Teaser_Ex Article

Hi all

With 2008 drawing to a close, I thought it's now a perfect time to reflect upon the past year and highlight some of the more popular events, topics and statistics here on IceInSpace.

As a common trend, showcase astronomical events always bring the most visitors to IceInSpace - particularly the general public, and especially if the media grabs hold of it and reports about it on the various media outlets. The three most popular astronomical events in 2008 were:

1. Smiley Face Conjunction, 1st December 2008 (pics here)
2. Partial Solar Eclipse, 7th February 2008 (pics and animation from Brisbane here)
3. Partial Lunar Eclipse, 17th August 2008 (animation from Perth here)

Some of the most popular topics and threads on the IceInSpace Forum were:

• Perfect focusing with the bahtinov mask
• What do you do for work?
• What are your OTHER hobbies?
• The introduction of green laser pointer laws
• The axing of the ABC Radio show "StarStuff"

During 2008, we passed some significant milestones, including reaching 5,000 registered members, and turning 4 years old in September. Some other IceInSpace statistics for 2008 include:

• Almost 2,000 new member registrations
• Approx 110,000 new posts
• Over 6,000,000 page views
• Over 1,200 sets of items have been bought and sold through the IceTrade Classifieds
• Apart from the IceInSpace Forum, the most popular pages on IceInSpace were the homepage, the Projects and Articles page, the Reviews page, the Moon Phase page and the Links page
• 55% of people are still browsing IceInSpace using Internet Explorer - but it's coming down. 2nd is Firefox with 37%.

From a personal point of view, 2008 has been exciting but also very challenging.

• I started a new job in January, which has been a mix of exciting, rewarding, challenging and frustrating
• I've generally had poor weather and have found it difficult to motivate myself for astronomy
• I launched my personal website blog and image gallery, mikesalway.com.au
• I was fortunate enough to be featured on APOD twice! (30th Sep, 5th Dec)
• I started selling prints on RedBubble, and have been rewarded with a few sales already.

I'm really looking forward to what 2009 will bring, for astronomy and for IceInSpace. Being the International Year of Astronomy, it should be an even bigger year than 2008 as there's likely to be a lot more media interest in astronomy in general, and particular some of the big astronomical events.

On behalf of IceInspace, Terry and I would like to thank everyone for being part of a fantastic year and a fantastic community. We wish everyone a safe and happy christmas and we'll be back with more in 2009!

All the best to you and your families.

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Hi all

2009 is going to be a special year for us amateur astronomers and for everyone who has a love and an interest in looking at the night sky. It's the International Year of Astronomy, or IYA2009 for short, and is a celebration of astronomy and a great chance to popularise, promote and teach astronomy to people of all ages.

IceInSpace plans to play an integral part in IYA2009 by hosting local, national and worldwide IYA2009 events and activities, as well as helping individuals, astronomy clubs and societies promote their own local activites.

We are well-placed as a community to make the most out of this year and use it as a fabulous opportunity to reach the masses - to take our hobby to the 99% of the population who have probably never looked through a telescope. To show them why we love this hobby so much and to hopefully give them the chance to look up at a dark, moonless sky with wonder and delight.

A new forum, International Year of Astronomy - IYA2009, has been created to announce, discuss and report on all IYA2009 related activities and events. Whether you're an individual and want to do something in your local community, or a club who is planning a number of local events, you can promote and discuss your ideas here. If you've got questions or you want to get involved, here's the place to ask. And when you've got reports or pictures from any IYA2009 events, there's the place to post them.

As a community, IceInSpace is planning to organise a number of activities and events, and so to help with ideas, planning and execution, I've started to assemble an IceInSpace IYA2009 Committee who will work behind the scenes to get things moving.

We plan to work closely with Astronomy Clubs and Societies for the benefit of everyone, especially the general public who we will be aiming to reach. So even if your club is already planning IYA2009 activities (which most already are), please get in touch with me to see how we can work together to make them even bigger and better.

I'm very excited about what 2009 will bring!

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Make sure you head outside over the next week and look to the West after sunset - you’ll see the brilliant Venus and Jupiter closing in on each other until they are at their closest on the evening of the 1st December, 2008.

What makes this conjunction even more special, is that the pairing is also joined by the thin crescent Moon - giving us our very own smiley face in the sky! Check the image below to see what I mean.

The view above is what you’ll see from mid-latitudes in Australia at around 8pm AEDST on the 1st December. Your view might be slightly different depending on where in Australia you live, and it might even be upside down if you live elsewhere on Earth.

Venus and Jupiter will be a close 2° apart, and the Moon will be about 3.5° away from both of the bright planets.

But don’t wait until the 1st December, just in-case it’s cloudy on that day! The couple of days before and after the 1st December still show a lovely conjunction of the planets but the Moon will be further away. The video here shows an animation of the motion from a few days before to a few days after the 1st December.

I just love conjunctions like this and love photographing them. Now I need to find a nice spot to set up and take some photos. Here’s hoping for clear skies!

Make sure you get out and take a look or a photo or two as well. I'd love to see your results posted in the Solar System Images forum on IceInSpace.

Good luck!

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Hi all

IISAC2008 is now over for another year.. Planning has already begun for IIASC2009! The dates for IISAC2009 are:

Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights - 15th to 18th October, 2009

Make sure you lock those dates in now! It falls in the NSW school holidays so bring the family!

Some threads of interest for the IISAC2008 wrap:

• IISAC2008 Reports and Pictures (my write-up and group photo here)
• IISAC2008 Portraits

In other news, I still have copies of the Astronomy 2009 Yearbook available for sale. In addition, I now have the Astronomy Calendar 2009 available for sale.

The Astronomy 2009 Calendar by Astrovisuals features 12 great images and daily details about planetary positions, eclipses, lunar occultations, planetary conjunctions, meteor showers, etc.  The calendar is A4 in size (opens to A3) and has been designed for use in Australia and NZ.

Prices

• Astronomy 2009 Yearbook: $23 (includes postage within Australia) (RRP $24 excl postage)
• Astronomy 2009 Calendar: $13 (includes postage within Australia) (RRP $14.95 excl postage)
• Order them together and save! Buy both for $33 which includes postage to your door (within Australia)

The Astronomy 2009 Yearbook and Astronomy 2009 Calendar make a great christmas gift! Order yours before stock runs out!

Astronomy 2009 Yearbook and Calendar Order Page

Thanks for reading.

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Hi all

IISAC2008 is now only a week away! It starts on Thursday October 30, and goes for 3 nights. Even if you haven't registered yet, you're still welcome to make your booking now or even just turn up on any of the days. There's already over 130 registrations, and there's still plenty of space available. We'd love to see you there.

The online registration form is linked from the IISAC2008 Info page.

Make sure you keep an eye on IceInSpace for the reports, pictures and images as people stumble back in after a great weekend away.

In other news, the Astronomy 2009 Yearbook is now available to purchase.  Astronomy 2009 by Quasar Astronomy is a must-have yearly almanac with tonnes of info about observing the night sky in Australia during 2009. It contains star charts and other ephemeris, dates and details of important astronomical events during the year and much more.

You can purchase your book through IceInSpace for only $23, which includes postage to you door. You'll also receive 3 free IceInSpace stickers!

Books are expected in-stock in early November. You can order yours using the online order form at the the Astronomy 2009 Order Page.

Lastly, I have created a new personal blog site and image gallery, to share my thoughts and images. It was launched in the last few days, and you can check out my new site at:

mikesalway.com.au  - Astronomy and Photography by Mike Salway

Your feedback is most welcome!

Thanks for reading.

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Hi all

In less than 3 weeks time, I'll be enjoying the dark skies at IISAC2008! Where will you be? :)

The field maps have been uploaded, as well as the IISAC2008 Sky Lists.

• Field Map 1
• Field Map 2
• IISAC2008 Sky Lists

If you're planning on registering, please do so ASAP so I can finalise catering, t-shirts and marquee size by mid-next-week (to give as accurate numbers as possible).

Remember to keep an eye on the forum thread for more discussion.

I hope to see you there.

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Hi all

The countdown really begins in ernest now! Only 1 month to go until IISAC2008 kicks off for another year!

The Programme of Events has now been finalised, and we have some great guest speakers to entertain and educate you during the days, and some large 18" and 25" scopes to keep you entertained and amazed at night!

If you're still thinking of coming, then please, don't be shy! We'd love to see you there. There's no limit on the camping space available and everyone is welcome. There's still bunkbeds available if that's your preference, but they'll start to fill up over the next 2 weeks.

I'm starting to firm up the numbers for the catering and the t-shirt orders, so it'd be great if you could get your registrations in sooner rather than later so I don't order too many (or too few!).

My family and I went up to Lostock for some site reconnaissance last weekend, and the skies are beautiful and dark, just as I remembered them. The swimming hole was a treat for the kids to cool off in on the hot Saturday. I also did a bit of night-time photography to show the beautiful skies. Here's a few images to whet your apetite:

• Swimming hole and camping area
• Southern Star Trails over Lostock
• The Milky Way at Lostock

Remember to get your booking and payment in before the 14th October to get the $10 early-bird payment discount!

Things are starting to get exciting now! Time to start your weather dance or whatever it is you do to bring on nice weather and clear skies!

I look forward to seeing you there!

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Hi all

I'm really pleased to announce that IceInSpace celebrates its birthday today, turning 4 years old! It's yet another fantastic milestone reached by our great community, and continues to show the strength and loyalty of everyone who makes up IceInSpace.

That's not just me and Terry, or the moderators. It's every one of you that helps to play a part in making IceInSpace what it is today. Everyone who visits the site, reads the forums, posts questions and posts answers, posts your images and contributes content to the site. If it wasn't for all of you, IceInSpace wouldn't still be here 4 years on, as strong as we are today.

What started 4 years ago as a little home on the internet, has grown so much - has exceed all of the expectations we had back then about what we hoped to achieve with IceInSpace. Our goals and vision have grown since then and now we have a grander vision for what we want to achieve with this great site; what we want to offer in a website to the astronomical community around the world.

We have a great number of plans in motion and on the drawing board, and hope to bring some new features to you over the next 3-6 months.

At this time of year, we usually celebrate with a birthday quiz. Hopefully you already know that the birthday quiz has been moved back a few weeks to coincide with IISAC2008.

IISis4 will begin on the 10th October, and the prizes will be drawn at IISAC2008 on the 1st November.

Please check the official IISis4 thread for more.

Terry and I would like to extend our thanks to the moderators, who do such a great job and are such great friends. They keep things ticking along and running smoothly and you hardly ever notice they're there. Which is what a moderator should be.

Thanks again to the community for your contributions to IceInSpace, and together we will continue to grow and shape amateur astronomy in our region.

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Hi all

With only 2 months to go until IISAC2008, it's time to start planning! Put in those leave forms at work, start buttering up the partner, get the kids excited!

What a great opportunity to observe under dark skies, meet up with old and new friends from the IceInSpace community, and share this great hobby with like-minded people. If you've never been to a star party before, now is the perfect opportunity to get along to your first one. You'll never look back!

If you've ever wanted to see the spiral arm structure of other galaxies in our universe, or see the gaseous dusty nebulosity from far away regions where stars are being born, or see magnificent globular clusters containing a million stars bound by their combined gravity - then the IceInSpace AstroCamp 2008 is for you!

If you've never been out under dark skies, away from the city glow to see the brilliant Milky Way stretching overhead, then IISAC2008 is for you!

For more information, prices, and the registration page, head on over to the IISAC2008 page.

We also welcome two new sponsors for IISAC2008 and IISis4 - Australian Sky & Telescope, and The Imaging Source Astronomy Cameras. We thank you for your support.

Thanks for reading.

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Hi all

It's with great pleasure I can announce that IISAC2008 Registrations are NOW OPEN!

The online registration form is linked from the IISAC2008 Info page.

With only 2.5 months to go, make your booking early, and make your payment early (before 14th October) to receive a $10 discount off the total price.

The IISAC2008 Info page has also been updated to include details of the catered dinner provided by the Gresford RFB (should you choose to include dinner in your booking), and also a look at the IISAC2008 T-Shirt design.

I look forward to seeing you there. Please contact me if you have any questions or problems with your registration or the online form.

Thanks!

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