Perth Hotspots!

[Sgtfretsurfer]

Any good tips on dark sky locations in the Perth area? Im a little curious as to where astronomers from Perth go on clear nights.

Usually when i go out to do astronomy i go to the Golden Grove observatory in Chittering valley, which is about 45 minutes away from the northern suburbs of Perth. I'm quite happy there. Its the home of the Astronomical Group of Western Australia (AGWA), its powered, and relatively dark.

The only issues i have with the location is that it could be darker (the southern and western skys are a little washed out towards the horizon), and that most nights im there alone.

So, im wondering if anyone else from Perth can recommend a fairly active group of astronomers or perhaps a good dark location that you dont mind sharing (or both)?

Cheers
Matt

ps. im assuming that other astronomers from Perth have been just as frustrated with the weather over the past month as i have :(. hopefully clear skies on the way soon!

[MikeyB]

Hi, Matt.

From the frequent complaints of t'othersiders, I suspect that we get more than our share of clear nights here in the West. Not in July, though!

Why aren't there other AGWA members out at Golden Grove with you - I thought it was used for the club outings?

[KG8]

I'd just grab a good map, draw a 100km circle around perth and then follow a highway out till your past the circle. Look for picnic spots on hills, lookouts, etc. Just don't pick a hangout where the local youth like to binge drink. Asking the older locals is a good trick but steer clear of that guy with the funny twitch in his eye and the axe mounted on his ute. When I lived there, many moon ago, I had a little spot inland, by the indian pacific rail line. It was perfect, you just had to close your eyes once or twice a night when the train came through. 50~60km past the outer suburbs should give you dark skys.

[Shaun]

Head east for 556km you will hit Coolgardie, it is pretty dark here.lol

[WadeH]

Hello Matt,

I am furtunate by living only 10 min from Golden Grove and have reasonably dark skies from home.

I can often see Andromeda (M31) naked eye and planetaries such as the ring and helix are clearly visable. :D

As you commented, I do have some light pollution to the south, but not much of interest is for me that way anyhow.

New friends always welcome!

[BOBBY]

Hi Matt
I live out in the Vines its great plenty of dark sky's
Coming originally from the UK I can tell you we are very spoilt
living in Australia.
Just new to this site

Bobby

[iceman]

Hi Bobby!

:welcome: to IceInSpace! Another ex-pat Brit :) There's hundreds of them :)

[Sgtfretsurfer]

yeh, golden grove observatory is used for group outings by AGWA, and also for an astronomy course called starry nights. Iv seen people there many times (usually on a Saturday), and they have always been welcoming and helpful. However, more often than not, i find myself there alone.

As far as the darkness is concerned, compared to my home in the heart of suburbia, the stars that i can see out there are awe inspiring! (WadeH, you are so lucky to live in chittering valley. Some of the properties look amazing, and i dont think anyone could complain with a night time view like that from your backyard! <sigh> one powerball) Having said that, someone from AGWA told me that your able to see about 60% of the nights sky from chittering, and up to 80% from toodyay.

i guess im just looking to expand my horizons.....

[Blue Skies]

Have you tried contacting anyone at ASWA (http://aswa.info)? The 'others' in Perth? Or did everyone at AGWA tell you nasty stories about us?

Unfortunately ASWA doesn't have anything better at the moment, and while we have a remote site in development the red tape is taking a very long time to get through. I would recommend you drop a pm to rogerg on this forum, he is the one organising deep sky trips out to the wheatbelt at the moment at new moon until Tammin comes on line.

Usually the locals just go for a drive in the hills and scout some likely locations that hopefully the local hoons don't know about and use that. At one point some of my friends were using a side road out east on the way to York, just parked on the side of the road. It's better if you have company, you never know who else is wandering around out there at strange hours of the night and some people will think you're a burglar heading for their house!

[Glenhuon]

If you don't mind travelling farther afield have a chat with Phil Smith at the Astronomical Society of the Southwest in Bunbury. They often have dark sky weekends at Wellington Mills camp. Dormitory accomodation, BBQ and cooking facilities and a friendly bunch of fellow enthusiasts. The 20" reflector in the observatory at Bunbury is well worth a look too, although light pollution has reduced its effectiveness over the years. The society has observing nights at the College Grove observatory on a couple of Fridays every month. You'll get a warm welcome, and coffee an biccies to boot :-) If you PM me I can give you Phil's Phone Number.

[Sgtfretsurfer]

Actually i considered contacting ASWA a little while back, but i had a look on their website and found that they do deep sky viewing nights in parkerville. i decided against contacting them because i thought the skies would be just as light polluted there as in chittering, perhaps more so (i havent heard any nasty stories about the bad blood between the rival astro gangs lol)

Its interesting to hear that ASWA has a new location in development. Do you have any idea where abouts it is?

I gotta admit im a bit apprehensive about cruising to some random spot i scouted in a map book. As some of you mention, alot of good spots are also excellent hang out spots for young hoons wanting to binge drink. I scouted spots a few times (with my trusty length of 2x4 in the back seat) before i discovered Golden grove, and i always felt a little uneasy (perhaps im just paranoid)

With any luck i wont have to do it again. Yesterday i was offered the use of a friends farm which is on the outskirts of York. I havent seen the site yet so im not sure how good it is (safe? clear? powered?), but im sure that at least itll be dark. Well, at least i remain optimistic.

Still, if anyone knows any dark locations (say within 1-1/2 hours of perth) used by a group of astronomers, let me know!

cheers for your replies so far everyone
Matt

[Sgtfretsurfer]

Unfortunately Bunbury is a bit beyond my practical reach, although the college grove observatory looks like a great spot from the pictures on the net. Ill have to remember it next time im down south. Thanks all the same

Matt

[Blue Skies]

Yes, the new site is at Tammin. It's not a super secret but until the paperwork is finalised not a lot is being said about it.

I'm deep sky section leader for ASWA and I'm not happy with Parkerville either. It certainly is light polluted and has a few other problems and I'm on the hunt for another site at the moment too. What usually happens is a site is found, it's used for a few years then some change eventuates that means we have to move on. So it's been an ongoing saga the whole time I've been an active amatuer.

It sounds like the farm at York will be your immediate answer, but do contact rogerg if you want to go places with company. We are constantly on the look out for suitable observing locations at various distances from Perth and he knows a few good ones further out from the city.

[rogerg]

Hey Matt,

That'd be me Blue Skies is talking about. I and a bunch of others travel to deep sky locations as we see fit. Usually about 3 hours drive east, for a Saturday night on/near new moon. Occasionally up to 4 nights.

They're planned trips, usually about a week in advance with a bit of forewarning. That's largely because of the distance and organisation of more than one person. Sometimes farmstay, sometimes camping, or some other variation.

If you want to join in, drop me an email and I'll keep you informed of upcoming trips.

And yes, hmm, I must get around to doing a webpage about what we do for the ASWA website.

For somewhere as more of a "drop of a hat" location, close by, I don't have great suggestions sorry, most of the places I know are 2 - 4 hours drive, because if I'm not driving that far I'll be at home in my observatory instead.

:thumbsup:

Roger.

[zipdrive]

Just wondering, how is the view towards the Lower part of Northern Horizon from Golden Grove?

[Sgtfretsurfer]

well, iv been wondering the same thing myself. From memory, its clear, no obstructions. Im planning to stay up till middnight on the next clear night, hoping to see m31 for the first time, which is in the lower part of the northern horizon... i think lol ill let u know

[astroron]

I spent New Years Eve there in 2005/6 It's not to bad for observing :)but not as good as Cambroon;)
There was a good group of people there , only three or four experianced observers , but the remaining group of observers showed plenty of keeness:thumbsup:
One of the people who work at the BT&OW will remember me as that guy from Queensland:D
I hope to get back next year, and catch up with more iceinspaces:thumbsup:

[hilb]

Hi folks,

ASWA's new observatory at Tammin is coming along well, now, but that's almost always going to be an overnighter - around two hours drive out of Perth.

Having better luck than we did at Parkerville with our new monthly deep sky section haunt at Baker's Hill. Check out the ASWA website http://aswa.info for the details if you're interested in coming along.

Deep Sky this month will be at Astrocamp in Dryandra, though.

Cheers,
HilB...:)

[Shaun]

I might have to come along sometime, i moved from Coolgardie back into Kellerberrin about 30 minutes east of tammin.

[hilb]

Hey Shaun,

ASWA (http:/aswa.info/) is having a big public viewing night in Tammin (not at the site, rather in the town itself) in May as a Grand Opening of the site and a thankyou to Tammin for the welcome they have given us.

Keep your eyes peeled for publicity coming to a town near you, and also on this site as I will post the details closer to the day.

Cheers,
Hilary...:)

[bluescope]

I live 12kms out of Toodyay and the sky is awesome ... however I'm a one man operation with a very small observatory :lol:

:thumbsup: