Where are Brisbane people going for dark skies these days?

[AlexN]

This forum used to have loads of new moon dark sky parties / groups etc? what happened?

I'm living in Elimbah these days, so my skies aren't terrible, but the unfortunate thing, is that in my 600m long street, local council saw fit to install no less than 5 street lights, and as I'm on a corner block, I have one NNE of the best setup spot, one ESE & one SSE.

Certainly, its manageable, and I can still clearly see the milky way and some of the dark lanes etc, but I've noticed that unfiltered images are quite heavily affected by the glow from these lights...

So - Where do people go to get dark skies?

I have a van with a solar panel, a 100 AH deep cycle battery and a power inverter, so I can go out and run the mount/cameras/computer off van power, no issues...

I always enjoyed the company at the few places we all regularly met up back in the day...

Thoughts?

[gaseous (Patrick)]

AstroAnarchy and SEQAS often have monthly star parties at Watts Bridge Airfield, about 20 minutes outside of Esk. I've found the seeing conditions to often be a bit soft, and certainly there is some horizon sky glow from Brisbane which is noticeable, but the skies are more than reasonable. I believe some groups head out to Maleny, but I've never been so I can't comment on that. Moogerah dam is another site, but I haven't been there in several years and by all accounts the number of punters driving around with their headlights on is a real deterrent. I recently went to Boondooma (about 4 hours SW of Brisbane) with SEQAS and the skies there were very good indeed - very steady seeing conditions and significantly darker skies than Watts Bridge. I believe they're only looking to do that trip 1-2 times a year - certainly I don't think my gear could take many more trips, as the roads get pretty ropey in parts. I'm sure others will have different alternate sites (around Laidley for example) that they can comment on. Unfortunately, anywhere remotely decent will involve at least a couple of hours in the car these days I reckon.

[AlexN]

Thanks mate, I did see the Watts Bridge airfield one mentioned on a facebook group, and thats only 35~40 minutes drive from me.

My skies at home are reasonable (Bortle 4) but not properly dark, but more than just sky quality - imaging at home is a solitary hobby - it is good to get out with people every so often

[wayne anderson (Wayne)]

If your not able to travel 2 or 3 hours west out to darker sky, about 45mins drive west of Caboolture is Westvale Rd Boat ramp,
Bortle 3 sky and a little skyglow from neighbouring towns, i have seen this in daytime but not at night, it may be worth a visit.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/agm78kcuWA5gTvN46

[AlexN]

Originally Posted by wayne anderson

If your not able to travel 2 or 3 hours west out to darker sky, about 45mins drive west of Caboolture is Westvale Rd Boat ramp,
Bortle 3 sky and a little skyglow from neighbouring towns, i have seen this in daytime but not at night, it may be worth a visit.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/agm78kcuWA5gTvN46

This is certainly worth checking out... I'm right between Bortle 4 and 5 at home... I can shoot 300s broadband expsoures as long as its 45°up, and lies between East and up to the North and around to South West. the ESE/SE/SSE/S/SSW is all a bit bright because, you know... Brisbane.