Star gazing spots in heathcote+snake valley for meteor shower

[fliedlice]

Hi guys,


I'm just posting this thread because I'm planning on doing a bit of star gazing this weekend (without a telescope) so just with the naked eye. Apparently there's a meteor shower Saturday morning this weekend. I'm planning on taking one of my friends there, as she'll be leaving overseas for good next week.


I've researched a little bit and there seems to be suggestions to go to Snake Valley or Heathcote. I've looked at the like pollution map and it seems that Snake valley and Heathcote are both in the low-light pollution areas.


I just wanted to know, are there certain areas in Snake Valley or Heathcote that i could go to? A nice peak or trail or something. I've called a helpful man named Ken twice in regards to weather Snake valley is a good place to star gaze (he was extremely friendly) and he confirms that it is, but he usually does a lot of meetings at the observatory and i don't want to call him and bother him again as but I'm interested in just taking a look with our eyes, sit down, have a snack etc.


Can anybody help with some suggestions? Any sites that i could sit at or stand... any trails or somewhere high?



Thanks!

[PCH (Paul)]

Hey there, the guy you've been talking to is probably Ken James. He used to be and may still be president of the Snake Valley Astro Society.

He is a really nice bloke and he won't mind at all if you call him again with a question or two.

There'd be no-one better able to help than him. Go for it, and good luck!

[dannat (Daniel)]

which suburb are you coming form? ill suggest a couple of spots based on that

[fliedlice]

Originally Posted by PCH

Hey there, the guy you've been talking to is probably Ken James. He used to be and may still be president of the Snake Valley Astro Society.

He is a really nice bloke and he won't mind at all if you call him again with a question or two.

There'd be no-one better able to help than him. Go for it, and good luck!

Haha thanks for the reply. Yes it was Ken James. He was a happy chappy guy The last time i spoke to him, he said there wasn't much in Snake Valley to be honest, except for the observatory and some small Football ground.

I was thinking of going to the football ground, otherwise i'll drive around a bit for something a bit more mountain.

Apparently the meteor shower starts at about 4am this Saturday in Melbourne. So i may get there at about 2.30am and just browse around for some good spots if it turns out that i can't find more information.

It's either that or i go to Heathcote somewhere (slightly more light pollution, but there must be somewhere nice in terms of peaks/scenery)

This will be my first time getting outside of Melbourne this early in the morning to look at the skies.

[fliedlice]

Originally Posted by dannat

which suburb are you coming form? ill suggest a couple of spots based on that

Ah thanks for that. I'm in the south-eastern suburbs in Dandenong.

https://www.hit.com.au/news/national...tation=bendigo

This article mentions SkyHigh? The thing about this which confuses me is that there is an observatory there, so people use some giant telescope to look at the stars... but according to the sky map i was looking at, Dandenong is within a zone that's got high level of light pollution. The article also suggests Wilson's prom, which is still closer to me but with lots of light pollution.

I bet the atmosphere around Dandenong and Wilson's prom may be quite good though... with lots of people around. So the ambience might be even better than snake valley or healthcote (despite the low levels of light pollution there).

[fliedlice]

Hopefully me taking them to Snake Valley.. i won't make it seem lame and unenjoyable. I'm just hoping that there will be plenty of stars to see (her 2 sisters will be there with us too and so it'd be quite embarassing). I don't have a telescope.. i've never used one.



After this, i think i may even take up seeing the stars as a hobby. I've never looked into a telescope before.

[fliedlice]

Hey guys,

Just an update. I traveled with my friend and her sisters to Snake Valley and I'm glad i did choose that spot. It was extremely dark and even though there wasn't necessary a 'peak' or some landmark for us to look at... when ended up stopping by next to a fence along the road that had some sheep on the other side.

I brought some chairs and a picnic rug and we sat as we saw several meteors pass through the sky. You could literally see the milk way!

We also saw a bright light around the area, which we assumed to be a drone floating in the air about 1km away.. we didn't know what it was doing there though and whether it was common for them to take pics of the stars. It was quite bright itself, so I don't know how great the pictures of the stars would be.

I just wanted to say thanks for the replies so far on this thread. It was quite an emotional night for me.. as it helped me reflect about my true feelings for this girl as i've known her for 3 years. I'm deciding about what i should tell her before she goes back to her country... and to ask if she'll come back at all.

I'm also determined to find out something else which was a mystery for us that morning:
1. Towards the right of the milky way were two very bright lights.... one was almost a red-coloured light and the other one was blue. They eventually both descended until we couldn't see them any more? Does anybody have any idea what they are? Are they planets?

2. We left the area at about 5.30-6:00am. Heading back towards melbourne, all the other stars had disappeared.... except for this 1 bright light which remained in the sky. We thought it was the drone that we previously saw...but it stayed in the sky ALL THE WAY until we ended up in Melbourne. Even when the morning sun has started to rise. Does anybody else know what this star was??

Any help would be great. Thanks again for everything...

[mynameiscd (Andy)]

Hi Fliedlice
Great to see your enthusiasm to see the night sky.
I think the stars you were looking at around 3 to 4am could be Antares in Scorpius which has a real red tinge to it as its a red supergiant star.
The other bright star may have been Saturn which would have been above and slightly to the right of Antares but there are quite a few bright stars in Scorpius so it could have been any of these.
The really bright star up until sunrise would be Venus which is incredibly bright at the moment.
I suggest you get a planetarium app like Stellarium or similar and you can point your phone or tablet at the sky and its pretty close to get an idea learn the night sky.
I started with books with sky charts and a planisphere disk which are the best way to get to know the night sky but these days im a bit lazy and use one of the many apps which some let you zoom right in and see the really distant objects.
Maybe a pair off binoculars which will let you see some really great objects at a relatively low cost.
cheers
Andy

[dannat (Daniel)]

if you're in Dandenong there are a couple of places closer to you in west gipsand. lang lang to Poowong SE of you has reasonable skies, & Tynong north & jindivik NE of you are also pretty good -there is an oval in Jindivick which has an elevated Sth view with some pretty good skies

[AussieTrooper (Ben)]

You don't need perfect dark skies for meteor observing. The International Meteor Organisation http://www.imo.net/ advise that a limiting magnitude of 5 or better is all you need. 30 minutes drive past the edge of suburbia, and that's generally enough.

That IMO site accepts observation submissions from amateurs, and they are dead keen to get them from anyone south of the equator.

If you don't mind the early morning start times, any time after midnight is good for meteor observing.
The last time I did it, I recorded 12, and that was not during a predicted shower.

[fliedlice]

Originally Posted by mynameiscd

Hi Fliedlice
Great to see your enthusiasm to see the night sky.
I think the stars you were looking at around 3 to 4am could be Antares in Scorpius which has a real red tinge to it as its a red supergiant star.
The other bright star may have been Saturn which would have been above and slightly to the right of Antares but there are quite a few bright stars in Scorpius so it could have been any of these.
The really bright star up until sunrise would be Venus which is incredibly bright at the moment.
I suggest you get a planetarium app like Stellarium or similar and you can point your phone or tablet at the sky and its pretty close to get an idea learn the night sky.
I started with books with sky charts and a planisphere disk which are the best way to get to know the night sky but these days im a bit lazy and use one of the many apps which some let you zoom right in and see the really distant objects.
Maybe a pair off binoculars which will let you see some really great objects at a relatively low cost.
cheers
Andy

Thanks for the response. I'll these names in mind so whenever i return to that place, i'll look for the same stars and planets to confirm.

Also i heard that Venus can be very visible in the sky... i just didn't realise it was THAT bright (as bright as a star, as i'd assume that all the light will just be from the sun's reflection).

I never knew there were apps these days that could do that

I'll download them for a start!

[fliedlice]

Originally Posted by AussieTrooper

You don't need perfect dark skies for meteor observing. The International Meteor Organisation http://www.imo.net/ advise that a limiting magnitude of 5 or better is all you need. 30 minutes drive past the edge of suburbia, and that's generally enough.

That IMO site accepts observation submissions from amateurs, and they are dead keen to get them from anyone south of the equator.

If you don't mind the early morning start times, any time after midnight is good for meteor observing.
The last time I did it, I recorded 12, and that was not during a predicted shower.

I'll keep that in mind and the next time, i'll drive 30 minutes away from the suburbs and give it a shot Thanks AussieTrooper