ideal spot for naked eye star-gazing at Australia in July.

[eb3ha4el]

Hi

I joined this community minute ago, while I research for my star-gazing trip in Australia. (I'm from South Korea, and there is no star in my city)
I know this community is dedicated for astronomy, not a tour agency, but if anybody can guide me with few words, that would really helps.



Based on my research on the web, the recommended list are as below;



The problem is my trip plan is mainly in Cairns and Brisbane area only.
All of locations above listed are far.

The advice I'm looking for is whether the above locations really does differ from I simply travel 2 hours-drive from city like brisbane/Carins.

If it does make difference, I'm dedicaed to travel down to outback, unless it's just really more or less the same.

I checked also Moon phase, and my plan is near the new moon phase (dark moon).


Any advice would helps, thanks very much in advance.

[acropolite (Phil)]

If your timing is flexible and you could get here between 18th and 27th August Queensland Astrofest is on, the site is around 2 hours drive from Brisbane, dark skies, friendly people.

[OzEclipse (Joe Cali)]

Your post did not list the locations near Brisbane and Cairns.
Both cities have light pollution Cairns is much smaller than Brisbane. Both have accessible locations where you can get dark skies.

I can give you two recommendations in the Cairns region.

During the 2012 solar eclipse I found a large area off the Mulligan Highway. It's a bit of a drive in but once there you can drive in off the highway. It is private property but treat it with respect, don't draw attention to yourself and you'll be fine.

It's located here :
.......o.....'......"
S.....16...14...30
E...144...43...33

Drive inland from Port Douglas to Mt Carbine. Zero the trip meter at the Mt Carbine Hotel. Drive 65.6km inland on the Mulligan Highway and you are there. It's a long way from any source of light pollution and up on the tableland away from sea mist.

You might also want to visit the lava tubes at the Volcanic national park at Undarra about 220km southwest of Cairns. The lava tubes are fantastic. You can stay in onsite accommodation (railway carriages converted to bunk rooms) or camp in the campground with your own camping gear.

Members around Brisbane can probably advise you better around Brisbane.

Most of Australia has easily accessible dark skies. Northern Australia has by far the statistically clearest in July.

http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/climat...eriod=jul#maps

The area south of Darwin around Katherine & Kakadu has the clearest skies in Australia during July (≤90% clear).

Cairns ≤ 60% clear.

Brisbane ≤ 60% clear.

Southeast Australia ≤40% clear.

If you are thinking of visiting Kakadu, Katherine Gorge then this is going to be the clearest skies you can expect most nights to be clear. The coastal strip from Cairns to Port Douglas to Daintree is cloudy even in winter.

Joe

[that_guy (Tony)]

if you do end up at astrofest, youll have at least one other korean folk to talk to

[eb3ha4el]

Queensland astrofest idea is great!!

I'm there between 15 and 23, and as dark moon is 23 as far as I know,
thinking of spending last 2-3 days of my trip for star gazing. Definitely considering. Thanks!










Oh, yes I forgot to list up. here's below.


1) Coonabarabran, NSW
2) Uluru, NT
4) Lake Ballard, WA
5) Nambung national park, WA
6) Arkaroola, Flinders range, SA
7) Charlesville, Queensland (The only nearer place)


as I mentioned, my main trip is along cairns and brisbane, and these sites are very far, costing me money and time. but If these sites excel and does make difference than nearby off-city rural area of carins/brisbane, such as Mulligan highway, or lava tube, or those northern area near Darwin, Kakadu, Katherine gorge, I'm willing to go.

Based on your information, in july, Kakadu or south of darwin area is best position for star gazing?
Your information is great! fantastic!

I also found some website where they provide light pollution map.
So I think with this map I can get away from light pretty easily, just get a car and drive away. I guess the concerns is factors like you mentioned, clouds and air pollution.

I think it might be important to say what main my target is. The celestial object I mainly want to see is milkyway, clearest and as many stars as possible.




Thank you very much for your words!
I'll post some photographs in end of july!

[eb3ha4el]

I'm considering Kakadu area or Outback around carins area,
(seems to be better in july as information provided, thanks)

but is milky way visible from this low latitude area?
Darwin sits in -12, and on the net milky way is directly over your head if you are in -30.

Any advice?

[OzEclipse (Joe Cali)]

Originally Posted by eb3ha4el

I'm considering Kakadu area or Outback around carins area,
(seems to be better in july as information provided, thanks)

but is milky way visible from this low latitude area?
Darwin sits in -12, and on the net milky way is directly over your head if you are in -30.

Any advice?

Darwin is a city with some light pollution. Go South of Darwin out of the city. Yes Milky Way galactic centre is about 70-80 degrees altitude. Still a fantastic view not on the horizon.

But if you want it right overhead go further south. Just remember that winter weather is more cloudy in July down south around - 30 latitude only <50% clear depending where.

If you want to go further south, best is probably Uluru. Airfares to Darwin from east coast are more expensive than to Uluru.

Joe

[Wavytone]

Re that list - scratch Coonabarabran because you can't camp or observe from siding spring mountain at night. Replace with Mt Kaputar, which has a campground (with cabins that must be booked) on the peak and an excellent observing site at 1500m altitude. In July it can snow there, but if it's clear it's awesome.

In the AAO site selection survey it was #2 only because siding spring has a higher likelihood of cloudless nights - the main cause of cloud being coastal cyclones - which don't occur in winter anyway.

[SkyWatch (Dean)]

From personal experience there are some great skies south of Darwin in July.

I agree with Joe's comment about Katherine Gorge: I led a canoe trip with about 20 teenagers up the gorge many years ago, and I remember camping on an island in the river under the stars. The sky was mind-blowing!

Arkaroola in SA (on your list) has fabulous skies (SQM usually better than 21.8 and often sub arc-second viewing), as well as observatories and telescopes that you can hire. Doug Sprigg (the owner) is very generous with his time and equipment for visiting astronomers. However, it is a long way from anywhere, and it gets very cold at night in July!

If you are going to Cairns it would be worth contacting Ian Maclean, who runs an Astronomy shop, a portable planetarium, and astronomy tours. He has a dark sky site west of Cairns also. See: http://www.nightskysecrets.com.au/news/tours/

(If you are planning to see the lava tubes as well, then this might be your best bet as the Undara lava tubes are about 2 1/2 hours drive south-west of Ian's dark sky site, which is just east of Mareeba.)

All the best, and enjoy your trip!

- Dean

[OzEclipse (Joe Cali)]

Driving distances from nearest airports.

1) Coonabarabran, NSW
6-7 hrs drive from Sydney on good roads

2) Uluru, NT
Can fly to Uluru and rent car from airport

4) Lake Ballard, WA
12hrs drive from Perth

5) Nambung national park, WA
2hrs drive from Perth

6) Arkaroola, Flinders range, SA
12-15 hrs drive from Adelaide. Last few hundred km on rough roads


7) Charlesville, Queensland (The only nearer place)
8 hrs drive from Brisbane on good roads. Great skies available much closer to Brisbane.

[eb3ha4el]

Thank you very much you all!!
I really appreciate.

Now I have several good sites recommended, local informations, and I learned that there is measure called SQM, and also general average climate in July in Australia, thanks very much. All really helps.

but I just can't make up where I should go.

In my country it is very small, and if you aren't particular places, you won't see any star (except perhaps venus?) . So maybe I thought things through in my country's way. (Australia very big!!)


I mentioned these already, but let me sum up in few lines.

I go Australia in July, flying 10 hours, paying about 1000 AUD, spending all my 2017 holidays from work. I already have plans visiting Cairns & Brisbane. I have around 3~4 days for my plan for both star-gazing & outback road-trip (probably renting campervan. So I don't mind being far away from city, unless very far to drive. if it makes very good star-gazing I can travel by flight also if it's worth my money) My object is to watch core of milky way clearly and realize how many stars there are! (i'll be bringing my safari binocular)



Joe gave me very detailed advice, and so I'm considering either no. 1 or 2, as he/she suggested. but your opinion considering my circumstances?


1) Just drive to southwest for Outback from carins (sites such as undara lave tube as given)

2) fly to darwin & head south for Outback (sites such as katherine) (Return flight from carins seems to be around 400 AUD)

3) Your choice? (Uluru or anywhere)

[SkyWatch (Dean)]

If I were you, given the limited time frame (and budget), I would keep to the original idea of Cairns. Instead of flying to Darwin and travelling south (which would cost a lot of time and money: it is a long way to Uluru!) you could save that money and use it to travel out of Cairns to the lava caves if that is what you want to see (I see there is some nice accommodation advertised there: although you could even do it as a day trip!) and doing an astronomy tour to the dark sky site I mentioned before.
You will certainly see the Milky Way!!!
Cairns and the surrounding country is beautiful at that time of year, and the area offers you a wide variety of countryside; ranging from tropical rainforests to outback savannah: not to mention the Great Barrier Reef.
As you say, Australia is a big country: and you can only get a small taste in the time available, so why not spend a bit of time in one beautiful but varied area, and plan for your next trip (to Uluru or Kakadu or .......)?
All the best,

Dean

[mental4astro (Alexander)]

Eb,
to IIS!

From what I've been reading so far, you need to understand that Australia is a BIG place. You cannot just jump in a car from Cairns and arrive in Darwin in two hours. The road distance is 2,848km! Even if you drive non-stop, it will take 31 hours. Joe mentioned this. Do not make the mistake that Australia is only a little bigger than Korea.

While Brisbane is not a big city, and Cairns is even smaller, driving two hours from either city is plenty to see the Milky Way! Phil suggested Astrofest. The event happens just a two hour drive from Brisbane, and throws up a magnificent sky. A two hour drive from either Brisbane or Cairns really is plently!

The photo below was taken of me doing a sketch at last year's Astrofest. The exposure is just a few seconds, and the sky you see in the photo is very much how you will see it two hours outside of Brisbane.



I live in Sydney, very close to its centre. There are a few places here where I need to drive only 45min from my home and I can see the Milky Way. Yes, to get a better view of the Milky Way I need to drive 1.5 to 2 hrs. From either Brisbane or Cairns, a two hour drive will give you a truly magnificent sky!

You DO NOT want to be driving for 10, 15, 20 hours to get to the destinations you listed. Nor does it make sense to fly to these either just to see the sky as the whole process of getting to the Airports, gathering your stuff, travelling the a good observation area, all this eats away just as much time. If you are tight with time, with Brisbane and Cairns as your main centres, you will be treated to a truly wonderful sky with a modest two hour drive!

Also, do not underestimate how tired you will by driving long distances. Especially if you are not used to it. And at night, there is also a big danger of crashing into animals, like kangaroos. You want to be as rested and as fresh as possible to make the most of the night sky. A two hour drive is plenty from either one of these two cities.

Is the Milky Way visible from such a low latitude? WE SOUTH OF THE EQUATOR HAVE THE BEST VIEW OF THE MILKY WAY! In July, Sagittarius and Scorpio are right overhead, along with the densest part of the whole Milky Way, the Cloud of Sagittarius. I can even see this from my home in Sydney!


You might like to send an email to the various Queensland astronomical societies too. These good people will be able to assist you very capably with information and also about their own facilities as most also have dark sky sites just outside the major cities. You will find a list of these in this IIS link:

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/clublistings.html

What I most want for your visit to Australia is for it to be a safe, efficient and enjoyable time. Many visitors make the mistake of not comprehending just how big Australia really is. A two hour drive for you might take you what you THINK is a long distance. But a two hour drive here in Australia gets you nowhere! A four hour drive does, just to next door.

Alex.

[AstralTraveller (David)]

Eb,

Alex, Joe et al are right about the size of this country. Most of us haven't seen most of it. In my younger days I did travel quite a bit of the country and I could spend an hour telling stories of people (mostly overseas visitors) who have vastly underestimated travel distances, times, cost and effort. I met an Ozzie bloke in Darwin who had given himself 10 years to 'see the country properly'. The 10 years was up and he was less then half way around.

When you are in Cairns why not simply spend a couple of nights on the Atherton Tableland? In 2012 I spent 2 nights at Lake Tineroo and the sky was excellent. Even if you can't camp out, just stay in a town. Mareeba has only 10,000 people, Atherton 4,500, Dimbulah 1,400 and the caravan parks are all on the edge of town. Caravan Parks generally have cabins available and cabins provide cooking gear and normally bedding (sometimes bedding is an extra $10 or so a night).

Enjoy your trip!

[eb3ha4el]

Fantastic
Now I have made up my mind!
Thank you very much to you all, especially Alex (unbelievable photo.. can't wait!), Joe, Dean and everyone!

I'll be sticking with Cairns and brisbane and will contact Ian Maclean and astrofest. Thanks for the all informations!

[eb3ha4el]

Hi guys

I am so glad that i have made up my mind to have a star viewing day on night of 22nd july at somewhere around scenic rim in queensland, if the weather permitting. Thanks for guiding. I Thought of linville area also which holds astrofest, thinking that it should be ideal place but it is far from my moving line.

Any locals around this area have recommendation on particular location?