A deep sky observing night and social outing was enjoyed by AAQ Members and their guests at the Jondaryan Woolshed on the weekend of the 7th and 8th of May. The Woolshed is located in Evanslea Road, Jondaryan, approximately 2.5 hours drive west of Brisbane and 45 km west of Toowoomba on the Warrego Highway. Further information is available on the Jondaryan Woolshed website.

The excursion started at 3:30pm Saturday with a guided tour of Woolshed by an experienced shearer. The tour included the history of the woolshed and buildings and a shearing demonstration, which finished just in time for us to setup telescopes before darkness came. We then had a tasty and substantial roast dinner. After preparing our accomodation in the old shearers’ quarters at the Woolshed, we donned warm clothes and proceeded to observe.

In the afternoon heavy clouds had threatened to ruin viewing, but these clouds started to clear at sunset. Except for an occasional veil of thin, almost transparent, cloud the seeing was good until heavy dew developed after midnight. We enjoyed good views of Saturn (before it set), Jupiter (which included the last event of the night - a transit by Io ) and various deep sky objects. The Swan Nebula (M17 in Sagittarius) was a personal highlight when viewed through an 18inch Obsession Dobsonian.

After a restful sleep in the quiet country setting, breakfast was eaten. The group then drove to the small town of Mt Tyson where we had delightful coffee and chocolate sweets at the White Mischief cafe. We then dashed across to the Rimfire Winery at Maclagan for lunch and wine sampling to conclude the excursion.