List of dark skies in NSW?

[mbaddah]

Was wondering for those who know of dark skies in NSW if they could list them here and i could collate them into a list? Would be greatly appreciated (Blue Mountains unfortunately is cloudy most of the time :( )

I've been to Echo Point in Katoomba, Blue Mountains. Been a beginner I don't know if it's considered very dark, to me it was certainly alot better than Sydney and very beautiful :)

(UPDATE AS OF 18/01/2008)

* Blue Mountains, Katoomba
* balangalo (sp) forest near berrima.
* The Oaks airfield
* MAS “stargard” observing field
* Kulnura (West of Gosford)
* Mangrove Mountain
* Koolang/Bucketty
* Lostock
* Ilford (near Mudgee)
* Coonabarabran
* Linden (WSAAG)
* Bells-Line-Of -Road (Drive through back of Lithgow)
* Warraumbungles
* Mount Kaputar near Narrabri
* Ilford (Need to join ASNSW)

[ving]

balangalo (sp) forest near berrima.
the oaks airfield and MAS' "stargard" observng field are good.
kulnura west of gosford where some of the central coast guys meet is ok too.

[iceman]

Yeh not far from Sydney, Mangrove Mountain/Kulnura is pretty good, though there's still significant glow in the east/south.

A bit further, there's Koolang/Bucketty which is much darker, but an extra 30-40 minutes to get to.

Then further north, there's Lostock! Where we hold IISAC star parties.

West, there's Ilford (near Mudgee), where they hold SPSP.

[mbaddah]

Thankyou very much for the replies. Correct my if im wrong here's the list so far:


Blue Mountains, Katoomba
balangalo (sp) forest near berrima.
The Oaks airfield
MAS “stargard” observing field
Kulnura (West of Gosford)
Mangrove Mountain
Koolang/Bucketty
Lostock
Ilford (near Mudgee)

[koputai]

Maybe a rating should be given for each location?
I've heard people mention that their skies are 'Magnitude 7.6' or whatever, but how do they come to this conclusion? Is there a certain way of ascertaining such a figure, or is it pulled out of..........the sky?

Cheers,
Jason.

[Terry B]

My back paddock is pretty good here in Armidale but we are a long was from the big smoke.:thumbsup:
Having said that it is a bit moot with ALL THIS RAIN!

[CoombellKid]

Same with my backyard, horizon to horizon stars, we have a bit of a light
dome to the NNE which is mostly hidden by the only tree line anyways and
only maginally effects North - East. The rest is dark down to mag 6.7.
But at present like Terry above damn rain.

regards,CS

[Rodstar]

One of the best places you can go is Coonabarabran. There is a reason for the Anglo-Australian Obervatory being located there! There are strict light pollution controls in the town (which is small anyway), so it is perfect, and it has good elevation to boot, and lots of clear nights.

So good is Coona that groups of Yanks come out to Coona every year to enjoy the conditions.

I am hoping to get up there in the next 6 months to see for myself!

[Outbackmanyep]

Beautiful skies here!!! (when its cloudless & moonless) I agree Terry! 8% less atmosphere than our lowland cousins did you not say???? ;)

If you're in the Blue Mountains why not try somewhere up the Bells-Line-Of -Road??? From memory its a great drive through the back of Lithgow!
get in touch with Western Sydney Amateur Astronomy Group, they have a site at Linden, which was pretty fair when i used to attend!

[Omaroo]

It's pretty dark down Cooma-way too. We get a slight patch coming from the township about 20kms away, but you can't see it much from our observing area. The skies are generally crystal clear, and especially-so in winter.

[RAJAH235]

Grab yourself a reasonably good star chart/pooter application & check the star magnitudes for various constellations visible.
Go to 'your dark sky site' & see how many stars you can see in your chosen constellation.
Our little site at Jamberoo is ~mag 5.5/6.0 which is really, really lousy for finding the South Celestial Pole, but by looking at the 'asterisms', & familiarizing yourself with the sky, is easily found.
HTH.

Regs, L..

[Outbackmanyep]

You can buy Sky Quality Meters too! Im not sure wether they are accurate though but a lot of people are using them.....im not sure wether Houghy has one or not.

[RAJAH235]

Outbackmanyep,
Why pay good money for a 'meter' when I (eye/s) can just look up?
Houghy would prob be the 'one' to have such a beast. :P :D
Regs, L..

[okiscopey]

Have a look at this:

http://www.lightpollution.it/worldatlas/pages/fig9.htm

Download the 280Mb file and zoom in on NSW!

[gary]

Since most of us live in cities and towns, unfortunately dark sky sites
are usually inversely proportional to convenience. :)

Some forum members are somewhat luckier in this regard and
have the amenity of rural properties and sometimes their own
observatories.

The following is my personal take on what I term a dark sky site.
Since there is no dictionary definition, other opinions may vary.

For example, if one lives in the northern part of Sydney, Kulnura might be a
convenient observing site, but it is not one that I would term a truly "dark sky site".
Places such as Katoomba also fall into this category as there is still too much light
pollution. Doesn't mean you won't have a great time observing from either,
but it does mean neither will come up in your top all-time best places
you have observed from during an observing lifetime.

Anecdotally, once you are away from any large towns or cities, the
difference in the darkness of the night sky across most of NSW is relatively minor,
even when measured with a meter. Also keep in mind that since the Milky Way is
at the zenith at these latitudes, meter readings are not the best things to go by.
What really then becomes more important is the number of clear nights and
the average seeing at any one place. It is for this reason coastal areas or mountain
areas where cloud or fog occurs don't rate so highly, as you get out there and even
though the skies are potentially dark, you can't see them because of cloud.

As mentioned, Coona is a great spot. Keep in mind that it was not the first choice
for the observatory but they needed it to be close to a service center. In any case,
away from the town, the Coona and Warraumbungles are good dark sky locations
and have delivered good skies for this writer and his colleagues over the years.
Not to mention the countless professionals who use the nearby AAO facility.

A relatively short distance away is Mount Kaputar near Narrabri and because of its
altitude and seeing, it is probably the best place I have observed from in NSW.

Recommend you consider joining ASNSW which gives you access to their site near
Ilford. Not quite as dark these days as some other parts of the state, but the
amenity and company of fellow enthusiasts is hard to beat. It is nice to be able
to observe with like minded people who are sensitive to the importance of
not having a blazing camp fire or porta lamps going. Something unfortunately
you can't always bet on at other publically accessible dark sky sites
such as National Park camping grounds.

Best regards

Gary Kopff
Mt, Kuring-Gai

[mbaddah]

Extremely helpful advice, thankyou so much (and to everyone elses contribution), it's helped out more than i thought it would. Definitely will need to buy that Navman now :D Here's the list so far:

* Blue Mountains, Katoomba
* balangalo (sp) forest near berrima.
* The Oaks airfield
* MAS “stargard” observing field
* Kulnura (West of Gosford)
* Mangrove Mountain
* Koolang/Bucketty
* Lostock
* Ilford (near Mudgee)
* Coonabarabran
* Linden (WSAAG)
* Bells-Line-Of -Road (Drive through back of Lithgow)
* Warraumbungles
* Mount Kaputar near Narrabri
* Ilford (Need to join ASNSW)

Very nice :thumbsup:

[glenc]

Here is one in NSW near the Qld border.
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=27604

[astronut]

M.A.S's site in The Belanglo Forest has given us mag 7+ skies during winter.
I've seen the Helix Nebula naked eye.
No averted vision, it stood out like being viewed through a wide field e/p.
The views through my 12" were breathtaking:thumbsup:
Some of the sites on the list have been identified as to their exact location.
Please remember that these areas are all on private land and that permission needs to be sought before you set up your scope.

[Karlsson]

I downloaded the file, calibrated it in OziExplorer and then plotted most of the places mentioned in this thread (I do not know where the 'stargard' site is) - so you can see for yourself how dark your dark site is...:). The little white circles with a '+' in them next to the labels are the pinpoint locations.

Aside from this my own experiences are by and large in line with Gary's... be it that on Mt Kaputar I seem to attract thick fog without exception:mad2:. Camp Blackman in Warrumbungle NP is an excellent site, with a large open area to the South - and the local Ranger seems to really enjoy his Total Fire Bans! :D

[erick]

You can drop the light pollution map into Google Earth:-

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/index.php?id=63,404,0,0,1,0

That might be more convenient? :)

[Karlsson]

Of course... wasn't aware of this work, Eric - many ways to skin a cat...

I usually prefer OziExp as it allows me to transfer data into my PDA. But Google Earth is more accessible I'll admit :)

[Outbackmanyep]

Thankyou Karlsson! (referring to light pollution map)
Im in the black bit, YAY!

[gary]

I Karlsson,

Thanks for taking the time to plot the locations which is interesting.

Best Regards

Gary Kopff
Wildcard Innovations Pty. Ltd.

[Rodstar]

I must say I find it hard to get beyond Ivan Milat's history with the Belanglo area, but it sounds as though the MAS has its own secure site? How far is Belanglo from Sydney? I would be interested in visiting sometime.

[Karlsson]

So there is the 'Outbackmanyep-paradox': you are in the black bit because we are not - i.e. if we would all move to Walcha for its pristine skies it would soon become gray, and then blue, and then....:scared:

A few years ago I did some observing from Tia Falls - my family nearly froze to death as astro-dad here had banned the lighting of any fires... I lost some supporters in Tia Falls...