Student observation tour to go & wooden telescope parts to Australia

[saviofong]

Hi there,

my name is Savio Fong of Hong Kong, and my first time posting there, I am not sure if this is the right board to post and moderator please feel free to move it where this post belongs to.

I am planning to bring 20 students of around 10-12 years old, to Australia this Summer for one week, earliest July 17 or a week after, for stargazing & astrophotography. I have been to Australia once before but not stargazing, any advice on general weather & clear sky rate here? or simply where should we stay to enjoy better chance of clear sky. There is direct flight from Hong Kong to Perth, Sydney, Melbourne... so we are go out from this cities.

Of course, if there will be any star parties or events to join, or nice astronomy facilities like amateur or professional observatories or planetarium to visit, that's great.

The other question is, we are going to bring a self built 40cm Dobsonian, and I know Australia have a very strict control on wooden products. The telescope is yet to build, and I don't mind to buy some wooden board from Australia to Hong Kong for that, as this telescope will mainly used in Australia in the future (see reason below), or other precautions I can take to bring in the telescope?

FYI, currently due to weather & light pollution, I mainly focus on lunar & planetary work in Hong Kong, we used a 20cm triplet APO refractor & a 40cm Dob on GOTO platform (not the one I am bringing in, too heavy), and for deep sky work, I built my own robotic observatory at 4300m alt Tibet, with a 50cm modified DK Cassegrain at f3.8 on Paramount ME, and we just had 9 day star party there. So we don't mind going "too South" in Australia in the coming trip, as we want to focus on core of Milkyway around Scorpius, Sagittarius, and South celestial pole.

Thanks in advance for all advice.

Savio Fong
Hong Kong

[simmo]

Hello Savio and welcome to IIS :welcome:

Something to think about with coming to Oz at that time of year is that it is quite a way into winter for us. At that time of year the lower part of Oz experiences a large number of cold fronts and lows that have a lot of associated cloud and moisture as well as cold temperatures (at least cold for here).
Usually the north of the Australia is better at this time of year and it is quite a well known tourist season for that area. The east side of the country (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane etc) has a lot more facilities than the west with more major cities towns and clubs but I would say that we would have far less light pollution here in the west.
I would recommend the Carnarvon or Pilbara area at that time of year for not only great skies and weather but other things to do. Shark bay is close by where you can feed dolphins and the Karajini National park is also well worth a visit and will definitely have clear skies.
As for importing wood into the country there may be some quarantine issues but I'm not to sure as I haven't travelled outside Australia yet so hopefully someone else can chime in here and give you some advice.
Good luck with your trip and I hope you enjoy your stay here :)

[OICURMT]

It does not matter whether you source the wood from Australia or not, as customs controls are always fully in effect. What the inspectors will be looking for is whether the product is "raw" in nature and is free from "bore beetle" or similar insects. We were told that it does not matter where the material was sourced from, but from where was before is arrives.

Case in point: When I was living in Indonesia, we had cinnamon sticks from Australia. When we moved back to Australia, we had to have the sticks irradiated and quarantined. This service cost me $60 to have done and were returned to us in a fortnight.

If the wood product is professionally done (i.e. commercial-looking), then it generally passes through without any problems.

Case in point: I recent traveled to Fiji and purchased some weapons (for display). They were high quality products (not the cheap tourist type), which were inspected and released on the spot.

As long as the telescope looks of quality and the wood parts are stained, varished or painted, you should not have and problems.

I travel globally and have only had three items ever held for "treatment" (from South Africa, Kyrgystan and Venezuela). You being from Hong Kong, I doubt you would have any issues at all.


OIC!

[Blue Skies]

It should not be a problem to bring in. You will need to declare it so they can look at it and look for any signs of wood borer. I have found that if the item has obviously been manufactured or treated in some way Customs are not too concerned, but they still like to give it a quick look to make sure. Being honest about what you have will be the most helpful thing.


July is the rainiest month in Perth and the coldest, as it is the middle of winter for us, so not the best place to plan to observe from. But if you pass through here there is Horizon the Planetarium (http://www.scitech.org.au/planetarium-shows) in Scitech and day tours can be arranged at Perth Observatory (http://www.perthobservatory.wa.gov.au/) for school classes.

[saviofong]

Many thanks for all you guys' advice, it's really really helpful :thanks:

Stargazing & astrophotography is of highest priority of this trip, so clear sky rate is my 1st consideration. Though I would balance between reasonable access & accomodation vs sky quality, mag 22th sky is not critical, as any reasonable dark sky in Australia should definitely well beyond what we can get from Hong Kong. Very slight light pollution or even a faint light dome is still fine I think.

So in additions to Carnarvon or Pilbara area which is very good choices in late July in terms of clear sky rate, any addition suggestions in other part of Australia? So that we may plan other route / activities also. For Carnarvon or Pilbara, we can transit through Perth, stay there for one day for city tour and then go North by flight, or coach.

May I know if there is any public function or star party in that area & time frame?

Thanks also all your advice regarding the wooden telescope parts, so I will go ahead and construct something like this, of course, it's worldwide wisdom, be honest with the custom staffs and I will do that.

http://www.sumerianoptics.com/producten/alkaid/

Last but not the least, feel free to visit me in my robotic observatory in Tibet, in case you travel there. Thanks to the technology & equipment available, now I can remote control my observatory there for programmed imaging work via my hand phone.

[Barrykgerdes]

Hi Savion Fong

If you have Sydney on your destination I would suggest that you contact the ASNSW and explain the situation. It is possible to arrange a special visit to Wiruna, a dark site in the NSW central highlands.

July will be very cold at Wiruna but generally clear

Why is it necessary to bring a 40cm dobsonian? This is a large telescope and will be awkward to handle. There are plenty of telescopes available in that size at Wiruna

Barry

[The Mekon]

I agree with Barry's suggestion to contact the ASNSW. I am confident the club committee would support a properly organised visit to Wiruna which is about 3 hours drive west of Sydney. I for one would be prepared to help out on such a visit. There are quite a few club scopes you could use and I would be happy to make my scopes available to you. From Wiruna you could visit the AAO at Siding Spring and Parkes radio telescope as a day trip.
Winter is great time for astronomy in Australia you get a full 12 hours of darkness each night and the Milky Way overhead!

[saviofong]

Thanks and seem Sydney & Wiruna is a very good option also. May I know, just for information, the usual clear sky rate there in late July? e.g., if we stay in Wiruna area for 4 days, we are unlikely get no clear nights?

yes, it's good that we may get some help from ASNSW.

one of the reason bringing a 40cm dob is, it's self-made and we want to encourage students that it worth the effort to build something ourself, it's part of the education. And the dob will be make very slim and lightweight.

Of course, it's definitely good that we can borrow/rent some telescopes on site. :)

[Barrykgerdes]

Hi Savion Fong

No one can guaranty cloud free nights of course but around that time it is usually clear at Wiruna. It is normal for us to travel there over the weekend nearest to the new moon. However I am sure we can arrange something for you.

Accomodation is normally by camping but we do have a big meeting hall and a house that has 8 bunks, There is hot water, toilets, showers, cooking facilities etc and some electric power from solar cells, batteries and inverters.

We do have camping fees. They are advertised on our web site. Bring WARM clothing. It can get very cold on clear nights

www.asnsw.com (http://www.asnsw.com)

Enter Wiruna into maps.google and you should be able to see the area

Barry

[saviofong]

Thanks Barry, and will plan around this area, seem everything is good for the trip purpose, and look forward to meet you guys then. :thumbsup: