Astrocamp 25 - The Wet and Dry One

Back Blogging

Fresh back from the astronomy and blogging Summer hiatus, this part of the season has started off with a bang.  It's been a while since I last opened this blog and put some words together, but the last week or so has put me right back in the right frame of mind to get back on with it again.  So, what's given the kick in the backside?  Initially, Astrocamp!  The twice yearly star party in the Brecon Beacons that I have been going to for quite some time now.  I won't do a full on post about Astrocamp.  I kind of think I have caught the essence of it enough in previous posts.  But, for the sake of recording what went on...

Well, it rained.  It sunned.  It rainbowed.  It starred.  Within 15 minutes, we had a crazy variety of weather!

The keynote talk this camp was given by Lorenzo on the design and build of a new satellite for the purposes of searching for life on exoplanets.  A brilliant talk, perfectly pitched and really well received by everyone who attended.

Despite the inclement weather for short periods of time, we actually had some excellent observing time every night, but in particular the Sunday night and for those who remained until the Tuesday, Monday night too.

Personally, I only took a pair of binoculars this camp, for a couple of reasons.  Initially, the weather forecast was all over the place.  But, also, because of a dodgy foot, I didn't fancy the idea of carrying my telescope across the site for setting up on the common. Carrying it is one thing.  Doing that on a knackered ankle is something else.  The binnies seemed a much better option.

Nevertheless, a great time was had as usual, and the latest (at least from the campsite point of view) is that dates for future camps have been booked with the campsite up to 2030!

So, that's camp and the start of my astro season for 2025.  Since camp, I've also had another imaging session (the results of which are still in the making).  Then, something else very exciting (from my own point of view at least anyway) happened.  More on that in another post.

Until next time though, thanks for reading!