Leonid Trip to Kulgera Roadhouse

After almost being abandoned due to lack of funding, the University of New South Wales’ expedition to Kulgera to investigate last years strange sighting (see Alternate Universe, 1999) went ahead, aided by the voluntary services of ASNSW Member Dipso Maniak, and New Zealand amateur Ivor Merino. Ivor fortunately was in Sydney to buy a new sheepskin observing jacket as his last one was seized by an over-zealous New Zealand Customs Officer due to its supposed pornographic nature.

Dipso and Ivor paid their own expenses, but the University did provide transportation in the form of its Engineering Faculty’s prototype solar-powered motor bike. Dipso cleverly modified the bike for the trip by his skilful use of CCD technology, by modifying the small towed trailer load of solar cells so that a modest amount of power could be generated by using Starlight and Moonlight, the Moon being a few days either side of first quarter during their trip, allowing for night travel.

They made Kulgera in two days, with an overnight rest stop in the top cabin in the town of Oororoo (spelt backwards: oororoO). To economise on drinks at Kulgera, they filled 3 jerry-cans with a rough-red during their passage through the Barossa Valley. The cans travelled under the Solar/Stellar/Lunar panels on the trailer, along with Ivor’s 6" rich-field fast-slewing Meteor Seeker, built around the main frame of a highly-geared mountain bike.

Dipso is noted for his sketches of meteor trails, made immediately after he has expertly tracked them with his 6" f/4 and 35mm Panoptic combination. He is aided by his photographic memory and artistic imagination, being the only person to have ever glimpsed a Murrell object in a 6" scope (or any size scope!).

More controversial (!) were Dipso’s drawings of several of the brighter Fireballs - notably 1999/DM12, 17 and 25. These were observed with the 6" Meteor Seeker and 9mm Nagler on 18th November 1999. Several spots and streaks were noted on all these objects.

Dipso’s drawings were made possible only by the impressive team work he and Ivor developed between them. While Dipso was observing with the 6", Ivor was centring the nucleus of the fireballs in the cross-wires of the 60mm co-axially mounted guide scope, and by a combination of foot and hand pedals, rapidly slewing the scopes in two dimensions with the modified mountain-bike/equatorial-mount, fitted with 2 sets of elaborate gear-trains.

In a commendable display of self-discipline, both observers restricted their alcohol intake to no more than 3 litres of wine per day, and spent many daylight hours tracking fast-flying birds as practice for the evenings’ serious observing schedule.