I want to come to Australia to do Astrophotography for a few months, any tips?

[Am]

Hello all,

I am sorry for the lack of an earlier introductory post, I joined this astronomy forum specifically because I am very anxious to visit Australia and image the southern hemisphere for a long period of time.

I have been mainly active on the SGL forum, although haven't posted much for a while.

I am astrophotographer from the Faroe Islands, have been for the past 3 years. My country is probably one of the worst countries in the world to pick up this fantastic hobby, because the North Atlantic Sea, specifically my region is clouded over a lot of the time, sometimes I go months without a viable imaging night. Summer skies are also bright for so long that May-July is pretty much useless for all but lunar and solar imaging.

Despite all this, amateur astronomy & astrophotography brings me so much joy and there's nothing like spending a night out with the telescope with those rare full clear nights, it really gives me energy to face the boring every day. This is my AstroBin (http://www.astrobin.com/users/Amra/), if anyone's interested.

My hometown, with a population around 1200, also has pretty limited light pollution, making the Milky Way easily visible and imaging from the balcony very viable.

Last March 20'th we had a Total Solar Eclipse at the Faroe Islands (was also visible from Svalbard) and I, having planned for it 2 years prior, was ready to image it with my Skywatcher 200P newtonian from my balcony for a nice closeup shot. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, the weather disappointed us, and it was raining heavily and clouded over most of the time, so I dropped all plans of imaging the event with my newtonian and left for the capital of Tórshavn to view it there and maybe get something on my 200mm telephoto, but there it clouded over as well. I only managed to see a few seconds of totality and the diamond ring as the clouds parted every so briefly. Some of my countrymen to the west were much more fortunate and got to see the entire totality event unobscured by clouds, I envy them greatly, and even though I saw their videos, it's nothing like experiencing it in person.

So now I suppose I have become an eclipse chaser! Chasing that experience that I lost out on in my homeland. I am currently in Thailand waiting and doing various fun activities (some imaging, pretty good skies here on the remote islands) while I pass the time before moving on. I am going to Indonesia in March to view the Total Solar Eclipse there, probably from the island of Belitung, as Ternate (where most people seem to go to) is fully booked ages ago. I hope to have a better experience this time around, but the nature of eclipses are such that you never know, so that's why I want to do some other activities so the trip isn't 'wasted' anyhow, which is why I'm probably going to dive in Indonesia too and maybe do some imaging.

With me I have a mobile tracker, the SW Star Adventurer, 2 Canon 1100Ds (one full spectrum modified) and a bunch of lenses, great widefield setup, would be excellent for the southern night sky, in the future I hope to purchase a small refractor for even better widefields for traveling.

And that brings me back to the topic: what to do after Indonesia. Since I am already so close to Australia, and the period is a good one to visit as the Milky Way centre will be visible in April and onwards, I would love to visit your country this time around. I have no obligations back at home, no job to return at this moment, so it's easy for me to extend my trip. My only limiting factor is budgeting.

I would love to stay some place in Australia for a long period of time that has great clear dark skies most of the time and reasonably priced accommodation, maybe a place that will allow me to pay monthly for a decent price. I have already looked at Arkaroola, which certainly has the perfect night skies but it's so far from anything and according to reviews I've read is a bit worn down, however it's certainly on my list of viable places to stay for a longer period.

I was hoping you guys had some more ideas for me? Where should I go, where should I stay?
I am sick with a cold in my bungalow right now, so I don't have anything better to do right now than plan the trip ahead of me.

If you want more personal details, feel free to PM me as well.

Hope to hear back, thanks!

[janoskiss]

First thing you could look at is DarkSkyFinder (http://darksitefinder.com/maps/world.html) for some of the best locations.

I am a visual observer so I can only comment on the quality of the skies in general - but what else matters really...?

Camping is the way to go if you can manage it. If you can't, then get yourself a room at a motel in a small town well away from rural centres (again the map above will help you find good locations). I assume you will be hiring / getting a car of some sort. You'll really need one if you want freedom to choose where you go.

While we have a lot of light pollution free areas in Australia, it's a pretty flat place, with not much in the way of high altitude sites (and the few modest mountains tend to have cloudier skies than other sites; they're not high enough to get you above the cloud cover). I camped out for weeks with several telescopes at places like Falls Creek but the skies were never as good as I've experienced at low altitude dark sites south of the Dividing Ranges or near Wilsons Promontory.

I might be wrong about this, but in recent years it seems to me that transparency is not as great as it used to be ~10+ years ago. Seems like there is more moisture in the air that condenses out as the night air cools, reducing transparency by 0.5-1.0 magnitude compared with the best skies I remember from the mid 2000s. But these are just personal impressions from my limited experience so don't take them too seriously. I'm just putting it out there to see what others reckon.

In any case though, if you're coming from an even only moderately light polluted area, you will see some amazing skies in Australia.

[The Mekon]

Hi Andy,

If you can make Australia by May, I would be very happy to take you to the South Pacific Star Party, held by the Astronomical Society of NSW. You would be welcome to use my AT 106 refractor and mount - I am mainly a visual person.

Will send some more details by pm.

regards
John

[pfitzgerald]

Hi Andy - and welcome to IIS.

A trip to Ayers Rock / Uluru in the centre of Australia would be worth considering - there is at least one forumite who is currently working there in astro tourism who may be able to help you out.

Paul

[Am]

Thanks for the very helpful replies already.

I was afraid this thread was going to become a dusted up relic on the walls of the internet with no responses, glad to see that won't be the case.

John, I would very much like to join any star party that might be happening, it's an opportunity to network, learn from others & drool over some nice astro gear, so I'll definitely look into it.

I haven't done much camping in my life, but maybe that could be an idea, as long as I can protect my laptop & gear from the elements.

[Am]

That's sounds very interesting.

Just looked on Google Maps, that place really is in the center of Australia, must be amazing there. I can only imagine the skies.

I want to see the LMC & SMC so bad. I thought maybe I could see them at the southern horizon while I was in Thailand, close to the equator, but no luck so far.

[doppler]

Hi Andy, just remember Australia is a big place and there can be hundreds of kms between towns and 1000's between states. Tourist destinations tend to be expensive (even for us locals), but there are always cheaper altenatives if you look hard enough.

Seeing that you like diving you should probably start out at Cairns and take a dive boat to the outer Barrier Reef.

Northern Australia is not much chop astronomy wise this time of year but if you head inland from Mackay or Brisbane, the darkest outback skies in Qld are along the Warrego river (Mitchell Highway A71) between Charleville and Bourke. There are a few small motels along the way that would be cheap and you could probably image from the back of the motel or van park.

I guess it all depends on your funds.

[OzEclipse]

Hi Andy,

Uluru sounds good in principle, but the only place to stay is Yulara where there are a lot of lights. It is very expensive if you are not camping and to get a dark sky, you need to get out of the resort. You can walk off into the dessert to do this.

The weather in the northern territory and north western Australia is clearest for the period you are interested in. During winter, daytime clear skies approach 90%. The weather bureau doesn't keep night time data.

Daily sunshine hrs for different months can be selected on this map
http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/climate_averages/sunshine-hours/index.jsp?period=apr#maps

You will see the best weather during winter contracts to an area between Katherine, NT and Halls Ck in the north of WA. North of Uluru and more generally to north central and north west Australia as the winter progresses.

If staying for a few months, you could try to rent a house in a smallish town, probably a lot cheaper than a motel or resort and with a private back yard.

Cheers

Joe Cali

[colinmlegg]

G'day Andy,

Good luck in Indonesia with the eclipse. I was hoping to go but as usual have left my run too late.. maybe 2017. I really enjoyed this video from up your way last year... did they sneak a look during totality? lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feR12pQ8dXc

For dark sky viewing and photos Western Australia is a great choice. A couple hundred km east of Perth away from the coastal lights is great. Further east and north and you get into the fringes of the wheatbelt where clear sky is the norm, especially late May and through winter. A few spots are super dark with only very minor light pollution dots on the horizon. You will be blown away by the southern sky at those locations. Example attached :)

Colin

[Am]

Many thanks for all the great suggestions already.

I suppose it would be more helpful if I mention that my budget will probably be around 6000AUD, maybe more maybe less, leaving enough funds for return flight home and stuff. This is depending on how much I spend in Indonesia as well.

Just looking at the dark sky map, I can tell that the light pollution is contained to major population areas and that by just driving a fair bit out of any major city you already get to some very dark skies. Of course I would love to visit some of the most popular dark sites that you guys have discovered & mapped and enjoyed over the years, that might have something to offer during the day as well. Also the 2 week period around the full Moon can be a bit troublesome for imaging, so it's nice to be able to do something else in that period.

Plenty of food for thought, thanks for that!

[Am]

Those guys recorded this video just about 20km from my hometown, above the village of Kvívík. I worked together with the girlfriend of one of the bandmembers and she was there for the recording & I spoke to them together later on, the bandmember said 'a musician never turns his back to his audience!' They had a perfect view of a complete totality event, a once in a lifetime experience, and turned their back to it, I was astounded, I get what he was saying but we'll never get to experience totality at home in our lifetimes again, but I guess they left an impression, saved forever in this video. (Video could've exposed better for totality, but I'm nitpicking.)

I like this
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmJqCOTZ_E8) video as well, which shows how chickens behaved during totality during our eclipse, pretty funny.

[Am]

By the way, I feel silly for not putting this down correctly the first time, but any way:

My faroese name is 'Andrias,' but my friends always call me Andy and here in Thailand & abroad I've been introducing myself as Andy. It's much easier to pronounce, both for thais and english speakers.
But it looks a bit weird in the written medium to be addressed as Andy all the time, so I shouldn't have put down my nickname there and I've corrected it now.

Oh well, moving on.

If anyone wants to see pictures from my eclipse expedition to Belitung in two weeks you can like my FB page if you want:
https://www.facebook.com/AHJPhotography/

If there are no pictures and no updates at all on March 9-10, it means I'm sulking in my hotel room because of overcast skies or some disaster. However my fingers are crossed!

[okiscopey]

Hi Andy ... sorry, I mean Andrias,

You are welcome to visit me in Kandos, New South Wales and stay for a while around the time of the South Pacific Star Party (6-8 May, as mentioned by John B), which is only 30km from my town. I’m already booked in.

I have an observatory (FSQ106ED and QSI) and a good observing back yard. The light pollution here is minimal, probably less than shown on the Dark Sky Map as a big cement works has recently closed down.

Kandos is about 4 hours by road from Sydney, and about the same for a possible trip to Coonabarabran, ‘the Astronomy Capital of Australia’.

If you want to discuss this further, I’d prefer email: okiscopey (at) gmail (dot) com.

In my view, the best three places in Australia to visit are: Sydney, the Great Barrier Reef and the ‘Red Centre’.

Be aware that internal flights in Australia can be quite expensive, and once outside the main population centres, distances and lack of public transport can be problematic.

In the meantime, best wishes for the eclipse. I saw the 1972 total solar eclipse here in Australia - a lot of clouds, which miraculously opened up just in time to see the whole wonderful thing.

Best wishes, Mike.

[Am]

Hah, yeah sorry about that. :)


Wow, that is an awesome gesture, thank you so much. I have never experienced such a warm welcome from a community before. I think I definitely for sure need to attend a star party, never visited one before in my life, I would be like a kid in a candy store!


I noticed just doing some brief research on air fares that it seems to be quite affordable to fly from SEA to Perth and then fly domestic Perth to anywhere else in the country, rather than booking a ticket directly to f.x. Sydney.

EDIT: On second glance, it seems prices are pretty much the same either way, so nevermind. But one could briefly visit the western coast then and afterwards fly to the east.


Thanks a lot!

[The Mekon]

Looks like a good deal Andy. I will get you to the Star Party - do visual while you are there (never know how you can enjoy a star party while doing 2 minute subs all night - or is it all automatic?), then join Mike at his observatory in Kandos for some AP.

No need to commit just now. Despite limiting numbers to 250, I am sure the ASNSW committee can make an exception for a visitor from Faroe Islands - its about as far away as you can get!

[Am]

Imaging can be automized quite a lot. I imagine I'd setup my widefield rig, maybe with the 50mm lens, polar align as perfectly as possible (this is going to be interesting to learn for the southern skies) pick an interesting part of the sky and leave it do 5 minute or however appropriate long subs for the sky, I've been getting great tracking with the Star Adventurer and with the lightweight lens and very low focal length it's very forgiving for small errors. I could then leave this rig running on an intervalometer and the camera with battery grip power lasts over 8 hours, no need for a laptop either, although I do love seeing & studying the subs rolling in on BYEOS.

It should be easily possible to do both imaging and visual there. Mike sent me some pics, I really want to have a peak on something with one of those GIANT dobsonians. :D

[skysurfer]

To Sydney is a lot cheaper.

SEAttle -SYDney:
http://www.skyscanner.nl/transport/flights/sea/syd/160605/160704/airfares-from-seattle---tacoma-international-to-sydney-kingsford-smith-in-june-2016-and-july-2016.html?adults=1&children=0&infants=0&cabinclass=economy&rtn=1&preferdirects=false&outboundaltsenabled=false&inboundaltsenabled=false&currency=AUD#results

SEAttle-PERth:

http://www.skyscanner.nl/transport/flights/sea/per/160605/160704/airfares-from-seattle---tacoma-international-to-perth-in-june-2016-and-july-2016.html?adults=1&children=0&infants=0&cabinclass=economy&rtn=1&preferdirects=false&outboundaltsenabled=false&inboundaltsenabled=false#results

[Am]

I meant SEA as in South East Asia, makes sense Sydney is cheaper from the US as you arrive on that side.

[Irish stargazer]

As someone currently living in the west of Ireland I can sympathise with you regarding the weather. I have not taken my astro camera out in almost two years! I was lucky enough to be based in the Sydney and Melbourne for a few years before coming back to Ireland.
It is a photographers paradise and it is where I was bitten by the astrophotography bug (plus a few insects:D)
As mentioned, attending the South Pacific Star Party is a great idea. You will meet plenty of like minded photographers there and get some good advice where to go. The site itself is very dark and I have taken some of my best shots from the site. Bring a wide angle lens for those amazing Milky Way shots. The Ice in Space astro camp at Lostock is also well worth a visit. Pick up a small tent when you arrive in Aus and you will be all set or rent a camper van.
I have a few shots taken of the ASNSW and Lostock sites and some astro objects taken from there on my Flickr site.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/7703127@N07/page3

Since I returned to Ireland it now is mostly pictures of ducks:(

[skysurfer]

Indeed, the west of IE, like Faeroer, belongs to the cloudiest places of the world. Compared to Holland where I live it is even cloudier, but much less light pollution. Holland is one of the most light polluted areas in the world.

Luckily, the last years I go to South Africa on holiday and bring me AP equipment, right now I stay in a very dark location near Beaufort West, South Africa. Amazing skies there !

[Am]

Ugh, no imaging for 2 years, that's terrible!


Having a camper van would be amazing, the freedom to go anywhere, stay anywhere (where it's allowed) I'll have to seriously look into that.

Right now I'm at the Bangkok airport waiting to board my delayed flight to Jakarta, plans have changed and I'm now going to the island of Ternate, from where I'll move to Tidore around E-day to image the event, Belitung weather forecasts were pretty bad so fingers crossed for good weather in the east instead!

[AstralTraveller]

Hello and welcome. This isn't the first time this question has been asked!

Lots of good reading here.

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=128495

[Am]

Hey all,

I just wrote a short account of the Total Solar Eclipse on my FB page, thought I'd share it here.

For those who can't be bothered with Facebook I'll copy/paste the text and upload a few pictures here. :)

FB Page (first post on page) (https://www.facebook.com/AHJPhotography/)



Hoping to visit Australia soon and get that southern sky imaged, will see about that.

[Am]

Okay March is almost already half way through, likely to be able to go to Australia at the end of March. I see there's a Perth Astrofest going on right now, too bad I can't make it!

Been looking for an event to attend for early April, is there anything else interesting going on the west coast or should I head straight for the east coast?

Thanks for any new insights!