Hello all,
I am sorry for the lack of an earlier introductory post, I joined this astronomy forum specifically because I am very anxious to visit Australia and image the southern hemisphere for a long period of time.
I have been mainly active on the SGL forum, although haven't posted much for a while.
I am astrophotographer from the Faroe Islands, have been for the past 3 years. My country is probably one of the worst countries in the world to pick up this fantastic hobby, because the North Atlantic Sea, specifically my region is clouded over a lot of the time, sometimes I go months without a viable imaging night. Summer skies are also bright for so long that May-July is pretty much useless for all but lunar and solar imaging.
Despite all this, amateur astronomy & astrophotography brings me so much joy and there's nothing like spending a night out with the telescope with those rare full clear nights, it really gives me energy to face the boring every day.
This is my AstroBin, if anyone's interested.
My hometown, with a population around 1200, also has pretty limited light pollution, making the Milky Way easily visible and imaging from the balcony very viable.
Last March 20'th we had a Total Solar Eclipse at the Faroe Islands (was also visible from Svalbard) and I, having planned for it 2 years prior, was ready to image it with my Skywatcher 200P newtonian from my balcony for a nice closeup shot. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, the weather disappointed us, and it was raining heavily and clouded over most of the time, so I dropped all plans of imaging the event with my newtonian and left for the capital of Tórshavn to view it there and maybe get something on my 200mm telephoto, but there it clouded over as well. I only managed to see a few seconds of totality and the diamond ring as the clouds parted every so briefly. Some of my countrymen to the west were much more fortunate and got to see the entire totality event unobscured by clouds, I envy them greatly, and even though I saw their videos, it's nothing like experiencing it in person.
So now I suppose I have become an eclipse chaser! Chasing that experience that I lost out on in my homeland. I am currently in Thailand waiting and doing various fun activities (some imaging, pretty good skies here on the remote islands) while I pass the time before moving on. I am going to Indonesia in March to view the Total Solar Eclipse there, probably from the island of Belitung, as Ternate (where most people seem to go to) is fully booked ages ago. I hope to have a better experience this time around, but the nature of eclipses are such that you never know, so that's why I want to do some other activities so the trip isn't 'wasted' anyhow, which is why I'm probably going to dive in Indonesia too and maybe do some imaging.
With me I have a mobile tracker, the SW Star Adventurer, 2 Canon 1100Ds (one full spectrum modified) and a bunch of lenses, great widefield setup, would be excellent for the southern night sky, in the future I hope to purchase a small refractor for even better widefields for traveling.
And that brings me back to the topic: what to do after Indonesia. Since I am already so close to Australia, and the period is a good one to visit as the Milky Way centre will be visible in April and onwards, I would love to visit your country this time around. I have no obligations back at home, no job to return at this moment, so it's easy for me to extend my trip. My only limiting factor is budgeting.
I would love to stay some place in Australia for a long period of time that has great clear dark skies most of the time and reasonably priced accommodation, maybe a place that will allow me to pay monthly for a decent price. I have already looked at Arkaroola, which certainly has the perfect night skies but it's so far from anything and according to reviews I've read is a bit worn down, however it's certainly on my list of viable places to stay for a longer period.
I was hoping you guys had some more ideas for me? Where should I go, where should I stay?
I am sick with a cold in my bungalow right now, so I don't have anything better to do right now than plan the trip ahead of me.
If you want more personal details, feel free to PM me as well.
Hope to hear back, thanks!