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Old 03-09-2014, 08:04 PM
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slt (Gunther)
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The joys of a dark sky…

Since acquiring my C11 Edge back in March I’ve been slowly working my way through the BAM600. By the end of July I’d gone past half way, which I thought wasn’t too shabby since from my terrace in Sydney’s north I cannot see anything below 60°S, and of course less than half a year has passed (and no, I don’t make it a habit of observing into the early hours of the morning ;-).

As it so happens, I also own a little land in SA, and this last week was my first trip there with a scope in the bag. And whilst I’ve been quite impressed with what can be seen with an 11” CAT in light-polluted Sydney, I had quite a few WOW and OMG moments coming…

I’ve been struggling a bit at my place in Sydney to resolve much below about 2”, but one of my first targets last week was Beta Mus (1.26" 3.06+4.01mag) … no challenge at x215 whatsoever.

The other thing I was struggling with was low surface brightness galaxies. But at the dark site they just pop into view, no jiggling or averted vision required. Had a look at NGC 6876 in Pavo (which is a BAM600 item at 12 mag) and three other 13 mag galaxies are just there, all in the same FoV. NGC 6769, 12.6 mag, same story, but now there are five of them. Polarissima Australis, 14.1 mag … just there for the picking!

Had a quick look at the Eta Carina nebula and was stunned by the amount and detail of the nebulosity visible. It was only when I recorded my observation in SkyTools that I realised I had been looking at an object at an altitude of only 12°!!!

The only thing bad was that I hadn’t quite prepared myself for the cold. At 600m+ above sea level the temperature dropped quite quickly into the low single digits soon after dark, and my light sleeping bag wasn’t up to the job of lifting me from a mild hypothermia in the early hours of the morning. Something I’ll need to keep in mind.

To all my fellow city dwellers I can only say, make an effort to get out to the dark skies, it’s well worth it!
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Last edited by slt; 03-09-2014 at 08:22 PM. Reason: Spelling
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Old 03-09-2014, 09:06 PM
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That looks fantastic! Looks like there is no light pollution anywhere near that spot. What is the dew like at this place?

Interesting comment you make about splitting doubles. I find that my suburban skies are no hindrance to that, all it takes is good seeing. With seeing better than 7/10 I can split Xi Sco AB with my 6" Mak (at 360x) without problems from my backyard.

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Old 04-09-2014, 07:39 AM
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Hi Steffen, you are of course correct in saying that light pollution per se has little effect on being able to split tight binaries. At my place in Sydney I have, in addition to the LP, also localised seeing issues (like the oven exhaust from a takeaway next door).

At my dark site the only detriment to seeing are high atmospherics. The region is semi-arid and the ground doesn't hold on to the day's heat for very long. Temperature drops rapidly by 10+ degrees after sunset, and any wind quickly dies. Having said that, last week wasn't anywhere near perfect, both with seeing and being dark. There was quite a bit of fast moving cirrus cloud around during the day from an approaching cold front. There was also a bit of sky glow and a few remaining cirrus after dark. Even so, I was able to split 1" binaries and the SQM reading at midnight was 21.9.

As far as dew is concerned ... almost non-existent. As I mentioned above, it's semi-arid. On the coldest night (+3C) I noticed a sheen of moisture on my EP case but nowhere else, even though I don't even have a dew shield on the C11. The EP case is a yellow hard-case from Bunnings, and I have no idea how it attracted moisture, but nothing else. Maybe I was breathing over it

Last edited by slt; 04-09-2014 at 07:41 AM. Reason: spelling
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Old 04-09-2014, 10:07 AM
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Sounds like a really great site!

Cheers
Steffen.
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Old 04-09-2014, 11:18 AM
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Congrats on your quality time Gunther, sounds like a cracking time

I've found that while the C11 can be a bit of a dew magnet in the moist valleys of coastal NSW, a bit of altitude goes a long way
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Old 07-09-2014, 01:24 PM
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Gunther,

South Australian inland skies can be ummmm..... delicious! I visit Warraweena Conservation Park most years, a magnificent place and even better with a 'scope.

Yep, and even better in a Landy. Visit Warraweena and note the excellent reception that you get from Stony, the caretaker. My visits involve the Land Rover Owners Club of Victoria, we have done heaps of work around the park, thus Landy people are always assured of a great reception.
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Old 07-09-2014, 04:04 PM
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Thanks Dunk and also Wren for the Warraweena suggestions. Might drop in on my next visit.
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Old 09-09-2014, 03:38 PM
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Nice report Gunther. Those faint targets sound like shooting fish in a barrel from a dark site. I grew up in inland South Australia and I have never since observed under such dark and transparent skies. Certainly the observing there in outback SA would rival anything in the world for darkness.

Two things I did this year that made winter observing so much better. I bought a really nice, warm sleeping bag from Kathmandu. These good ones are $500 but I waited for the sale and got it half price. Secondly I bought a freezer suit from Geoff here on IIS and I became impervious to the cold.
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Old 10-09-2014, 06:26 PM
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slt (Gunther)
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Thanks Allan, good advise!
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