Quote:
Originally Posted by strongmanmike
You really get sub arc sec seeing??? You sure? Do you mean sub arc sec seeing for moments or for extended periods? Sub arc sec seeing for extended periods is the stuff of places like La Palma/Cerre Tololo etc...? Even Siding Spring rarely gets sub arc sec seeing 
The tracking looks good though 
Mike |
That's a good question. 5 years ago when I bought the property the society's instrument officer tested the seeing conditions at Clayton with a DIMM. The readings showed that seeing peaked around 0.7 and mean values were around 0.9-1.0 arc. That night from my own experience was about average for Clayton. The seeing comes and goes but we get long sessions when the seeing is good. Anyone who has been there and either images or done viewing there can attest to the still conditions on many nights. I urge you all to buy property there as many blocks are for sale. And; having a bunch of observatories there will help to maintain the dark sky lighting limits.
The down side of course is the amount of cloud we get there due to the proximity to the southern ocean.
There are other sites around Australia such as Exmouth where seeing values are the same ir better. Damien Peach lives in Selsey which also has exceptional seeing. So good seeing at sea level is not out of the ordinary.