This year's competition includes a flash CCD event. Contestants are to aim their camera / scope combination at selected objects of their choice and then image at the appropriate time lapse following the ignition of two tonnes of magnesium powder on the western, or higher, observing field at Wiruna.
Due notice is being given to dedicated deep sky observers who will be quarantined in the lecture hall and hooded to supplement the black-out curtains specially fitted to protect their dark adaption during the flash.
Professor Richard Jaywalker has wisely restricted the choice of objects to those in our own galaxy only to prevent the duration of the competition being overly long - extra galactic subjects would require an unacceptable time frame to complete the exposure. Even with this wise restriction the competition results will not be to hand for quite some time.
Other events planned for the star party include the roadkill cooking contest, with prizes for the most tasty and innovative dishes prepared from the most unlikely and far gone objects, with recipes for Wombat Au Vin, Kangaroo Stroganoff and Snake Kebab being tipped as close contenders, and the Star Port Messier Marathon, in which as each object is found by star hopping and the observation recorded, the observer drinks 100ml of Star Port and proceeds to the next object.
The observer recording the greatest number of objects wins the engraved stomach pump.
There is a special visual acuity prize for the observer tallying up the greatest number of naked eye stars seen in the Coal Sack, while it is hoped that the special standing prize for the first comet discovery in the LMC during a South Pacific Star Party may be at last claimed during this year's event.