Stanwell tops

[ms]

Been there once last year, I was pretty fascinated by the scenery in the daytime. Therefore I'm thinking about going there again shortly for a weekend retreat. A trip with an hour's drive within Sydney is always favourable. Any ideas on the dark night sky there?

ps: it's pretty close to a beachside town so i'm a bit worried about the light pollution. The place itself is terrific on the other hand, located on a hill with 180 unobstructed view of the sea.

[killswitch]

You can directly see Wollongong which is a pretty big city.

[Saturnine]

The carpark is always busy, even at night, people coming and going at all hours. Some are just couples parking for some recreation time but you get a few yahoos as well who want to annoy people after some peace and quiet.
The car headlights plus street lighting mean that it isn't very dark.

[Wavytone]

No good, for a host of reasons some mentioned previously. I've explored most of the area down as far as Berry and along the coastal strip ... Forget it.

If you're on the south side of Sydney the choices are:

- take the M5 towards the southern highlands, the difficulty with that is it heads southwest and the area around Mittagong isn't all that far from Wollongong, so light pollution is still a problem unless you drive as far as Golburn or Lake George. Mt Gibraltar is not much good - no decent sites and not dark, either.

- South of the 'gong, then southwest onto the plateau at top of the Macquarie Pass, (Robertson, Kangaloon) puts you in farming country. dark but you're likely to get a hostile reception from the natives unless you make prior arrangements with a farmer; or

- a long drive northwest to the upper Blue Mountains.

If you're south of Wollongong you can head for the escarpments behind Berry or Kangaroo Valley, or somewhere inland behind Jamberoo - Barren Ground perhaps.

The snags with most of the coastal strip area are (a) lights, (b) salt in the air if near the sea, this creates a greasy, corrosive film on everything, and (c) fog at night if you aren't up high.

[pmrid]

An hour north of Sydney might produce some worthwhile alternatives if dark skies are your priority - not just the Bretti Reserve but further up the range behind Bretti is the Thunderbolt's Way - a steep climb up in the first section but well rewarded at the top with extremely dark skies and quite isolated.
Peter

[mental4astro]

Hi Michael,

I love this part of the world. I've been to Stanwell Tops many, many times, and for many different reasons too, ;) It was also here that I first saw a wedgetailed eagle flying among the dozen or so other hang-gliders and para-gliders - it was a thrill for me, but I can only imagine the rush it must have been for the girls and boys sharing those thermals with that magnificent bird.

But I also love fishing and Stanwell Beach is one of my favourite spots.

Stanwell Tops gives me a fantastic vantage point over the beach to sit for some time reading the conditions and deciding on the most likely spots best to wet a line. I'll then spend all night down on the beach fishing. Light pollution is only a small concern as half the sky is over the Pacific Ocean.

There's a reason I mention all of this. It's given me an intimate insight to the conditions of the night sky too here. There is no way I ever take a precious scope to the beach, or Stanwell Tops as you are thinking about. The fine sea spray that Wavy mentioned will kill your equipment. While it is wet it gets pulled into every nook and cranny by the dew that forms. When this spray dries, you have no chance of removing it without damaging optics, and will slowly kill electronics.

The most I would consider optics-wise is to take binos as you can clean these relatively easily and it needs to be done as soon as you are done.

The only astro thing I do on the coast itself is naked eye stuff. Binos at most, but I need to be sure that the wind is an off-shore one so the sea spray is blown away.

Fishing gives me a peaceful way to enjoy the night sky. While waiting for things to happen I'll just look up and take it all in. Meteors, the Milky Way, satellites, aircraft. I love looking at the flashes of lightning illuminating a distant thunder storm on the horizon. The rising Moon is gorgeous too with its different phases and different atmospheric conditions altering its colour. Beautiful stuff.

For things astro, really you are best served going inland. Even if just a few km from the coast as the effects of sea spray are reduced. If you are thinking of a stay at Stanwell, please do. It really is a beautiful spot as you know. Just be careful with how you chose to explore the night sky with your precious gear.

Mental.

[Wavytone]

Hehe that was one of the resident sea-eagles, not a wedgie...:)

Have indeed flown with them side-by-side, looking at each other !

[madwayne]

Take it from a local Robertson is great for night sky viewing when the conditions are right. We get killer fogs and we even have our own micro climate thanks to the escarpment. Many nights I have been out and while the sky is clear you can just feel that it will turn to mush, combination of moisture and cold air temp. It does get cold down here, we tell a story of putting the fire on 23rd December last year, so if you are planning a Southern Highlands viewing night bring your cold clothes even in Summer.

Sutherland Society have access to an oval at the back of Waterfall Public School. I've been there a number of times and while not truly dark it is a great meeting place for like minded people for a social outing on 3rd quarter and new moon Saturday nights in semi dark conditions. Eastern objects are best as the sky dome of Sydney and Wollongong does interfere. Our society also have two major star parties, Mudgee (just after Easter) and Wooton (around Sept/Oct school holidays). We also have an observing site at Bargo but that has been unused for a while due to problems with hoons and the land owners locking the site, previously access was open.

The Mcarthur group also have a site they use in Belanglo State Forest. I couldn't do it due to events there a number of years ago.

Hope that helps.

Wayne

[ms]

sorry for being away for a few days due to upcoming test.

You guys have been amazing! These comments are extremely useful for a newbie like me. I'll bring my own bino while my friend will probably take his telescope, depending on the condition ;-). I'm still trying to figure out some of the locations mentioned in the threads using google map but anyway it's been great, guys thanks so much