Dunfermline Astronomical Society

Hi All,

Just arrived back from Astro Fest 2011 in London and boy am I tired. I took the overnight coach from Edinburgh at 22:30 and arrived in London at 08:00 the journey was very uncomfortable due to the heating being full on and the air-conditioning was broken. after breakfast at Macdonald's I made my way to the venue at the Kensington Town Hall. There was already a lengthly queue so I waited in line and caught my first glimpse of the lovely Emily Baldwin from Astronomy Now magazine as she plied the crowd looking for suitable interviewees with her cameraman in pursuit. Sadly she never asked me :(  -sigh- never mind I thought onward and upward.

On entering the sheer scale of the show became apparent. 3 floors packed with every astronomer's dream, lots and lots of astro kit! I spent the first hour drifting from stand to stand in awe of the wonderful 'scopes and mounts on offer. Then I got down to the serious stuff, buying!. I had a fair idea that I wanted to buy a televue barlow lens or mount for my Astro Trac to sit on. So where to begin? The Wide Screen Center form London had a wonderful display and as I went to the televue eyepieces I spied two member s of the Nagler family personalising a newly purchased lens for an admiring attendee. As I looked on I was positively drooling over the range of eyepieces on display but ever present in the back of my mind were the words of my wife still ringing loudly in my ears. "don't spend any more than £50", yeah right!

I wasn't going to make a rash purchase so i decided to peruse the other stalls before making my decision. I happened upon Prof. Ian Morison at the SPA stall and entered into a conversation with him about Galloway Star Camp 2009 where, we had previously met and the end result was a tentative booking to come and lecture at our Club meeting in Scotland in April. Nice one! Ian.

Ian Morrison (at Wigton Galloway 2009)

I then happened upon the ASTRO TRAC display that was in a back room and not apparent to me at first as the entrance was back in a recess and the ASTRO TRAC sign gave no indication that the event was in the back room. I pointed that out to the guys and they quickly rectified the situation. I then saw a face I recognised from the Internet, Gain Lee (Astro photographer). We quickly got talking about the Astro Trac and I explained the problem I was having with trailing stars. Gain showed me the Astro Trac wedge and it was love at first sight. Truly a thing of beauty and a testament to engineering skills of the guys at Astro Trac. With words of my wife resonating in my head I reluctantly put it down. But when informed it was the last one available for purchase on the day, I succumbed to temptation and flashed the cash. Gain gave me a thorough demonstration of the wedge and I left very contented if a lot poorer than when I went in :)

Upstairs for a coffee break I notice well known figure from my youth when I used to watch the BBC coverage of Apollo moon missions. It was Reg Turnhill accompanied by his wife and son. Reg's son introduced me to him and his face lit up as if honoured that I had recognised him. Reg, The honour was all mine. Imagine my surprise when he called me back and offered me a copy of his book, did I want a copy he asked, Did I? You Bet! I was even more surprised that told his son to drive over to the hotel and get a copy for me! Reg offered to meet me back at the Cambridge Books stall at 14:15. I left not knowing if he would remember to meet me. I got a photo of us on my i Phone. and wandered off to explore the show once more.

I returned to the coffee shop at 13:15 and was deep in conversation with a couple of attendees and we swapped stories about purchases etc. when i heard "Geoff", it was Reg who had tracked me down with a copy of his book "the Moon Landings".

He sat down and asked me my full name and then personalised my book " Geoff Ruzgar, well met at Astro Fest 2011, warmest regards Reg Turnhill" Reg, I will treasure this book and our meeting forever Thank You!

After Reg had left I proceeded out of the Café and noticed on my left Nick Szymanek ace Astro Photographer and as much as I wanted to say hello he was deep in conversation so I left him in peace. Downstairs the queues were already at the basement to the third floor for the Patrick Moore/ Brian Cox/Bryan May signing event when I caught a glimpse of the lovely Hanny Van Arkel of "Hanny's Vooerverp" fame from Galaxy Zoo. This was turning into a real Astro Celebrity fest :)

I visited many stands and spoke to many exhibitors and met some new friends I had the pleasure of attending Galloway Star Camp 2010 with. They sadly informed me they will not be attending this years' event and I was sad we would not be together under the stars this year but who knows in this wonderful world of Astronomy we live in, anything is possible.

I did not bother to queue up as hundreds of people were now doing so for the book signings and I'm sure due to the time constraints they would not all be accommodated. Let's hope that was not the case.

Skylight Telescopes had a wonderful display of long focal length refractors and some refurbished examples from the 70's and 80's all of which I am sure are excellent instruments. I particularly liked this image, it reminds of Samurai Katanas!

On my wish list is one of these below:

But I know my 50 quid spending limit was already well breached LOL.

I also had the pleasure of meeting Greg Smye-Rumsby of Astronomy Now who was doing a great job keeping the queues for the signings nice and orderly and entertaining them. He really is a likable amiable person and reminded me of the actor Brian Blessed who has the same outgoing forceful personality. By the way Greg, yes you were right! Reg Turnhill is a legend and should be feted and indeed treasured as such!

I never did get to catch up with Emily Baldwin but can only live in hope.

So, to sum up Astrofest 2011, was it worth the long journey bearing in mind I was taking the overnight coach back to Edinburgh that very same evening. Yes it was! A great show a great exhibition and a most enjoyable day trip to London. Thank you ALL!