in the southern skies. If visiting Australia, the Queensland Astrofest should be high on your list. It’s veruy well run, has dark skies and yet is only 2 hrs driver from Brisbane.

I will post photos in this thread in the coming days.

Bridges across the Brisbane River


www.astroshot.com/Aus2013/Brisbane-River-01.jpg


www.astroshot.com/Aus2013/Brisbane-River-02.jpg


www.astroshot.com/Aus2013/Brisbane-River-03.jpg

observing field

www.astroshot.com/Aus2013/observing-field-1.jpg


www.astroshot.com/Aus2013/observing-field-2.jpg

one of the lodges

www.astroshot.com/Aus2013/lodge.jpg

getting ready for the counterweight toss competition - I kid you not!

www.astroshot.com/Aus2013/counterweight-toss.jpg

Mach1GTO, WO scope and Nikon DSLR


www.astroshot.com/Aus2013/Mach1GTO-1.jpg


www.astroshot.com/Aus2013/Mach1GTO-2.jpg

The toilet tents were very popular with astrophotographers.
Great idea. I can see them catching on here.
Enough space for a small chair, table and laptop.
Keeps the person sheltered from the wind and dew.

www.astroshot.com/Aus2013/toilet-tent.jpg

yours truly

www.astroshot.com/Aus2013/MOC.jpg

programme for the last couple of days while we were there

www.astroshot.com/Aus2013/programme.jpg

the only scope observing the Sun during the day

www.astroshot.com/Aus2013/white-light-observing.jpg

Skywatcher EQ Pro Mount.
From speaking to some people at the event, only three of these mounts exist and all three are in Australia and were at this star party!


www.astroshot.com/Aus2013/EQ-Pro-1.jpg


www.astroshot.com/Aus2013/EQ-Pro-2.jpg