Trinity College Astronomy Club - Bindoon Camp

With the excitement in the air and our bags packed we set off to Bindoon. On arrival we unpacked the bus and had a bite to eat before we set up our tents. After the construction of our tents we launched the small rocket as a test with success, then our video rocket. Alas the video rocket did not record its flight.

With the sky cloudy we decided to only set up the computer telescope and afterwards we decided to enjoy some nice hamburgers and scrumptious hotdogs. With the clearing sky and the appearance of the stars we set off to the telescope. Admiring Jupiter with its four main moons and some extravagant nebulas, like the lagoon & swan nebulae. Also with the sighting of the red giant Antares one of the students became excited. With the added expertise of Mr Bill Cooper teaching we saw some mighty constellations and gazed into the heart of the galaxy. Unfortunately the storm clouds came back to disappoint us with the cloud cover and heavy rain, which refused us the privilege to peer into the galaxy and beyond again.

With day dawning and the fog rising we packed the tents and our belongings so we could launch more rockets. Launching the small rocket and video rocket multiple times we enjoyed a good morning with lots of videos. With the time to leave drawing near and our muddy and wet shoes we departed back to Trinity.

Marcus Bunn Yr 8

On the 16th of September 2006 the Trinity College Astronomy Club travelled to Bindoon for the half-annual astronomy camp. Weather looked promising as we were being bussed to the airfield. We first launched a test rocket to see if we had the real rocket on the right angle for the wind direction and speed; it landed 20 metres away from the launch site, a great start to the camp. Soon afterwards we launched the actual rocket. The 91 cm tall video rocket launched 500ft into the air and landed just 30 metres away from us. Soon after we loaded the video footage from the rocket on to the laptop. We were all included in the 30 second long video.

Later that night, when the clouds had cleared and it was getting dark, we set up the telescope for some stargazing. We started by locating the major constellations with planispheres. Sagittarius was directly overhead and to the East was Scorpio. We viewed many constellations such as Hercules, Cygnus, and the Southern Cross.

Using the 14 inch telescope we viewed nebulae, globular clusters and galaxies including;
• M16 (the Eagle Nebula)
• M7
• M32
• The lagoon nebula
• 47 Tucanae
• Jupiter
• Swan Nebula
• Butterfly cluster
• Ring Nebula
• M13
• Sculptor Galaxy
• Antares
…and many more. After 2 hours the telescope lens fogged up and we packed up for the night. It rained heavily and was very windy during the night. The next morning we woke up to a collapsed tent and one that’s cover had blown off. We packed up our tents, ate our breakfast and got straight into some rocket launching. We all launched a rocket and we got some great footage. Mr Cooper packed a rocket meant for A’s or B’s with a C-6! It went out of sight and took a whole minute to land.
At 9.15am Mr Cooper decided that we better pack up and leave so we loaded the bus and arrived back at Trinity with a few minutes to spare.

Mitchell Wellstead Yr 8

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