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Anybody go to the Star-B-Q?

  • 07-09-2003 10:27pm
    #1
    Agar
    Closed Accounts Posts: 63 ✭✭


    Anybody go along to the star-b-q last August? Was it any good? How did the new venue compare to the old? Would you recommend going along to it next year?


Comments

  • #2
    halenger
    Hosted Moderators Posts: 2,094 ✭✭✭halenger


    Call me biased or call me whatever but it was rather good. We had a beautifully clear sky.

    I liked the new venue. At least the projector stand couldn't be blown over while indoors. The hall was jam packed with people.

    In my opinion there was a tad too much mars watching but it's understandable. I was manning a scope so ya know how it goes-"can you see it?" "No" "oh... it must be gone out of focus _again_!" :p

    The catering was good. More people with telescopes would be nice. The more the merrier.

    With the Administrator in full swing now the SBQ is getting better, as are all the Astronomy Ireland events. Getting out there a bit more now that we have someone who has the time to organise the events!


  • #3
    Saruman
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,389 ✭✭✭✭Saruman


    I could not make it unfortunatly, either friday or Saturday. New girlfriend and all. Anyway it did not matter too much, we were in Dun Laoghaire and at about 2am or so we were on the sea front it was a very clear night and enough away from the city to be darker than im used to. So for the first time i saw the milky way and pointed it out. I pointed out Mars, some constellations. She saw her first shooting stars and we both saw our first Iridium flares :D Great night, i had a tiny pair of bird watching binoculars with me, useless for stargazing but i could show her the 7 sisters better i guess. Good night though. was going to bring her along but got eh distracted :D:D


  • #4
    Sev
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,328 ✭✭✭Sev


    I hope it was a decent flare, like a nice bright -7 or -8. You wont woo girls with anything less!


  • #5
    kiki
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 111 ✭✭kiki


    Yes - I went - The sky was clear for most of the night - justr a little fog in slight wisps - the views of Mars were great - resolved the S polar cap without any problems !!

    Definitley enjoyed the evening !!


  • #6
    Agar
    Closed Accounts Posts: 63 ✭✭Agar


    I actually thought that the Star-B-Q was terrible. I really didn't enjoy the night. My first big worry was the cost. There was a reduced price available for people who booked early, but I hadn't bothered so I wondered what I would be hit for at the gate. Y'see, I haven't paid to attend a Star-B-Q in over two years, so I figured now would be a bad time to start. Either way it didn't matter as I just walked past the guy who was asking for thirty euro to gain entry.
    THIRTY EURO!!! This had better be good, and at least better than the format used at previous events. I missed the talk, but that was no biggie, 'cos I've heard the same talk so many times before. I went straight out to the field and got set up. The site was good and, like at previous Star-B-Qs, the best thing about the night was meeting lots of people and sharing stories and getting advice as well as giving it.
    Didn't get any food either, mainly because I had no intention of queueing behind so many people. The attendance was well up on previous events. That sucked. I didn't want to wait for twenty minutes to get a look through somebody's 8" SCT. That would be a total waste of time.
    I'm sure the Star-B-Q was great for "fund-raising ;) " but it was terrible for stargazers. It's more a family event than an astronomy event. There would never be any hardcore astronomy at an event like the Star-B-Q, just lots of sharing the sky with novices.
    That's fine if that's what you're interested in, but some people have personal observing plans they want to follow. Is it an astronomy event? Yes. Is it for astronomers? No, they would be more interested in something like Cosmos or Whirlpool. Think about it; David Levy, Fred Espernak and a look through the Leviathan for fifty euro, or thirty euro for "yer man off the Den" and a 21" scope. One event suits families, the other suits stargazers.

    I can't wait for the whiny "well it's easy to criticise and I don't see you organising anything" crap (I was going to write ****e, but I'm not sure if I can post the word ****e [Wow, looks like I can't post s***e!] ) and "how dare you run down an event like this you cheapo". Hey, it's criticism. Either it's constructive and it improves you, or it's petty and you're above it.

    Either way it was a ****e night.


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