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Old 04-02-2007, 08:21 AM
jcdundon
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Dark sites close to Perth

Hey all, just moved down to Perth in the last few months, and am looking for a good spot to do some observing not too far away from home.

I'm not used to having to think about city lights and trees, was very easy when i could just go out the back yard anytime i wanted.
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Old 04-02-2007, 06:46 PM
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WadeH (Wade)
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Welcome to Perth.

BTOW in Malaga hold regular Saturday night viewings at Golden Grove in the Chittering Valley. Follow this link and click on AGWA for more details.
http://www.btow.com.au/

Me, I'm spoilt. I live just up the road from this location.
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Old 04-02-2007, 09:59 PM
bloodhound31
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Dude, I used to live in York. Very dark skies. Drive 45 minutes east from Midland on the Great Eastern Highway. Don't forget to veer off the Great Eastern Highway at The Lakes or you will end up in light polluted Northam. Anywhere along the road between the lakes and York there are large farms with big open fields. Try your luck along there mate. Check out Mount Observation, out that way in the national park too. Google earth can help, along with http://www.whereis.com/whereis/home.do

Otherwise, head north along the coast up past Yanchep/Mindarie keys to view west, or up the Northern Highway from Middleswan, past the wineries in the Swan valley to get away from Perth's light pollution.

Dont bother heading south as you have to get past Fremantle, Kwinana's industrial lighting, which is HUGE, Rockingham's booming urban lights and Mandurah. Perth is getting BIG.

Hope this helps.

Baz

Barry's home-made observatory

http://members.iinet.net.au/~armstead
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Old 04-02-2007, 10:11 PM
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The Murdoch Astronomical Society (which no longer exists btw, they merged with ASWA) used to go out along Brookton Hwy, but a lot of other people wander around in those areas, not always nice people up to legal activities, so I would only be heading out there with a friend in tow.

ASWA currently has their deep sky meetings in Parkerville but it's not a particularly dark site. In the long term ASWA will have a permanent site in the Wheatbelt about 2 hours from Perth - it's under development at the moment and hopefully the pen-pushers in Perth who are holding up the paperwork at the moment will pull their fingers out soon so we can get going with it!

Another spot to try is out along the road to York on the side streets. I used to use one with some friends but can never remember the name of the road.

A lot of locals just take a drive one day to scout out good spots in the forest, and that might be your best bet.

Don't go south, as the others have mentioned, and don't go to the Gnangara pine plantation unless you like living dangerously.
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Old 04-02-2007, 10:54 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bloodhound31 View Post
Check out Mount Observation, out that way in the national park too. Google earth can help, along with http://www.whereis.com/whereis/home.do
How do you find Mt Observation? I did some daytime stuff around there a couple of years back (bushwalking/photography) and thought it was too cluttered with trees to be any good for astronomy. Has it changed or is there a clearing somewhere I didn't realise existed?

I'd be interested to know as it is a good location as far as distance from Perth etc.
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Old 05-02-2007, 07:36 AM
jcdundon
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Thanks for the replies guys, got a few ideas now, I'm at work till wednesday night, then i'll have 5 days to drive around and do some exploring.

I'm pretty keen to check out some of those viewing nights as well, but i'm only down every second weekend. might take a bit of planning and forethought to line up with one

Thanks
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Old 13-02-2007, 04:37 PM
beren
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I usually head out to the state forest on the eastern side of Mundaring weir, there's a belt of pine plantations that follow the length of the weir and last year some where harvested leaving large clearings from the surrounding Jarrah and Wandoo forest, great spots for setting up and pretty dark to depending on how far south you go. Access is a little tricky which is probably a deterrent to the "bad elements" but worth it to try considering the relativity closeness to the city {Ive read on some WA 4WDriving forums the state government is going to put further access restrictions on this area being a water catchment area }.Google earth pic attached
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Old 13-02-2007, 05:53 PM
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There's another place closer to the city which isn't bad , if your in the northern suburb's it's very convenient . If you head out to the Swan Valley and to the Bells Rapids area over the escarpment is a semi-rural suburb of Brigadoon, the estate is gradually getting extended eastwards with a number of empty culd-sacs, perfect for setting up . I haven't been for a while but I had no problems with anyone, a few residents have walked by with a wave etc plus there was a security service doing the rounds but never told me to move on .
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Old 21-10-2010, 12:18 PM
flyingbaby (Allan Chan)
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I know this thread has not been attended since 1997.. I thought i might revive this thread...

I am living at Bentley and wish to get find a good dark site this weekend.. (21/10/2010)

Not sure if anyone can suggest anything...
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Old 21-10-2010, 01:47 PM
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mswhin63 (Malcolm)
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As mention in the above post ASWA, have had some small changes, They now have 3 official sites. Parkerville has changed and now at Baker Hill, Tammin has been around for a year or so and only recently Jarrahdale has commenced. The first site visit for Jarrahdale only provided 1 hour of obs then rained out.

You can have a look at there sites and contact each of the members responsible.

There are a number of unofficial site around, great if you know other people. I am always concern about lone site visits though.

It is good to revive older threads when found.
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Old 21-10-2010, 04:08 PM
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Originally Posted by beren View Post
There's another place closer to the city which isn't bad , if your in the northern suburb's it's very convenient . If you head out to the Swan Valley and to the Bells Rapids area over the escarpment is a semi-rural suburb of Brigadoon, the estate is gradually getting extended eastwards with a number of empty culd-sacs, perfect for setting up . I haven't been for a while but I had no problems with anyone, a few residents have walked by with a wave etc plus there was a security service doing the rounds but never told me to move on .

This area is starting to build up!
Ellenbrook has expanded big time and gives of a fair bit of light
However, Campersic drive has a nice view of the city and surrounds.
I recently went to a ( kinda) friends winery and that was a beaut spot to set up a scope. He now has moved on from that winery but I might still be able to get access ( cause I think I know who the owner is and might be able to ask him......)
When I see him next I'll ask ( he is a regular at work) and let you know.
If you dont hear from me for a while, just remind me! I'll see what I can do!
Attached is a NearMap image of the location. The Cul de Sac isnt to bad. North and East are a fair bit obscured....

Bartman
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Old 24-10-2010, 12:28 AM
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Wundabinning Road.

I used to observe on Wundabinning road with a group of friends (including Blue Skies) but we had to find somewhere else when we ran out of space. If you turn North off the road to York (about 18km from the Lakes) and continue for about 1km, there's a bit of a clearing by the side of the road. I've scoped out a few good spots in that area with one of my regular buddies - we were comfortable with a couple of 10"s and an 18", but when the 25" arrived we needed somewhere with a bit more clear ground.
Skies are good - mag 6.5 - 7.0 on a great night to the East, but Perth skyglow wipes out most of the sky up to about 45 from the West.
There's a rifle range just outside of Sawyer's Valley that has a good, level open space and is a reasonable spot for a short night.
Current location is a jealously guarded secret!
cheers,
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Old 02-11-2010, 04:58 PM
rousey346 (David)
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I use to take my 16" dob all the way to hyden, then drive north of hyden (only a small town) about another 25kms along a dirt track to a camping spot of mine. Best skies ive ever seen and no major city for 300kms and not a single streetlight for 25kms

Seeing is fantastic, and can see 7.5mag stars

i could see vivid greens, and a lightish brown colour in orion nebula out there.
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Old 01-09-2013, 04:42 PM
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An old thread but worth revisiting I think.

Does anyone have any new dark sky sites within 100km east of Perth? Preferably one that is safe!

Obviously there are the ASWA/AGWA sites but I was more thinking of somewhere you can pack up and drive to whenever.

Which sites are people using?
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Old 05-10-2013, 11:21 AM
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The site I go to most often is about 150km East as the crow flies but about 180km in travel distance. Any closer to Perth and the Western glow is significant. I usually try and make it an all nighter to justify the grief. I've got a trailer now so it's a bit easier with the setup and pack away. My next opportunity to get out will be Nov new moon ( I hope
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Old 21-12-2016, 06:25 PM
jeelan (Jeelan)
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I'll re-kick this thread off....

Perth's grown significantly since the last entry in 2013. North is almost continuous unbroken development from Perth to Yanchep and same heading south

Anyone got any new areas they head to regularly around Perth?

cheers
Jeelan
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Old 24-12-2016, 09:14 PM
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Friends and myself go to Boyagin rock camp site at the Boyagin nature reserve just out of Brookton.

Plenty of flat ground. A few trees however they dont really get in the way. Mainly on the west side and east is clear.

Can be the odd scorpion so wear appropriate footwear etc. No different to anywhere else in the bush regarding wildlife.
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