Quote:
Originally Posted by gregbradley
Hilly may not be a problem. It depends on the prevailing winds and how many hills are in front of you.
At my dark site it is also hilly. But the seeing there is routinely very very good. Its also 710 metres + so that helps but the hills there are really where the mountains start so not a lot in front of it, a bit though.
Greg.
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That is good to know Greg
Quote:
Originally Posted by gary
Hi Aiden,
We are located at Mount Kuring-Gai, backing onto the Ku-ring-gai Chase
National Park.
Though the skies are darker than suburbs between here and the CBD,
the challenge would be to find a property where the views are not obstructed
by trees, of which there are a large amount in the area.
Berowra being larger tends to have slightly more light pollution
but there would be a better chance of finding a property with
unobstructed views.
On the other side of the Pacific Hwy is Mt Colah which neighbours the
Berowra Valley National Park. Purely residential, it has less light
pollution than Berowra and with some luck you might find a property
with reasonable views.
As Alex mentioned, further north up the freeway is Mt White.
Semi-rural, it certainly is a better place to observe from but of
course further from the city and the convenience of grocery
shopping.
If you go onto the other side of Galston Gorge, to Galston, Arcadia,
Glenorie and Berrilee, you are in a different world again.
The semi-rural setting makes a good place for an observatory but
driving through Galston Gorge every day to get to the rest of
Sydney would quickly hone your twisty-turny driving skills.
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yeah, not too keen on driving Galston gorge every day ! i think i wouldnt go too muc further north than Mt Kuring gai and getting a place with unobstructed views of the sky is a must have. i am not too concerned with a little light pollution. so long as it is not too intense and cause large gradients, this can usually be overcome with a little more integration time. Peter Ward seems to handle it fine. i am more concerned about the seeing conditions, is it possible to get seeing around the 2" mark or even possibly sub 2". that is my main concern.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Satchmo
I'm a Berowra resident for many years. The sky can be good ocassionally in the early hours of the morning ( I have seen the LMC and SMC clearly ) , but particularly in the warmer months it can be hazy and pretty poor and very subject to Sydney sky glow.
There is a lot of terribly bright unshielded lights just south of me across the valley on the Beaumont Rd Industrial estate in Mt Kuringai , which has just about decimated any chance I have to get dark adapted- I stand in the back yard and I have about 10 shadows . 18 years ago there was almost nothing visible , just a few innocuous lights .
The sky can improve really quickly in a short distance so I would give Cowan a close look - its about 5 minutes down the old pacific hwy and much smaller suburb with next to no commercial development !
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Cowan is an option ...