Terry Hills Pony Club

[Lyinxz]

Hi All.

just a quick shoutout if any local sydney siders would like to come up for a session at terry hills pony club.
Its the darkiest skies I know of, without travelling too far from the city.

PM if your interested :)

Cheers,
Ash

[koputai]

Yep, I would go there.

Cheers,
Jason.

[qld]

me too,map please

[gmbfilter]

Carefull its "Forest Hills Pony Club"
http://http://foresthillsponyclub.com/content/blogcategory/19/30/ (http://http//foresthillsponyclub.com/content/blogcategory/19/30/)
I could be interested too, will watch this space

[astropolak]

Me too, what are the conditions there?

Joe

[Lyinxz]

To be honest with you all , the skies might not be as dark as your expecting.

I regulary go here because I dont like venturing to far out from the city by my self.
The skies are okay, as long as you have a nice big light bucket :)

Its about 1hrs drive from the city, 30mins from Manly.

Check it out here:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=jj+melbourne+memorial+reserver,+t erry+hills&sll=-33.690531,151.226796&sspn=0.006615,0.011716&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=16

But since ive found some keen sydney siders that are willing to meet up:thumbsup:, I am all ears to suggestions of a better place around the area :)

Cheers,
Ash

[iceman]

What are the logistics of the site?

Can you get in without a key? Is there power, etc?

[gmbfilter]

A couple K south and about 5 west (can't work out how to do a pointer) is St Ives Showground and out the back are Northside Riding Club's areas.
Could also be a definite maybe

[gb_astro]

I work just around the corner from Ash's Terrey Hills site.

The retail shop "Astronomy Online" sometimes holds public viewing nights there.
As far as I know it is a public reserve with road access and no gates or fences.
Pretty sure there is no power available.
Not sure about present local light pollution but there is plenty
of general Sydney sky glow.

Terrey Hills Tavern is just across the road.

gb.

[Lyinxz]

gmbfilter, Good idea.

Iceman, At the terry hills one, there is a gate that is supposedly meant to close at 8pm. But out of the 20 + times i have been on weekend nights Its never closed on me. No Power either. (This is why i would love to find a better place)

Really, I am not trying to organize a star party but rather just meet up with some locals for a small observatory session :)

Traveling to Gosford and back is a bit too much for me, especially if the skies turn bad! :sadeyes: So id love to establish a good place in Sydney that would make do.

With that - Anyone still keen:P?

[JohnH]

Yes very keen to give it a go - I am based in Hornsby so it's not too far for me to go...

[GTB_an_Owl]

light polution overlay from google earth


no guarantee i have it perfect - but the best i can do

geoff

[gmbfilter]

Wot's the weather going to be this weekend GTB?
Any chance of thoes stary things being out?

[GTB_an_Owl]

frid ok sat a bit dicy at the moment

geoff

[Lyinxz]

How strange.. Today was overcast all day, and then night fall ...clear beautifull skies! :screwy:

I just went for a drive to St Ives Showground to check it out and ....:D
Was quite decent (for city skies of course)
lots of visible stars, Ive never ventured to far from the city so its hard to compare but was very nice!

Heres the location in Google Earth:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&ll=-33.703898,151.185439&spn=0.001653,0.002929&t=h&z=19&msid=116697739624965353002.00046175 7edb70f4cd6fc


The horizion was poor due to St Ives and Hornsby light glow, but up a bit higher and there is a huge stream of bright stars screaming down the milky way! :)

Also, 24hr public toilets, there seem to be a few people camped in those house vans so i assume there is power avialable somewhere in the area.
And there is no gate, so drive in is accesiable 24hrs a day.

So... if weather is good, Im thinking of going this saturday!

koputai
qld
astropolak (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/member.php?u=556)
gmbfilter
JohnH (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/member.php?u=161)
gb_astro (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/member.php?u=4631)
And of course anyone else.

Can I expect to see you there? :)

[Chippy]

Not sure if I can make it this Saturday yet, but I'm certainly interested for sometime down the track, as its fairly convenient for me too.

[montewilson]

I'm interested if you guys are still planning on doing something tonight at either location.

PM if you are.

[Lyinxz]

PM sent :)

[Lyinxz]

fyi all, we cancelled tonight due to slow clouds creeping in.

any locals whoare still interested about this place, feel free to pm for future meet ups! :thumbsup:

[montewilson]

Will do! PS I will keep an eye out at the sky later, if it gets better (unlikely), I will give you a call.

[seashell]

Hi all, I am new user. My husband bought a telescope a while back and has been muttering about how he needs someone to help him "calibrate" (I think that is the word he uses) the telescope and teach him some basic stuff. We live in Avalon so I was wondering if anyone is up for helping him. I was kind of thinking of arranging something as a surprise xmas present but it can before then if anyone is getting together at Terrey Hills and it was ok for a beginner to come along. He is a fun guy (well I think so).

[seashell]

p/s from reading other parts of forum I think it might be "collimation" he needs to do. Maybe I could buy him a collimation tool for xmas? Are they specific to different kinds of telescopes, or is there a recommendation for somebody starting out?

[gb_astro]

Hi Michelle.

As far as I know the Terrey Hills Pony Club was an idea that never happened. The night sky there was just not dark enough to get anyone interested on a regular basis.

The closest regular meeting to you would probable be the Pony Club at Mangrove Mt. (see Pony Club in November thread). It's about a 90 minute drive from Avalon.

Also there seems to be a small group trying to arrange something at Randwick this Friday.

Collimators are generally specific to the type of scope you have.
Did you buy it from an astro shop?
Perhaps they can advise you.

gb.