Planning a trip to Coona and Narrabri

[iceman]

I've been granted a leave pass (though not entirely happily ;)) for a Fri/Sat night on the 13-14 September for a weekend of nightscape shooting.

I'm planning on heading up to Coona and Narribri. Leaving early on the Fri, and staying Fri/Sat nights, heading back on Sunday.

It's first quarter Moon phase, so there'll be some light for the foreground early in the evening and it'll set around 1-2am.

I'm hoping for some help in planning! I don't really know where to go while I'm up there, or how far away things are :) Obviously for nightscapes I'm after some great foregrounds ;)

Coona appears to be about about a 5.5-6 hours drive, and Narrabri (the ATCA) is probably another 2 hours beyond that. I'm guessing one night around Coona and one at the ATCA.

Any suggestions on places to shoot? Scenery? Mountains, rivers, lakes? Obviously the telescopes at Coona, and the Radio Telescopes at Narrabri. Need to find out if I can even get into those places or near them.

I hadn't planned on staying anywhere in particular, probably just sleep in my car or camp.

And hope the weather is good!

Thanks for any help!

[adavis]

Well, the Warrumbungles arent too far from Coona, so there is some hilly foregrounds....

http://www.panoramio.com/photo_explorer#view=photo&position=835&with_photo_id=45308946&order=date_desc&user=5338909

Not to mention Siding Spring Observatory, that has a great view of the Warrumbungles to the west

http://www.panoramio.com/photo_explorer#view=photo&position=2543&with_photo_id=7155102&order=date_desc&user=466539

[theodog]

A lot of around here looks like the image at the moment. The bush provides great views (and walks) as it has been opened up by the fires. These opportunities could be a long time in coming again.

We might have a spare bed if you need one Mike.:thumbsup:

[sheeny]

Definitely Warrumbungles, Mike!:thumbsup: I don't know if you can get near the breadknife...? :) Actually, a panorama from Siding Spring over the Warrumbungles should work well too.

Al.

[iceman]

Plans are forming well for this trip.

Have permission to go up to the AAO at Siding Springs and also the ATCA at Narrabri.

Coincidently, Alex Cherney's brilliant timelapse from ATCA came out while planning for this trip. It's inspired me even more!

Any other suggestions for what to do while I'm there would be welcome :)

[AstroJunk]

A bit of practical advice for ACTA - it's as dry as all hell at the moment and the ground is covered in razor sharp burrs - Take a chair!

Also, the warm spell is waking up the reptiles, if you get permission to jump the fence, watch out for snakes, its perfect habitat.

I briefly tried a star trail sequence and realised that the dishes are rotating almost every few minutes, and blurs them. Kind of cute, but not what I was after. The whole place is very well organised, so you should be able to get a schedule of runs for the night.

[iceman]

Thanks for the advice, Jonathan. Exactly what I was after.

[gary]

Hi Mike,

From the Central Coast to Conna, 5.5 to 6 hours is about right.

A relatively recent feature of the trip is the point to point speed cameras between
Sandy Hollow and Merriwa. This was supposedly meant for heavy vehicles
but I don't recollect the warning signage makes any such distinction.

The bakery at Merriwa is a good place to stop for a break for a pie.



Most of the tracks in the Warrumbungles remain closed.

Belougerie Split Rock, Burbie Canyon, Mount Exmouth and Whitegum Lookout Walk
are the only walking tracks open.

So unfortunately you won't be able to get up to the Grand High Tops and the Breadknife.

However, the Whitegums site is highly accessible and the views fabulous.

The circuit that climbs up Split Rock is worth the effort.

Sidings Springs is closed to visitors after sunset. Drop me an email and I can
forward a contact. The view from the lookout beyond the SkyMapper telescope
is not normally accessible to the public but is the best in the region.

There are no lakes or major water features. The Pilliga forest between Coona
and Narrabri is biologically diverse but relatively flat and featureless as far as
landscape photography.

Some of the views looking back toward Sidings Spings on the road from
Coona to Baradine could potentially make some nice nightscapes
but with only a single weekend, you might end up at, say, Whitegums or with
permission Sidings Springs on the first night and Narrabri on the second.

[iceman]

Thanks very much for the advice, Gary.

Like you said, with only 1 night at each location we're not going to be able to do too many locations in a given night.

I've got the required permissions to be up on the mountain, so thanks for the heads-up about the SkyMapper view.

Just need the weather to cooperate now!

[xstream]

Mike, another thing you need to keep in mind is travelling around Coona and Narrabri at night your speed is going to be quite restricted as the wildlife is bountiful! :)

[mithrandir]

Mike, you might create a post fires version of this pano of the Warrumbungles from the AAT.

[iceman]

In full swing with the packing, hoping I have everything I need.

I leave tomorrow morning, arriving in Coona around lunchtime. 1 night there, then off to Narrabri and spend Saturday night there.

The forecast isn't looking too bad - Friday night a little iffy but looking good for Saturday.

Can't wait! I'll have 3 cameras on the go, so hope to come back with some new stuff!

[gary]

Hi Mike,

Have a great trip.

I am not sure if you have driven up there before but some of the SatNav systems
prompt the driver to turn right off the Golden Hwy toward Cassilis. If yours does,
ignore that instruction as it will take you via rough gravel road. Instead
proceed another 10km along the Golden Hwy and turn right into Vinegaroy Road
following the green and white sign post to Coolah.

When we host overseas visitors up at Coona, sometimes some will tell us how
rough the road was getting there. :lol: Guided by the SatNav in the rental car,
many have ended up on the rough gravel Rotherwood Road on the other side
of Cassilis.

If you find yourself on gravel road, you know you have taken a wrong turn. :)

From the Central Coast, I take the route via Broke to the Golden Hwy, then
through Jerry's Plains, Merriwa (good pie shop and look out for Pluto in the
Rotary Park), Coolah via Vinegaroy Road which then becomes Cassilis Rd,
the road skirts around the Coolah town center but in Jorocks Park there is Neptune,
Mullaley-Coolah Road past the rest stop of the original Black Stump, left into
Warrumbungles Way (watch out for Uranus and Saturn), Binnaway (watch the dip
in the road as you cross the intersection), Coona.

[iceman]

Thanks Gary - added to Evernote so I can refer to it on our way there :)

[Brettstar6754]

Yarrie lake is just sou west of the array.

Its an unexplained round crater sometimes full of water.

We had a great time at the campground.

[iceman]

Have made it to Coona! Stopped for lunch and about to head up to the observatory.

[iceman]

Andrew and I got back this afternoon.

What a fantastic weekend. I have about 150GB of images to get through - with 3 cameras running I've got multiple sequences of timelapse, stills, star trails and more.

Coona on Friday night started out nice (albeit windy) and then turned to crap. It was VERY VERY windy and gusty, blowing gear about the place, and it brought clouds. Terribly miserable. We packed it in at around 10:30pm. It did clear later (around 3am) but we were too warm in bed.

The next night (last night) at Narrabri was absolutely fantastic - not a breath of wind, not a single cloud all night long, and not a hint of dew. It was quite bright early on with the Moon, but after 2am when it set, man it was dark. Ended up going to bed at about 5am with the prospect of a long drive home today (although we only got an hour sleep).

The hospitality of those we met was mind-blowing.

Doug Gray, the site manager at the AAO, gave us his house to use, took us on a tour of the 4m AAO telescope including walking outside around on the catwalk, and a trip to the VERY TOP of the AAO dome! It was an incredible view. Something I'll remember forever.

Pete from iTelescope also gave us a tour of his facility, an amazing piece of work by the iTelescope guys.

We were shown equally amazing hospitality by Christoph at the ATCA at Narrabri. He put us up in his 'guest house' (to be seen to be believed), took us on a tour of the inside and outside of one of the radio dishes, including walking on the dish itself! And then in the labs, the control room, and everywhere else behind the scenes. It was amazing.

A home cooked meal with his lovely wife and great company too.

It was just a fantastic weekend, and I don't even know where to start with the images. I'll post a few over the next couple of days but with a holiday to WA in a weeks time, there's going to be a massive backlog waiting for me when I get back.

[iceman]

Here's one that Andrew took of me from inside the AAO dome as we were heading to the catwalk.

Couldn't wipe the small from our faces.. especially when he said "Do you want to go up the top?" :D

[adavis]

I absolutely concur with Mike.
The hospitality was just incredible, I certainly didnt expect to have pretty much free reign of the whole SSO and ATCA sites, let alone be given accommodation and home cooked meals.

Some numbers.....
1250 klms in 3 days
9 hours sleep in 3 days
I have around the 4,000 image mark to catalog and process, but just getting them off the cards is hard enough right now.

I certainly NEED to sleep, but all these images are calling to me :-)

Here is a vimeo timelapse, but it is still processing, so give it an hour.
https://vimeo.com/74557039

And attached is a not processed teaser shot

[AstroJunk]

Looking forward to seeing the fruits of your labour! Plenty of data to keep yourselves ammused on those cloudy evenings :thumbsup:

[adavis]

Here is a teaser from the top of the mountain at SSO in Coonabarabran.
The moos was sooooo bright so the foreground was blow out in this shot, not to mention that after a timelapse sequence I forgot to set the camera back to RAW, so this is a smaller jpg image :-(

Preliminary shots without much though to processing at the moment :question: