Transit of Venus, where will you be??

[omegacrux (David)]

Looks like a change of plan for me
I will start off at home then at about 10ish my workmates want me to bring the scope in , so Il set up at work and let them have a look
I honestly didn't think they would be interested ( football is more there thing )

Dave

[h0ughy (David)]

Originally Posted by gary

Hi David,

At this moment, the most favorable forecasts I can spot for NSW are around
Griffith where the prediction is that it will be sunny and only 1% chance of rain.

By comparison, the prediction for Narrabri is cloudy with a 40% chance of rain.

Quite a drive to Griffith though, taking over 7 hours from Sydney alone.

its clear at nyngan, but not so for dubbo to coona

[Steffen]

Yes, the forecast for Dubbo and Parkes has turned worse again.

Looks like a long drive tomorrow…

Does anybody know Nyngan? Are there places to stay with a clear north-east view from the porch?

Cheers
Steffen.

[h0ughy (David)]

Originally Posted by Steffen

Yes, the forecast for Dubbo and Parkes has turned worse again.

Looks like a long drive tomorrow…

Does anybody know Nyngan? Are there places to stay with a clear north-east view from the porch?

Cheers
Steffen.

i founda spot but not telling until i get there - i havent booked yet

[gary]

Originally Posted by Steffen

Yes, the forecast for Dubbo and Parkes has turned worse again.

Looks like a long drive tomorrow…

Does anybody know Nyngan? Are there places to stay with a clear north-east view from the porch?

Cheers
Steffen.

Hi Steffen,

We had excellent luck with Nyngan to observe the Leonids a few years back.

What we noted about it before is that it is strategically convenient because the road
forks there. If need be, one can either head north-west in the direction of Bourke
or west toward Broken Hill.

We rolled in late in the afternoon, booked a room I think at the Alamo and then
explained to the woman from reception what we were up to. As we needed a dark
sky for the Leonids, she gave us directions to a large paddock out of
town to the south from memory that had nothing but a microwave tower located on
it and was near a levee. It was probably about 3.5km out of town on the Tullamore-Nyngan Road.

We didn't return to the motel until sunrise the next morning to catch an hour's sleep and have a shower
and we were on the road back again to Sydney.

You could certainly observe the transit from the grounds of the motel.

It is a good seven hour drive but you need to allow longer for some breaks.

[madwayne (Wayne)]

Steffen/All

Have you guys looked at the forecast for Cootamundra? Beautiful part of the country and Weather Zone is saying clearing shower for today followed by frost and sunny for tomorrow -2 to 14. The forecast in the general area around Cootamundra is also promising with Wagga mostly clear, Griffith and albury pretty much the same as Cootamundra and even Yass shows a bit of potential, however West Wyalong to the North is not so flash. Easy 4 hour drive down the M5/Hume Highway past Yass and turn right at Coolac, near Jugiong.

I'm pretty sure I have just convinced myself to go for a drive to Coota tonight.

Wayne

[JohnG (John)]

Originally Posted by madwayne

Steffen/All

Have you guys looked at the forecast for Cootamundra? Beautiful part of the country and Weather Zone is saying clearing shower for today followed by frost and sunny for tomorrow -2 to 14. The forecast in the general area around Cootamundra is also promising with Wagga mostly clear, Griffith and albury pretty much the same as Cootamundra and even Yass shows a bit of potential, however West Wyalong to the North is not so flash. Easy 4 hour drive down the M5/Hume Highway past Yass and turn right at Coolac, near Jugiong.

I'm pretty sure I have just convinced myself to go for a drive to Coota tonight.

Wayne

If any of you are coming to Cootamundra, give me a PM and I will give you my address, yes, it is looking good .

Plenty of room in the backyard, power available.

Cheers

[madwayne (Wayne)]

That is very generous of you John - thank you for the offer.

Wayne

[Steffen]

The forecasts (SkippySky and 7Timer/APanel) keep shifting around. Nyngan now looks a bit dicey. In fact, Cootamundra seems much better, with Wagga Wagga looking like an almost safe fallback.

Problem with all of them is that they'll be cloudy today and all throughout the night, and will only be clearing in the morning. So it's really a gamble.

Gotta decide within the hour or so…

Cheers
Steffen.

[MartinM (Martin)]

Nana Glen, Mid North Coast of NSW forecast is cloudy with scattered showers with winds 20 - 30K's gusting to 45K's. NOT GOOD! On the up side I just had a look at the sun and there are quite a few sun spots!

[AstralTraveller (David)]

It looks like west of Yass is the go from Wollongong. The public park at Jugiong has some potential, though the tall trees on the nth side of the road (park is on the sth side) could be a problem. But there is a sporting field or race track that has plenty of open space. If you head out on the road to Temora you can go more directly west than by staying on the highway. The village of Binalong is supposed to have a rest area but I couldn't find it on Google street view. Likewise Harden doesn't look good. However the tiny speck called Wallendbeen has a great spot. Near the intersection of the Olympic Hwy and Burley Griffin Way is a rest area with shelters, toilets and lots of open space on the north side. Withe the sun only being at 10 degrees elevation at ingress flat horizons are paramount.

The hopeful news of course is that the weather here now is not as bad as the predictions said. In fact I often find that Skippy Skies and 7Timer are pessimistic - something that has caused me to miss some potential obs nights.

[JohnG (John)]

Originally Posted by AstralTraveller

It looks like west of Yass is the go from Wollongong. The public park at Jugiong has some potential, though the tall trees on the nth side of the road (park is on the sth side) could be a problem. But there is a sporting field or race track that has plenty of open space. If you head out on the road to Temora you can go more directly west than by staying on the highway. The village of Binalong is supposed to have a rest area but I couldn't find it on Google street view. Likewise Harden doesn't look good. However the tiny speck called Wallendbeen has a great spot. Near the intersection of the Olympic Hwy and Burley Griffin Way is a rest area with shelters, toilets and lots of open space on the north side. Withe the sun only being at 10 degrees elevation at ingress flat horizons are paramount.

The hopeful news of course is that the weather here now is not as bad as the predictions said. In fact I often find that Skippy Skies and 7Timer are pessimistic - something that has caused me to miss some potential obs nights.

If you are thinking of Wallendbeen, I am 21Ks further down the road, see my previous post.

Cheers

[traveller (Bo)]

I got tomorrow off, yippee~!
BUT, the weather in Melbourne is extremely dodgy at the moment
There will be a reasonable view from my backyard. I will have my 60mm toy refractor with home made Baader filter. Might mount my DSLR and video on the EQ mount each with a solar filter and see what I can get.
Please let the sun shine tomorrow

[AstralTraveller (David)]

Originally Posted by JohnG

If you are thinking of Wallendbeen, I am 21Ks further down the road, see my previous post.

Cheers

Thanks for that. What is the aspect like from your place? At ingress the sun is only 10 degrees up at 54 degrees azimuth. I'm traveling with a few others so I'll have to consult.

[JohnG (John)]

Originally Posted by AstralTraveller

Thanks for that. What is the aspect like from your place? At ingress the sun is only 10 degrees up at 54 degrees azimuth. I'm traveling with a few others so I'll have to consult.

There is the roof of a house around that azimuth so I would suspect it would be touch and go, I would say that the road in from Yass to Harden may not offer you much either, there is a range of hills that run to the North of that road, you may get a good easterly aspect to the west of Wallendbeen on the Temora Road but once again there are hills to the North.

Just a thought, maybe Cootamundra Airport will give you the horizon you desire.

Cheers

[John0z (John)]

Hi,

I expect to be out the front of the house, on the driveway near the nature strip. From there, I should be able to see the sun peaking up over the rooftops at about 8:10 AM or so. I spent today setting up the tripod, getting it levelled and aimed at south then marked where the legs go, so the morning should be a quick setup - weather permitting of course.

-John

[Forgey (Paula)]

I will be in my backyard but the neighbors trees are in the way so i probably wont be able to get anything till about 8:30. The weather for melbourne isnt looking too bad for the morning at least but will wait and see.

[dj gravelrash (Dino)]

Hopefully with other SAS club members on the esplanarde park--Paradise Point -Gold Coast

[Steffen]

Just arrived at Cootamundra. Not far from my motel (Wattle Tree) is a park (cricket ground?) with great eastern and northern views, and a nice lawn to set up on. It looks like we may get the 10 degrees altitude we need there.

Cheers
Steffen.

[Paullus (Paul)]

Plan A:
Set up at USQ Toowoomba with a couple of AAQ members as part of a public viewing display. However the forecast is not that favourable from the BoM (a cloudy day with possible morning drizzle), Skippy has quite a bit of cloud cover, easing throughout the day then getting worse.

Plan B:
If there's not much chance of it clearing or clouds breaking up, I will head W, N or E for a max of 2hrs. If I go east I might head to UQ where the rest of the AAQ folk will be, or any park I find with a clear view.

It's a bit touch n go at the moment, will check the sky and forecasts in the morning.

Cheers