What are Hervey Bay QLD skies like for astro?

[naskies (Dave)]

I may have the opportunity to spend most of next year in Hervey Bay QLD on clinical placement.

I love the town for its great lifestyle, but I was wondering if any of the locals might be able to tell me what the local light pollution situation is?

Specifically, how far out of town would I need to drive to reach say Bortle 3 and Bortle 1 skies? Alternatively, how good are the skies up to 30 mins / 1 hr drive away?

Looking at the light pollution maps, it seems like the national parks due west of Hervey Bay would be nice and dark? However, I can't tell how bad the light domes would be with the high moisture content.


[ Purely by coincidence, I'd be moving from where I live now - up the road from Sirius Optics - to up the road from MyAstroShop ]

[LewisM]

Ask Steve! He'll know. There are a few from Hervey Bay here.

You'll get tired of all the clinical occurence of sunburnt retina from whale watchers

[gary]

Hi Dave,

Anecdotally I have spent several occasions looking at the night skies from the
coast just south of Toogoom, only 20 minutes drive from Hervey Bay.
By comparison, I would have to drive at least two to three hours out of Sydney
to find comparable skies. To the west and north there are vast tracts of forests
and so it is hard to imagine you won't be able to find some excellent places from
which to observe. It will be interesting to hear what the locals have to say.

[naskies (Dave)]

Thanks guys, it's looking like I'll be moving up in mid-January... if I pass my exams this year

It'd be great to hear from some of the locals on here too!

[LewisM]

I drove up the Hervey Bay recently to collect some astro gear - there are seemingly PLENTY of dark areas close by