Perth WA

[bmitchell82]

All the perthonians out there, Ide like to either start organizing a DSO night/day/weekend for somewhere in Jan, i belive the moon is new somewhere mid to late month.

[TrevorW]

Ok consider Mt Dale but remember wherever you go mossies and the heat will be an issue

[stevejack]

I might be up for this but it all depends on timing - some months are just impossible.

If finding a location is really difficult then perhaps if people are keen and don't mind a bit of travel I may be able to lead a convoy to a place a few hours from Perth (family owned farm). I'd have to check it all out but it's certainly a possibility - lots of open fields and a pitch black sky. It would mean camping the night there (and at this time of year no cars can be driven in the field - and no campfires!) but it's a possibility all the same, especially if we want to avoid the headaches of a public location.

if enough people are (seriously) keen on this please let me know and I'll make some enquiries.

Cheers
Steve

[bmitchell82]

Im always keen, but i cant find keen people around me :( thats why i thought i would post this, dyam my gf even brought me a BRAND NEW TENT and a few sleeping bags to boot, and i have been itching to go and give them a good burle!

Im a Darwin boy born and raised. mozzies and heat don't affect me!

I truely belive we should hold a "ISS08" over here...

[fok4tel]

A few hours sound far...but i might be able to make it. It depends on the timing.

[TrevorW]

I still reckon you better off not going too far otherwise it puts people off an hour from Perth at the most will provide some good clear skies and theres plenty of places to go but I suggest you make it after the school holidays.

[Blue Skies]

Been there, done that, gave up from lack of support. Mind you, that was when there was only Sky and Space mag around and neither was IIS, so it was very difficult to get the message out, but perhaps you might have better luck than me. And dont forget there are other astronomy clubs in Perth who organise their own camps away each year. Another reason my state-wide effort didn't work was it overloaded the calendar and there was too much happening. New times, new people, as I said, you just might get it to work...

[Benny L]

there's a few too many trees floating around the main car park on the summit itself.. not to mention the stories of devil worship that i've heard going on out there :S

[bmitchell82]

Well lets think positive here people, ISS is a large community and it would be great to get even 10-15 people organized. im not talking next month im thinking more in June July 2009 you cant expect to hvae 50 people at one of these things straight up, they take a few years to grow!

Im willing to put a bit of effort into getting this thing going and with your help and more than likely the IIS community we can hold something is extremely enjoyable. Plus put names to faces over a good BBQ!

Im sure that there is something decent around town that we can sort out in the mean time for a observing in January around the 25th is the new moon so thats still 5 -6 weeks away.

I guess this is where i start saying a show of hands.? and if we get a few people together then we can work out the details:thumbsup:

[bmitchell82]

ahhh bugger 25th is aussie day :D cant do that myself a few largers later

[MrB]

Im in, depending on timing(I work some weekends)
I went to Jacquies first 'StarParty' and had a great time, heard about the second one too late.
BTW, Mount Dale is a magnet for D*^$&%#d's (Phallus-craniums)

[bmitchell82]

Alright then we have some people getting interested. Well It would be great to have something happen before hand, maby if we could get a few clear people to organize this event we could kill 2 birds with one slingshot, organize a gathering to go for a bit of viewing, and organize a few things like when where how and what well do.

Who is able to help organize?

Would you be able to assist Jacquie?

[bmitchell82]

Do we have anybody that is willing to start tossing some dates around.? im saying start of july 2009

[centroid]

Went to the ASWA 'stap camp' out at Dryandra Woodland, back in October. Wasn't too far (170km) from Warnbro, and provided some excellent dark sky.

A very enjoyable experience (apart from trying to avoid kangaroos on the drive back late at night :scared:), and I'll be back over in WA (4th visit :)), in around 12 months.

From what I've seen, you guys really don't need to travel too far inland, to lose the lights.

Dave

[bmitchell82]

yeah and no, over the other side of the hills you need to go, but 40 min or so and your getting to a decent site :) Bugger driving home in the morning Camp the night get up in the morning and then roll.!

[centroid]

Yep, I'm wise to that one now :lol:. However, being over there on a visit, I wasn't equipped to camp out.

I'll probably get me a sleeping bag next time, and leave it at my daughter's place for future visits.

Got a fully equipped luxury caravan here, and 4x4 to tow it, but a tad expensive to bring over to Oz when I visit. :lol:

Dave

[rogerg]

Probably best to pick a date and go for it. There's always someone who's not free (like me in july - my birthday (30th) conflicts with new moon so I might be inside celebrating instead :) ).

July strikes me as a little dicey for weather, unless you go as far as say Muka where they get different weather patterns than closer to the coast.

September might be safer for you to pick.

I'll be doing a bit less than usual this year, have a wedding in October that needs some of my time.. :whistle:

... but! .. I have made sure our wedding date is not directly conflicting with the great ASWA Astro Camp which I expect will be on the weekend of 17th Oct. :whistle:

[bmitchell82]

:) well that seems alright, i was only thinking this way because winter skies are better with all the galaxies around. (Plus if alls going well i should have all the gear to start astro photography :D YEOW. now that would be a bit of fun :)

[TrevorW]

Barry an option is Waroona oval mid May not far and big open area if we could swing it with the council for a small fee get the locals interested maybe camp on the oval

Cheers

[bmitchell82]

cool what kind of merrits does the oval have at waroona? its just ide like a really nice spot to go. I might have something but its down between albany and margret river. I guess we just need to have numbers.

[MrB]

What about out Brookton/Pingelly way?

[bmitchell82]

dunno im only reasonably new to perth, the place that i was thinking about is basically all open fields, just thinking. I guess we have to kind of settle on a place within the next month or so.

[Vartigy]

lol, if you're gonna travel far, may as well come to Goldfields!
Also, I know of plenty of decent camp sites, secluded, dark, and perfect for small groups, that are all around the Collie, Donnybrook, Capel regions. Can recommend a few sites if you're really stuck. But most of those sites are near water courses. So that may introduce mozzie dramas.

[bmitchell82]

I guess the problem is powering things and what not, some people don't have the facilitys to run in the field and especially for 2- 3 days, you would need some serious a-h capacity to run a full set up unless you had some PV cells for the day time! But definately we'll keep that in mind. (even if we have to run a gen set, hire a small one for the weekend shouldn't be too much of a hassel.

[suma126]

swac are going to dardaup on the long weekend if intressed can find more details for you there is power site there .there is about 4-10 people going .

[suma126]

sorry i meant dardarnup in the south west

[bmitchell82]

ive never heard of your club before :S hehehe, could be a good idea, what merrits does your site have? apart from power.

[beren]

Timing is difficult for me but it would be great to have/attend a local WA meet up :) My favourite spot is just east of Mundaring Weir, not bad skies for being reasonably close to the city. Being a water catchment area gates and obstacles cover some of the prominent gravel roads accessing the area so provides some deterrent to unsavoury types. Further east you go the countryside becomes more open woodland with plenty of spots :) Not familiar with wheatbelt destinations but kokerbin rock seems to be popular. Further afield I was going to inquire here http://www.stirlingrange.com.au/home.html :)

[rogerg]

Stuart, watch your back while you're out there 'eh ;) I know of some pig hunters who think nothing of those gates :whistle: ... in fact I ever know an astronomer who's come fact to face with them, in their cur, with guns, after hearing them and their shots coming. :scared:

[bmitchell82]

ahh yes pig hunters.. they are a little bit. what should i say it MAD, when i lived out on stations you would go for a little drive every now and then. we confiscated some good quad bikes and what not :)

It is scary though to not know if they are around, bullets can go a long way. eeek.

Had a look at that stirling ranges, would be a great place, because we have to think about its not just a over night trip there for we need things to do! apart from process images and talk maby even have workshops for people new into the fold.? im not sure.

Where ever it is ide like to do either a 2 or 3 night event, something "worthy" so to speak. Lots to do to keep people entertained.

Could people give me a estimate on how much they are willing to travel to great skies and what else they would like to do. I belive this will be the biggest weighting factor to where we hold this thing. Once we get a idea of this i can start looking around to see what is avalible so we can have power onsite or other amenities.

Currently down around Albany/esperance is getting some good response.

Let me know:thumbsup:

[rogerg]

To give you an idea, in ASWA:

About 30-50 people turn up to the Astro Camps twice a year which are 2 hours drive from Perth. 2/3rds people spend 2 nights out.

When I organise SDSO (http://aswa.info/sdso.html) trips each month (or two) to locations about 2 hours drive from Perth I don't have a problem getting 5-10 people, occasionally more. People almost always only want to spend one night out, usually come late and leave early.

When I organise SDSO (http://aswa.info/sdso.html) trips to locations about 4 hours drive from Perth I get 5-10 people along, usually for 3 nights. But, I know that I can't do these longer, more distant trips more than once maybe twice a year, as people simply can't give up that much time and travel to astronomy often.

I personally probably wouldn't travel as far as Albany/Esperance for a dark sky astronomy trip. Why? It's a long way for no or limited extra gain and I would want to do other activities while there but it's extremely hard to do that when sleep deprived or with a car or camp site full of expensive astro gear. I've tried mixing astronomy and a 2 week holiday in the past and it really really hasn't worked. :whistle:
:)


Roger.

[bmitchell82]

Thanks for that Roger.

Well then its a 2 hour event, kids and non obsessed astronomy folk need not apply :D hehehe im with you i wouldn't give a rats about going for 2 -3 days at a time and not leave the site, :) means that you can leave your telescope fully aligned, spend a good few hours sorting it out and then leave it.! put the scope in a park position if your really keen, but apart from that its all good. Now i just need a little bit more weight to balance out my scope and im a camper! might go and get me a 10kg weight! easy to work with then!

[beren]

:) thanks Roger, agree do worry about being close to shooters but my fav spots are not to far from the Calm/Ranger offices at the Weir so that may act as a deterrent. Plus the area is now designated as a national park and is generally fairly quiet.

[stevejack]

Speaking of being too close to shooters, I'm heading out to combine clay shooting with DSO viewing at my dark sky site this weekend :P

I went last month (just after dark of the moon) and ran an extension cord out into an open field. Unfortunately there was a dust storm blowing (my laptop nearly blew off the table!) but we managed to see a few objects before giving up.
Hopefully this weekend is better!

[stevejack]

On my way back yesterday I was looking for public-access sites not too far from Perth that could be used for observing sessions when you just want to pack the scope and go for a drive. I came back along Brookton Hwy and there were 3-4 good roadside truckstops (The blue "P" signs) which were located on the top of hills with very little or no obstruction from trees/vegetation with very dark skies. The first useable site was about 160km from Perth though.

funnily enough, it's also at 170km from Perth when going along a differnt route through York/Quarading that you run into a major salt lake (google maps coordinates -32.062701, 117.430651). Not sure if the land is owned by a farmer? (he would probably sell it to us for $20 if it is!). No trees even at the roadside - it is close to the lights of quarading though.

Anyway, thats about all I can offer - I'm sure there are sites closer to Perth but there's certainly a few areas with very dark skies that we can get to if you feel the urge to drive.