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Originally Posted by Darkplague
 \I took a quick look outside. omg it was a stunning night in Adelaide 
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Well the next night was another perfect night, with no cloud, perhaps a 7/10.
I put my scope in my sedan, and it went in surprisingly well. Off I headed for Mount Crawford. About a 15 min drive from the city. The skies were quite dark, although the city glow was still quite evident. Still miles better than my backyard.
Now I looked at the same objects I described earlier on, and they were much more detailed than in suburbia. Some of the nebulas blew me away. Very 3d like. Omega Cent was stunning. I found all sorts of galaxies that I never even knew were there!
\BTW the next night was another stunner
Where's this supposed curse you get when you buy a new scope?
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Also can any Adelaidians suggest any favourite dark sites?
Mark |
sorry for taking so long to reply! You did pick some great nights there - and for sure dark sites rule for everything but maybe the planets (and they are still better under dark skies in my opinion - better colour - and better seeing due to lack of heat radiating concrete and bitumen and you get cooler grassy/vegetation fields) i remember my first trip with a scope to dark skies - blew me away completely
We have used mt crawford a few times in the past - good spot, but too many hills and trees blocking the lower views - but great for zenith as you know - also coldest wettest part of the nearby hills - and still to close to city as you mentioned, and during fire season is out of bounds a bit.
I could tell you where our spots are but then we would have to eliminate/kill you - jk jk
hahaha - took years to collect ours - still looking for new ones all the time -
The mid-north has the best closest cloud and moisture free darkest skies on average - so your half way there at hillbank
but you need just a tiny little bit of elevation i reckon and stay away from rocky/stony areas in hot weather - really most of sa is a dark site LOL - but we find farmers are always doing something that can temporarily mess up the dark country skies - ie massive burning offs or dry sowing for months on end - so they come in as a factor - anyway depends on how far your willing to drive for dark skies Mark?
Cheers
Kearn