Astronomy Ireland Star B Q this Saturday, August 23rd

ankaragucu

Hi, considering going to this.Has anyone here been to one before?I know there has been some debate concerning this organisation but I'm really not interested in that side of things, I'm just thinking it would be a good opportunity to get to see through some really good telescopes, chat to like minded people and maybe pick up some tips and advice.
Any thoughts?

coylemj

The more than 48 hours of silence after you posted should give you your answer. Also see the thread on the non-event which is Comet Jacques and which has been hyped up by AI as an excuse to sell €50 burgers.

Claiming that a magnitude 10 comet is 'visible from bright city lights' is downright dishonesty but sadly par for the course with AI.

ankaragucu

Thanks for reply coylemj.I didnt go in the end.As you said, the lack of response here spoke volumes I suppose.
Real shame that an organisation with the name doesnt have a better reputation.
I'm just a beginner and I would have hoped that these types of groups would have provided a more inclusive and less expensive opportunity for the likes of myself to learn and to use good telescopes.
Maybe some do?

dsaint1

You made the right choice. It was my first time at such an event. I paid €39 online. If I had paid €50 at the entrance I would be even more pi$$ed off. Way over priced and badly organised! Will avoid in future.

ankaragucu

Thanks for the feedback dsaint1, sorry to hear it wasnt great.

Thargor

Any more detail on what it was like Dsaint?

Kersh

You probably should have come down to Skelligs Star party for a weekend of it.

We got cracking clear skies on Friday, right down to the Southern horizon, all of Sagittarius, for a good while, and the Milky way was exceptionally clear.

Apart from accommodation (which was excellent), and travel, it was a free event, and there were scopes up to 12" reflectors and 6" refractors, and plenty of big binos.

FB page is here - https://www.facebook.com/events/892995947383034/?fref=ts

with plenty of photos of the skies we had.

dsaint1

Thargor wrote: »

Any more detail on what it was like Dsaint?

The overall organisation was terrible. Went in and got something to eat straight away. Rock hard tasteless burger in a hardening bun that was probably out of date. Bad start to the night so, I went into the GAA hall to listen to one of the talks. Things got worse, I couldn't hear most of what was being said for the first talk, whatever was up with the PA system they were using. I was sitting half way towards the front so I'm sure most people at the back couldn't hear anything at all.

Sat a bit closer to the front for the next talk which turned out to be about rockets. Ok, I gathered from the AI website the event was geared towards beginners in astronomy so I went with the expectation to learn about planets/galaxies/clusters and astronomy in general, so why the hell did they have some guy give us a talk on rocketry for over half an hour?

Went outside and trying to figure out where to go and what to see was struggle. No organisation at all. I would have thought it would have been something simple like..If you go to telescope A you can see Saturn, scope B you will see M13, scope C etc etc but nope, none of that. Could've been made easy but you had to figure it out yourself.

Some guy came out with a laser pen and pointed out a few things before the battery ran out. If you weren't standing right beside him you couldn't here what it was he was pointing at anyway. I left after that…

If it cost €15 you'd say meh…I got a cup of tea and a horrible burger and saw Saturn/M13 and a comet. But, they are seriously taking the pi$$ with their €50 at the gate or €39 online fee. I learnt more about rockets in the end than I did about astronomy :-(

endacl

Charging people to look up at the sky.

FFS.

There are quite a few informal groups that are more than happy to have people along for free. Here's a good start:

https://m.facebook.com/ROAIRL?refsrc=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FROAIRL&_rdr

Sometimes AI really take the pi55. Most of the time they just take the pi55...

dsaint1

[/QUOTE]
There are quite a few informal groups that are more than happy to have people along for free. Here's a good start:

https://m.facebook.com/ROAIRL?refsrc=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FROAIRL&_rdr

[/QUOTE]

endaci, I actually heard about the Star BQ on the Republic of Astronomy Facebook page.

nuttyboy79

I find that group to be very A.I. centred maybe they're not being informed when other events are on.

Try http://www.irishastronomy.org/index.php?option=com_kunena&view=category&layout=list&catid=0&Itemid=201 for information on everything from what's on to what's up there.

Branch

I agree, I went to it also. I did try to keep an open mind but did find it pricey (because I got so little in return). My main objective was to get to see how a telescope works but everybody set it up to what they wanted. Like what dsaint1 said I thought each telescope would look at a different celestial object but it was a free for all. You had to pluck up the courage to almost ask could you look through their scope. For an event that has gone on for years it felt like it was there first year at it. Pity AI have a lot of potential as they are on all the airwaves but they are a company I guess with an objective.

nuttyboy79

There are some people out there that have had a good experience with them. The ones you hear about are those that have had a bad experience and unfortunately that's the world we live in. But A.I. are not representative of astronomy in Ireland they're just a part of it. If you want to see another club in action try the forum that I linked too in my previous post, clubs from all around the country use it as a central spot to keep people up to date on the events they are holding. Keep an eye on the events post here for upcoming events too. For Dublin based astronomers check here http://www.irishastrosoc.org/dsa/dsa.htm in particular the Dublin Sidewalk Astronomers I go to this every time its on and can tell you that there is always someone to help there with anything.

coylemj

AI represents itself as a 'club' with 'members' when in fact it is nothing more than a one-man business draped in the clothing of a voluntary body which was setup with the laudable motive of educating the general public in all matters celestial.

The reality is that it exists for no other purpose than to generate an income for it's founder and nobody else has any say in it's affairs.

Unless I missed the last AGM or failed to notice the most recent election of officers and a committee?

dsaint1

coylemj wrote: »

AI represents itself as a 'club' with 'members' when in fact it is nothing more than a one-man business draped in the clothing of a voluntary body which was setup with the laudable motive of educating the general public in all matters celestial.

The reality is that it exists for no other purpose than to generate an income for it's founder and nobody else has any say in it's affairs.

Unless I missed the last AGM or failed to notice the most recent election of officers and a committee?

Nice little earner for him then. I would say maybe between 150-200 people on Saturday night x €40 - €50 a head.

Stargate

coylemj wrote: »

AI represents itself as a 'club' with 'members' when in fact it is nothing more than a one-man business draped in the clothing of a voluntary body which was setup with the laudable motive of educating the general public in all matters celestial.

The reality is that it exists for no other purpose than to generate an income for it's founder and nobody else has any say in it's affairs.

Unless I missed the last AGM or failed to notice the most recent election of officers and a committee?

Didn't you hear coylemj , the AGM was held in DM's bedroom and he nominated and elected himself as chairman ( again )

tricky D

FYI there's a huge thread on AI and his bull: Can Astronomy Ireland really be considered an 'Astronomy club' anymore?

My own particular bug bear is that you are considered a member if you report something to them him, and consequently he claims the moniker of the world's largest astronomy club which is plain rubbish. You also then get the privilege of loads of spam from them him as you get added to the mailing list which is at least naughty.

coylemj

tricky D wrote: »

FYI there's a huge thread on AI and his bull: Can Astronomy Ireland really be considered an 'Astronomy club' anymore?

There's only been one post in the past 12 months so by boards rules it shouldn't really be revived.

tricky D

^My post was an FYI as it's a good read, not any sort of recommendation or backseat mod thing. Besides there's no hard fast 12 month rule, it's a mod discretion thing.

Meanwhile, I've now just started getting spam again from AI despite having sent an unsubscribe last week after having miraculously been resubscribed by them likely from the old mailing list which I didn't subscribe to in the first place many years ago and which took ages trying to get off. (I once reported a sighting many years ago before I knew better - big mistake) I'll wait a few more spams before reporting to the DPC.

Stargate

tricky D wrote: »

^My post was an FYI as it's a good read, not any sort of recommendation or backseat mod thing. Besides there's no hard fast 12 month rule, it's a mod discretion thing.

Meanwhile, I've now just started getting spam again from AI despite having sent an unsubscribe last week after having miraculously been resubscribed by them likely from the old mailing list which I didn't subscribe to in the first place many years ago and which took ages trying to get off. (I once reported a sighting many years ago before I knew better - big mistake) I'll wait a few more spams before reporting to the DPC.

DPC ? David's Private Committee ? :P