AstroFest 2007

SAO hosted its inaugral AstroFest conference at Quanah, Texas from October 12-14, 2007. Quanah is about 3 hours drive north-west of Dallas, or about 18 hours flying time from Melbourne, Australia!

AstroFest 2007 was a three day conference for SAO students, alumni and instructors and invited guests. AstroFest 2007 was generously supported by the Three Rivers Foundation (3RF) who offered their ballroom in Quanah to serve as our lecture room and venue for registration, morning and afternoon coffee breaks as well as our conference dinner. In addition, 3RF offered the use of their fantastic dark sky observatory, Comanche Springs Observatory, just outside of Crowell, about 30 minutes drive from Quanah.

Approximately 30 conference attendees listened to lectures and participated in astronomy laboratory/demonstration sessions. On Thursday evening SAO Alumni hosted a conference reception that was well lubricated by Massoni wines (from Victoria, Australia, and co-owned by Swinburne alumnist Charles Pellegrino).

On Friday Pamela Gay led off the conference proceedings with a talk about the "Improbable Universe". Adrian Brown and Jennifer Heldmann both gave talks about Mars. Adrian concentrated on the polar cap regions, and Jennifer discussed evidence for liquid water outflows. We then visited Comanche Springs Observatory where Larry Phillips gave us a guided tour of the observatory and the telescopes. Later that evening we observed the dark sky wonders of Texas.

The whole gang at 3RF's Comanche Springs Observatory. Left to Right: Jeff Barton, Howard McLaughlin, Lachlan MacDonald, Tony Buckley, Anne Adkins (kneeling), Ron Parks (standing at back), Russell Wheeler, Adrian Brown, Jennifer Heldman, Patrice Fay (in front), Lisa Foley, Janet Bosch, Pamela Gay, Tony Kreinbrink, Matthew Robinson, Jim Peterson, Tim Hunter, Jayanne English, Sarah Maddison (sitting), Ron Wilhelm and son, Richard West (at back), Steve Thompson (at back), Jennifer Wilhelm (at back, obscured), Fred Koch (sitting), Caryl Smith, Larry Parkes (sitting), Walter Smith, John Fulton (at back, obscured), Jodi McCullough, Bruce Sayre, Roy McCullough.

On Saturday Pamela Gay discussed standard stars - observations and reductions, Jodi McCullough described her efforts to build a home observatory (before a hurricane struck Ohio!) and Jim Peterson presented a history of Apache Point Observatory. Jayanne English then presented a double-header - a lecture on creating images that are both artistic and scientific, then followed this by a demonstration in which conference delegates got to create three colour images. That evening we went again to Comanche Springs Observatory.

Sarah Maddison kicked off Sunday with a lecture on Planetary Dynamics, followed by Tim Hunter discussing the problems of light pollution. We were also fortunate to be able to get a video-audio link to the Parkes radio telescope in New South Wales where one of the Swinburne PhD students, Sarah Burke was observing. For about 20 minutes Sarah described her observations of pulsars and discussed aspects of her thesis work with the conference delegates.

The two Sarahs - Sarah Burke at Parkes, NSW, beaming in via a skype video call, and Sarah M. at Quanah, TX.

Glen Mackie then gave a lecture on rich cluster dynamics and brightest cluster galaxy velocities. Glen finished the conference with another lecture, this time about the Siding Spring Observatory 1m telescope and the science that can be done with 1m class telescopes. The talk included a quiz regarding astronomy acronyms (Tony Kreinbrink won the competition) and Glen then led the conference delegates in the recently found, and surprisingly unknown McCartney and Lennon song "A Hard Nights Night". We finished the conference with a wonderful dinner at the Three Rivers Ballroom.

Prior to the conference, on Thursday and Friday morning Sarah and Glen presented "AstroTours" to schools groups from Quanah and Crowell.

Sarah gives an AstroTour to a local Quanah school in the 3RF Ballroom.

AstroFest 2007 was a great success and the SAO team would like to thank all participants and speakers. A very special acknowledgement to Fred Koch of 3RF, who seeded the idea of a conference in Quanah and ensured that AstroFest 2007 work superbly. Thanks also to all the support staff of 3RF and the volunteers that helped with observing at Comanche Springs Observatory. We also appreciate the support of Swinburne Alumni, the SAO Alumni Fund, and Damien Serong for ensuring the Massoni wine was delivered to Texas!

"Astrofest 2007 was an extraordinary success and reinforced a sense of camaraderie that is possible with a successful distance learning program. I really appreciated the opportunity to meet the SAO coordinators and fellow alumni after so many years of online interaction. The conference was both stimulating and fun."
-- Steve Thompson

"In over two decades of my attendance at professional science conferences and events in the USA ranging from National Science Teacher's Association (NSTA), to National Science Foundation (NSF), Swinburne's Astrofest 2007 in Texas will always be a memorable highlight. It was the most considerately planned, graciously conducted event that had a fine balance of cutting-edge research presentations, perfect dark skies, and a delightful camaraderie between professionals and amateurs. 'A good time was had by all' could only be an understatement. What could have been better than eating chocolate cake and drinking coffee in rocking chairs on the porch under the canopy of the blazing Milky Way while chatting together about old Indian stories and the stars?"
-- Jan Bosch

Astrofest 2007 was a chance to meet old friends for the first time, use a beautiful new observing facility and enjoy the darkest skies I have ever seen. What a perfect weekend!
-- Jodi McCullough

Two images taken by Jodi & Roy McCullough with a Canon 20 Da camera
on a Televue 101NP IS (4 ' refractor) from Comanche Springs Observatory.

Andromeda: Stack of 9 x 1.5 minute exposures.	Pleiades: Stack of 6 x 1.5 minute exposures.

For more information, photos, talks and demo notes, visit the AstroFest website.