Dunfermline Astronomical Society

Hello All,

Just back from Galloway Astro Camp and what a great experience it was too! I arrived on Friday and set up my scope (I didn't take the LX90) but took the Celestron 8" SCT). After setting up the laptop and Mintron I awaited the night sky. The skies suddenly clouded over and it started to rain so I hastily packed away all the gear and sat in the car. It was torrential rain and high winds all night so I settled down to watching DVDs (plan B)

After a sleepless night I awoke to more rain on the saturday morning. After a nice shower in Drumroaming Camp Sites' superb facilities (Thanks Lesley) I had breakfast and then off to the County Buildings Wigton. Wigton Astronomical Society had arranged a whole day of fascinating lectures and displays.

The itinerary was as follows:

10:30 Choosing and buying a telescope by Prof. Ian Morison of Jodrell Bank. A super talk and lots of good practical advice and demonstrations.
11:30 Cosmology-Dark matter and Dark Energy by DR Stuart Lynn. Royal Observatory Edinburgh. Again a superb insight into the realms of Dark Matter.
13:30 Sunspots ans the Solar Cycle by Dr Lyndsay Fletcher reader in Astrophysics at University of Glasgow. She made the Solar talk a real treat for all.
14:30 Galileo's Universe by Dr Martin Henry, Senior Lecturer Department of Astrophysics, University of Glasgow. Fascinating.

This was followed by a panel discussion to round off the day and also time for shopping at the vendors stalls.

This was followed by a hasty retreat to the Camp Site in time to set up before dark. The skies darkened and I was treated to some of the darkest skies I have ever seen and I couldn't believe the canopy of stars and the Milky Way which was resplendent from horizon to horizon. I was up until 05:00 and had a wonderful time. I can thoroughly recommend this Star Camp to everyone. If you didn't make it this year don't miss next years.

SUPER- SUPER- SUPER

Geoff