Day Four: Monday 22nd September 1997
Eagle Bore Camp

Eagle Bore is at latitude 24o45'.85S and longitude 124o44'.05E and 218 feet above sea level. Perth is 1186km away to the south-west.

Myself, Greg and Fiorenzo woke up around 3:30am to do some morning observing. It was worth it as the views of the Orion Nebula were stunning.

The others starting getting up just after 5am, it was noticed that sunrise was earlier than Perth due to the distance further east. The first group departed about 6:30 to check the baits. Another group went bird watching while those up late caught up on some sleep (it was hot and very hard to sleep in your own sweat!).

The first group returned having covered 53kms at a maximum distance of 24kms from the camp. The results of this run found 3 cat and 3 fox tracks, a dingo and 2 goannas. The cats took 14 baits, the foxes took 4, the goannas took 2 and the dingo one.

It was around 35 degrees at midday so many showered to cool down.

Venus was observed at 5:20pm (well before sunset). At 6:22pm we observed the Mir Space Station. After dinner we observed from the airstrip for a bit before returning for desert! After that we heading back for more observing and to try some astrophotography. Most people turned in after 11pm, but I stayed out for most of the night and had an excellent time with the telescopes. It was really quite eerie being out on the airstrip alone under the most glorious dark sky you have ever seen.

For photos of this trip see the Gibson Desert 97 Photo Gallery (opens in a new window)