Starfest at Siding Spring Observatory

[ms]

Hey guys,

I'm heading off to Coonabarabran for the starfest during the Oct long weekend. We'll stay on the adjacent Barkala farm for one night and camp in Warrumbungle for the other night. Since it's gonna be my first starfest experience and first time camp in a national park, I would love to hear from you guys regarding general stargazing and trip advice!

If you have been there before plz let me know. I still have tons of planning work to do before I'm confident enough to travel :)

Cheers,

Michael

[brisen]

Michael

Just make sure the park is open for camping as parts of the park have been closed because of the rain. I was considering going down, but work is busier then I intended and wont be able to. I did see a notice that parts of the park had been closed for safety in the wet but not sure if this is still the case and affecting the camp ground at the entrance to the park.

Brian

[xstream]

Staying at Pilliga pottery they're very obliging and will make sure the lights go off early if you want to observe.
Please say hello to Maria and the gang from Anna and John :)

You will find the sky more than dark enough at Pilliga!

[ms]

Hi Brian Thanks for the advice. I did notice the closure notice published on the website a few weeks ago due to the heavy rain. The staff at the visitor centre confirmed to me on Monday that camp Blackman and a few others are open to tourists unless there's another storm coming in the future. Weather forecast looks good for the next couple of days but I'm not sure about the days after. Fingers crossed for sunny days:)

[ms]

Hi John,

Yeah I chose Pilliga pottery as our first stop mainly due to the positive reviews from various booking platforms. The fact that it is located off the highway somewhere 35km drive to Coonabarabran doesn't stop me from making a reservation. I really look forward to meeting the host and staying there.

And yes I will say hi to Maria and the gang for you and Anna!

Speaking of the dark sky there, I've actually never seen a sky dark enough so that you can see the milky way clearly with naked eyes since I was born and brought up in urban area, where light pollution has gone worse over the decades. One of my friends mentioned that the view you see onsite yourself is somewhat different from those breathtaking pictures that professional photographers take. I really wonder how that means and how a real dark sky looks like:D

[haroon132]

Hmm I called every single hotel but all of the rooms are sold out and I don't want to camp so I guess I'll wait for the next one. All the hotels keep telling me that they will give me a call if there is any cancellation

[Satchmo]

Wow you've got a treat ahead . The view with the naked eye is far more mysterious as the clouds really do look like clouds and the dark nebulas are intricate but the sharp bright stars in the foreground give a magnificent 3D effect, It is all in good old black and white of course . No photo impression can ever replace the experience of engaging the Milky Way with your eyes - its real time and much more powerful :)

[Kunama]

+100000 :thumbsup:

[xstream]

Great description Mark! :thumbsup:

[ms]

Wow I didn't realize the event will be so popular that hotels are booked out. Well I need to come up with a plan B if I can't camp on the second night.

Keep waiting maybe someone will cancel the trip ahead of the date.

[ms]

That's interesting. Indeed I agree with you that nothing can ever replace the real-time experience with your naked eyes:). Looks like I'm gonna have two sleepless nights