Criteria for a Good Observing Site

[glenc]

Which of the following are important to you? You can tick one or more boxes.
I also like a good view of the northern sky and reasonable temperatures.

[iceman]

Proximity home is also quite important to me (as were clear skies, good road access, no large obstacles and little light pollution).

Not all of us are able to travel 4 hours to go observing every night or weekend or even every month, so somewhere within an hour from home is about right for me.

[Rattler]

Boo!!

Temperature at the site will prevent me from ducking off to a site to take a peep at the sky. Thus altitude can have an impact for me at least. Plus Ice's distance rings true too...

Have fun...

[rogerg]

Proximity from home, wind strength at site, light pollution, proximity of non-astronomy people to the site & general popularity of the site & security/secure feeling of the site..

[mib]

I too find proximity to home is important.

[Starkler]

Yes as mentioned above, security from gatecrashers has to be high on the list also. You dont want to be inadvertently crossing paths with drunken yobbos or other assorted wayward idiots.

[ballaratdragons]

I don't know what to tick. Do I tick them if I have a problem with them, or if I want them, or have them?

The reason I ask is coz I don't have any of the problems listed.

I don't go anywhere for Astronomy except my backyard (even Club night is only 2k away, and camp is 2.5k away)

Clear days outnumber cloudy days - We do have an extroardary high amount of clear nights
Electric power is available - Home power
Good road access - I live on the Main Road (not that we have many cars go by)
High elevation - I am at a reasonably highish altitude (480m)
Low humidity/dew Doesn't worry me now I have dew heaters
No large obstacles blocking the view - none
No or low light pollution - I live with Dark sky, no Light Pollution

The only thing missing is fellow Astronomer interaction at home, but atleast I get a bit of that on club nights,
and the only problem I have is I have more windy nights than average as I am exposed to any wind off the open paddocks.

[glenc]

Tick them if you want them.

[CoombellKid]

I have to say I'm pretty much with ken here. Although I wasn't sure about
this one Good road access are you refering to my driveway:whistle:

I used to be a solitary observer until our little group started. I nice to
observe with others.

mozzie free would get my vote : ) "Clear days out number cloudy days"
would get my vote too

regards,CS

[glenc]

are you referring to my driveway?
Maybe that was in the back of my mind. :)

[ngcles]

Hi All,

Like others said have said, it needs to be reasonably convenient to home taking into account the cost of fuel and the fact that the "more difficult and undertaking is, the less likely we are to do it".

I'm happy to drive nearly an hour each way to a "nearly dark" site (mostly on smooth, fast expressway) once or twice a month, but much more distance than that -- it becomes a hassle and cuts too much into the fuel budget.


Les Dalrymple
Contributing Editor, AS&T

[edwardsdj]

Security is a big one for me. I'm usually looking for:

1. Dark site
2. Within an hour of home
3. Somewhere to park my car and setup away from the road
4. Security

A picnic ground off a minor road is usually ideal for me. I have been going to a site called Cunninghams's Lookout near Warril View outside of Brisbane for a while. When I was there last week though, the gate was locked. Most dissapointing.

So I drove three hours to Girraween National Park. This has some altitude too. Well worth the trip and felt very secure.

Have fun,
Doug

[DSO]

Clear days outnumber cloudy days, low humidity/dew, no large obstacles blocking the view, no or low light pollution and good security.
The first two I can't do much about at my home site in the UK (I look for these when I travel abroad), but where I live has little light pollution and is secure.

[Terry B]

I almost never move my scope from home where there is dark skies, 1100m altitude, 240v, beer in the fridge (you missed that choice:lol:), secure and very convenient. Just need a permanent home for the scope.

[ving]

i ticked them all except for the electricity one.

this mean i ticked "other" too :)

other:
1. must be fairly close to home
2. must be close to nudist colony

[glenc]

Terry, it sounds great, except in winter.

[§AB]

What is important to me....

Clear weather
We all know that clear, sunny weather is the number one friend of astronomers. I want minimal cold front's and rain, with maximum high pressure directing winds from the inland. Unfortunately, the words "Melbourne" and "cold front" go hand in hand like thunder and lightning. The only places in Australia with worse climates are: SW Victoria, most of Tasmania and the humid, damp wetseasons of Far North Qld and the Top End.

Light Pollution
A 4.5" under dark skies will kick the butt of an 8" under light polluted skies. I know that, because once I hired an 8" Starfinder Dob and observed the Flame Nebula from my backyard - barely anything visible; later had use of my 4.5" under pristine skies and aimed it at the Flame nebula and guess what.....there was the fur-tree shape, dark lanes and all. Touring the LMC with my 10" under Mallee skies would be a dream.

Low Humidity/dew
With my 4.5" newtonian, dew was annoying. But, my 10" came with a dewshield and used it for 2 hours in the usual Melbourne winter dew, to the point where beads of water were running down the tube....but the mirrors were still left pristine. But low humidity means better transparency as aerosals arn't trapped in the atmosphere, scattering and reflecting light. Low humidity is almost a must for optimum DSO observation.

No large obstacles blocking the view
My days of observing Jupiter are over........because the roof of my house impedes the whole western sky up to 40º above the horizon. Large obstacles, especially houses, will create poor seeing as they are sources of heat stored during the day.

Road Access
My observing site shall be isolated but have a decent paved road nearby, just for the sake of collimation.

So my preferred observing site will have.....Clear weather, no light pollution, no obstacles and easy access. The closest place to me which fits these criteria is the Victorian Mallee, only a leisurely 500km drive away. D'oh!

[AstroJunk]

Someone to go with (especially it they are big and look mean!)

Cunninghams Lookout has been closed at night due to some particularly unpleasant goings-on with local thugs. However, the AAQ have/are formalising arrangements for access, which will include locking the gate after us so that no-one else get in to cause trouble! Keep an eye on the AAQ website www.aaq.org.au (http://www.aaq.org.au) in the new year for details and feel free to tag along with us:thumbsup:

[Lester]

No light pollution is number one for me, being in the country.

Own observatory within 1 km of house

Power I obtain from Car Cig lighter for everything, including cooling OTA and dew heater.

A place with good chance of 7/10 or better for observing planets would be the only thing I lack at present. Although shifting soon to overcome that.

All the best.

[glenc]

I have started a thread where you can give details of good observing spots.
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=27604