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Contact information
e-mail
m.sidonio@bigpond.com
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website photos
http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002
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Locator
Map
http://www.frappr.com/apppublic
Level of accuracy: near Canberra, Australia
Biography
I currently live just outside Australia’s
Capital City of Canberra under reasonably dark mag 6.0 skies, yet I am
still just 30min drive (no traffic) from the city centre!
J
I first got interested in Astronomy as young boy and bought my first scope
– a Tasco 4.5” Newtonian when I got my first job at 15. I was very active
in astronomy and particularly astrophotography in the 80’s building cold
cameras and other interesting astrophotographic equipment. During the 90’s
I discovered serious weight training and undertook a quest to become the
World’s Strongest Man. I got close but being completely drug free
prevented me from going all the way. I was runner up in Australia’s
Strongest Man competition in 1997 and finished in the top three in the
Australia v New Zealand Strongman Challenge in 1998, 1999, 2000 and
(surprisingly) 2004. Over the years I have appeared on several TV
programs, in sporting magazines, countless newspapers and even on the side
of a breakfast cereal packet! I set a world record in a strongman event in
2001 when I lifted (with no grip assistance other than grip chalk) and
carried two 160kg oxyacetylene cylinders, one in each hand suitcase style,
51m or nearly 170ft. I am (or at least was?) certainly the World’s
Strongest Astronomer!
The round stone on my shoulder in the
photograph is solid sandstone and weighs 153kg or 340lbs.
J
In
2002 I decided that I had just about destroyed my body (and mind!) after
8yrs of serious strongman training and competing and a previous 6 years
building up to it, so it was time to move on. I made a whirlwind return to
my previous passion of astronomy and astrophotography by purchasing a new
12” SCT and since then I have acquired a few more goodies too! After more
than 12 years of absence from active astronomy however, I felt like I had
been in a time machine. GOTO, CCD, LRGB, autoguiding etc etc were all new
terms for me and it has been a fun and challenging learning curve over the
last 3 years getting up to speed on all the changes. This learning curve
culminated in me winning a first place award and an honorary mention in
the 2005 CWAS Astro Fest, David Malin Awards for astrophotography in July
2005, see links below.
Astrophotography publications
Canberra Times Newspaper1985 for
Astrophotography display and winner of three awards in ACT Science Fair,
Sky & Telescope 1987 for astrophotography article and photographs, Aussie
Sky and Telescope 2005 for image of M104, July 2005 winner of Deep Sky
section amateur division for image of the The Trifid Nebula
http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/published_images
in the CWAS Astro Fest David Malin astrophotography awards.
Observing site
Mt Campbell Observatory is in the front yard
of my 1.5 acre semi rural property. The structure comprises a 4.8m X 2.4m
rectangular building complete with 2.3m Sirius Observatories dome over one
half and a self contained control room underneath the other half.. The
observatory is 120km inland from Australia’s South Coast at an elevation
of 780m with a limiting visual magnitude of about 6.0 on a good
transparent night.
Astronomical Equipment
Telescopes
Meade LX200 12” GPS
Astrophysics 152EDF
.Orion
80ED APO
Mount
Takahashi NJP mount
Cameras
Starlightxpress MX716
Starlightxpress SXV-H9 CCD’s
Activity
Fitness Centre manager and still (but very part time) competitive
strongman - lifting, dragging, throwing, pushing and pulling heavy things
for sport!
J
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