On Saturday I visited my friend Greg at the New forest Observatory for a long overdue catchup.

What an interesting trip it turned out to be!

Greg in combination with Noel Carboni make one of the foremost astrophotography teams in operating in the UK. Greg captures data using large single shot colour cameras with the Hyperstar system from his observatory in Hampshire. Noel does all the image processing in the US. Together they produce exhibition quality results that have drawn the attention of the media and other experts on numerous occasions.

One less expected outcome of my visit occurred when Greg and I looked at some bias frames from his CCD camera. Because of my interest in narrowband imaging, I spend a lot of time looking at Bias frames to make sure my camera is operating properly. Greg's camera immediately showed classic symptoms of a cooling failure.

Happily his camera is now repaired and should be back in his hands in a few days.

The lesson here is that we should always pool our knowledge and experience, as scientists have done for generations.

Another positive outcome of the visit is a general firing up of my enthusiasm for astronomy and imaging - which can only be a good thing!