Star-gazing advice in Perth needed

[leongdw (David)]

Hi everyone. It is my first post here. I am from Hong Kong and has an opportunity to go to Perth for star-gazing with my 18"UC next week. A friend of mine is considering taking his 8 inch APO with Paramount although this cannot yet be confirmed. However, I had not been to Perth before and would be very grateful if I can have some advice here:

1. Is the weather next week going to be good? Different sources on the web seem to vary a bit in what they say.

2. Any suggestions on accomodation would be very much appreciated. Ideally, we just want to set the equipment for once only and leave it for the week. And the lights in that place can be turned off at night. If the place of accomodation has other points of attraction nearby for daytime activity, that would be great although this is not essential.

3. Are there any place that I should visit with astronomical significance in the area? e.g. observatories.

Any other suggestions or advice that you think I need to know are also appreciated. Thanks for your help!

[Benno18 (Ben)]

Well i think you have come to the right place!!!!!
There are the two observatories (in know of) close to Perth:
1) www.perthobservatory.wa.gov.au
2)www.ginginobservatory.com (this one north of perth a bit, But a lovely drive)

I would look at to stay somewhere near the Swan Valley. Lovely part of Perth and many a winery to choose from for some beautiful wines cheeses. Lots of bed and breakfasts to choose from. Also the Valley is about 20 mins from the city, so darker skies. (and really perth isnt as bright as the rest of the capitals around Australia anyway, so even better)

The website I use for the weather is www.bom.gov.au. They are normally pretty good.

Happy Viewing
Benno

[Blue Skies (Jacquie)]

The weather next week is definitely looking like rain - and we really need it! It is winter time down here and winter is the 'rainy season' in south west WA. But the rain can clear quickly so you should get at least one night in during the week.

Sorry to say that you probably wont be able to get into Perth Observatory, the tours have finished for the season (you can ring and enquire, but don't get your hopes up). However I know that the Gingin Observatory has events most weekends, but you must book!

As for observing sites, this is always a tricky one - the best option seems to be to find a nice farm-stay place in the country. Somewhere around the towns of Toodyay, Northam and York might suit you if you don't want to drive too far. Find the Tourist Bureau web site for WA and that should give you links to the areas that are at a distance that appeal. You wont get perfectly dark skies, the landscape here is too flat to block the city lights completely, but they will be significantly better than Hong Kong!

Trying to do all this the week before is a big challenge! Hope you enjoy yourselves while here, anyway.