The South Pacific Star Party

The 16th Annual South Pacific Star Party: 4 - 6 April, 2008

The 15th Annual South Pacific Star Party - Photo Courtesy of Mike Salway

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Each year since 1993, the Astronomical Society of New South Wales has hosted the now famous South Pacific Star Party (SPSP), at it's 107 acre (43 hectare) country property Wiruna near Ilford, NSW, between Lithgow and Mudgee about 3 hours north-west of Sydney, through the Blue Mountains and into the NSW Central Tablelands.

The Star Party provides amateurs with the chance to meet other amateur and professional astronomers, and observe under dark skies with superb seeing conditions, through all types and sizes of telescopes.

The 16th Annual South Pacific Star Party will be held at Wiruna over the weekend of 4 - 6 April, 2008.

MAJOR SPONSOR:

Online Registrations for SPSP 16 have now CLOSED.

If you are interested in attending, you but haven't booked, you can do so at the event. Please note that on site registrations are not eligible for entry into the Door Prize draw. You can still enter the Astro-Imaging Competition and Telescope Makers Awards but you will need to get your entries in on time.

The Saturday Night Spit Roast is fully booked.

If you have any questions or intend travelling to the event and registering on-site then please contact Les Sara at President@asnsw.com or on 0419 297 592

AstroImaging Competition

This year's Star Party will see a boost to the AstroImaging Competition, which hopes to make it one of the premier competitions amongst Amateur AstroImagers.

Facilities

Facilities are available for camping and there is plenty of space for parking caravans. Barbecues and firewood are provided on site. Hot showers and flush toilets are also available.

Hot Food is available on-site all day at SPSP, to make things far more convenient. Other general supplies are available from Kandos, Rylstone, Lithgow and Mudgee.

Off-Site Accomodation

For those looking at a more civilized style of accomodation, the nearest Motel is at Kandos, about 25km from the site, or cabins at Cherry Tree Hill about 10 minutes drive away, or at Wattle Flat about 20 minutes drive towards Bathurst via Sofala. A list of off-site accomodation options is also available.

Activities

The Star Party typically includes formal daytime workshops, as well as formal and informal lectures, while evening events include observing, socialising, and sky tours for those of you who are not so familiar with the stellar skyscape, or if you just want to find some of the more obscure objects in the sky.

2008 South Pacific Star Party Information Kit

The Volunteers' Cocktail Party at SPSP 14 Due to the exceptionally dark skies at Wiruna, a Light Use Policy has been put in place when observing on the Main Observing Field at Wiruna to preserve the night-vision or dark-adaption of other observers.

Wiruna is also a Bird-Watcher's and Nature-Lover's Paradise, with an abundance of colourful Native Australian birds, Brush and Ring-Tail Possums, Wombats, and our own resident family of rather shy Kangaroos, which can usually be seen around dawn or dusk, around the Eastern Field. There is about 60 acres of bush on the property for those who like bushwalking.

The Anglo-Australian Observatory at Siding Spring is 3 hours drive north of Ilford for those who wish to make a day trip.

Each month, over the weekend nearest new moon, the ASNSW holds an Astrocamp (mini star party), which usually attracts between 20 - 40 members, and several non-members, and locals. Prospective visitors who are unable to attend the South Pacific Star Party are welcome to join us on any of these weekends. If you would like to join us one weekend, feel free to Email us to make arrangements.

Want free SPSP Registration? Why not enter the competition for designing the SPSP T-Shirt logo? Simply by 14 December 2007 for your chance to win!

Regional Tourism

While Wiruna gives you some of the best, easily accessible night skies in the southern hemisphere, it is also the perfect base for a little regional tourism during daylight hours.

The Wollemi National Park - Covering an expanse of over 493,481 hectares, Wollemi National Park is the perfect destination for visitors to Wiruna to make a day trip to. 200,000 hectares of this park is declared Wilderness Area, and is the largest remaining wilderness area in New South Wales. Access is limited, but there are a number of lookouts and attractions, including Dunn's Swamp, Ferntree Gully and the Glow Worm Tunnel.
Sofala and Hill End - Former gold mining towns, Sofala and Hill End are well worth a visit to see the history of Australian gold mining days.
Wine-growing Regions - Ilford has it's own winery, the Mountilford Winery, only 15km from Wiruna, but the whole region out to Mudgee and beyond is scattered with a number of fine wineries. The South Pacific Star Port comes from the Mountilford Winery, where you can make a trip to taste a number of fine wines or buy directly from the manufacturer.

History of the South Pacific Star Party

SPSP1	May 21 - 24, 1993	SPSP9	March 23 - 26, 2001
SPSP2	May 6 - 9, 1994	SPSP10	March 15 - 17, 2002
SPSP3	May 26 - 29, 1995	SPSP11	March 28 - 30, 2003
SPSP4	May 17 - 20, 1996	SPSP12	March 19 - 21, 2004
SPSP5	May 9 - 12, 1997	SPSP13	March 11 - 13, 2005
SPSP6	March 27 - 30, 1998	SPSP14	March 31 - April 2, 2006
SPSP7	March 19 - 22, 1999	SPSP15	April 13 - 15, 2007
SPSP8	March 30 - April 2, 2000	SPSP16	April 4 - 6, 2008

Future Dates for the South Pacific Star Party

SPSP 16: 4 - 6 April, 2008

SPSP 17: 22 - 24 May, 2009