Coming to Sydney - looking for a place to do some astrophotography and observing

[vidnikolic (Vid)]

Hello to all,
Going to Australia in February, to Sydney. I'll be there 17.02.-25.02.
I am looking for a dark place , enough dark to do some decent observing and astrophotography - first time to see southern sky
I will have a rented car for a few days.
Any suggestions ?
I 've read about Blue mountains, is it dark enough , and far enough from the city?
I'll have Canon 5D MK II, few primes and astrotrac tracking mount, and one small refractor to do observing.
Thank you,

Vid

[bojan]

Welcome to Down Under mate !
I am sure there will be a lot of helpful answers from members around Sydney (I cant help you here, sorry).
Hope to see you in Melbourne for a cup of coffee if weather doesn't permit other activities ( a certain possibility unfortunately ..)!

[Robh (Rob)]

Vid,

Unfortunately, you will be under a Full Moon around Feb 18th. Your best bet is Feb 25th when the Moon rises about midnight. You will have to be lucky with the weather. You could try the Linden Observatory, details at wsaag.org

Regards, Rob

[seeker372011 (Narayan)]

the blue mountains, which is where Linden Observatory is located is just dark enough that you can see the Magellanic Clouds and the coal sack naked eye.It is conveniently located and while it is not as dark as sites located further from Sydney, you should easily be able to go 5 minutes with your astrotrac-I have.
I have also shot 10 minute subs at high ISO in the past from this mount (on an autoguided mount). You need to avoid targets in the east where there is light haze from Sydney and Penrith.

Recommend it unless you wish to travel much further which may require you to stay overnight-given the unfavourable moon that may not be worth while

[Screwdriverone (Chris)]

Hi Vid,

Rob and Narayan both have given you the right advice, Linden is convenient enough to get to and not too far away from Sydney to be too far to get back. AND the skies are MUCH MUCH better than anywhere in the Sydney metro area.

Check out the maps on the WSAAG site on how to get there and keep this post up to date on when you want to go there and you may well see a few of us there at the same time....

It also pays to contact a committee member before leaving to advise if the weather looks favourable.

All in all, should take you about 1.5 hours from Sydney CBD if you leave after 6pm. It should still be twilight by the time you arrive.

Cheers

Chris

[vidnikolic (Vid)]

Originally Posted by bojan

Welcome to Down Under mate !
I am sure there will be a lot of helpful answers from members around Sydney (I cant help you here, sorry).
Hope to see you in Melbourne for a cup of coffee if weather doesn't permit other activities ( a certain possibility unfortunately ..)!

Thanks Bojan! I hope to come to Melbourne and have a nice weather , too
Is February so rainy there ?

[vidnikolic (Vid)]

Thanks all for the tips. So it will be Linden observatory site, if the weather cooperates ...
Can't wait to see Magellanic Clouds ...

[blindman]

You should see Sydney Observatory first. Do you have someone in Sydney?
Extend you trip, you will enjoy.
Cheers Nev