.....I am off to Melbourne and Adelaide to help my daughter move into her new home.
I will be back in time for July Bretti from 13 July (weather dependent).
Hope your brother has recovered well. It's been pretty cold of late perhaps that has diminished interest in the July New Moon?
I was out west a couple of weeks ago. Thought it was a bit cold, but never sure when wearing the freezer suit. When I packed it in I turned on some lights and discovered the entire dob, base and all had a solid layer of ice covering it. Now I've never seen that before.
When I got up in the morning the tent looked like an igloo. The best 2 things I own on those nights is one of Geoffs freezer suits and my incredibly warm Kathmandu sleeping bag.
I'm up for more observing this new moon, probably early next week. I will keep an eye out for everyone's plans, if there is any.
Just saw a weather report on tv that says there will be snow on the weekend around Barrington Tops and north on the ranges to Qld associated with a big storm system coming our way. It seems that waiting till later that week might be prudent.
Just checked the extended forecast through next week for both Gloucester and out as far as Coonabarabran, and it's looking bleak for the whole coming week. There are a couple of possible single sunny days but bracketed by cloud and rain, and no information to assume that even a single night could be useful at this point. Hopefully it will change as we get into next week and maybe blow away, but the charts show an east coast Low forming up and that's never good news.
7Timer says snow on sunday nite / monday morning at bretti
geoff
You'll need to start selling "Ski suits" rather than freezer suits Geoff.
I think I might start thinking of a trip to Bretti in August.
Need to get scope out under some dark stuff.
You'll need to start selling "Ski suits" rather than freezer suits Geoff.
I think I might start thinking of a trip to Bretti in August.
Need to get scope out under some dark stuff.
Not impressed so far. All the hype about this weather system has yet to be realised around my place. I had the observatory all sealed up and gear in the house and then the cloud cleared off by 10pm last night to reveal the best seeing in a month. A quick roll out of the dob gave me three hours of wonderful visual observation before the moon rose. Sky quality reading was 20.2 I'll take that.
Tuesday night looks like it is going to be fine so I'm going to head of to Bretti on Tuesday morning. Just for one or two nights this time as I can see the next front coming through on Thursday.
Allan if you ready to go it looks like tonight might be good. Looking out to the west from the ridge on the peninsula here is it clear as far as the eye can see out over the Watagans - not a cloud in the sky. I can't say for sure what Bretti is like but a call to the visitors centre might bring some good news. There is still alittle wind, but your not imaging so it is not a concern. Good luck.
I was outside last night and it was crystal clear, sure the wind was there but the SQM was showing 20.56, which is pretty good. This cold dense, and low humidity air, seems to promote good seeing.
Just finished up a long night of imaging, luckily I can stay inside for most of it while the camera and scope run. Allan best of luck up at Bretti hope the sky is wonderful. I recorded 20.86 on the SQM here at 3am this morning, and it really was the best night seeing conditions in a long time. Let us know what you find.
Hi guys. I am parked in rest stop near Winton in central Queensland. Weather is cool but not really cold. I haven't seen a cloud for aweek and the seeing is brilliant. Last night I watched a mag 6 or 7 star for some minutes - rock steady, not a twinkle. Humidity is 20 % which helps the superb seeing. I used a 6mm to view the core of Omega Centauri at 330X and the stars were rock steady. No need for dew heaters. All this while road trains that are lit up like Christmas trees roar past 300 metres away. Can't wait to get into a really dark site.
Anyone make it to Bretti? I have heard the weather has been poor down your way.
Hi guys. I am parked in rest stop near Winton in central Queensland. Weather is cool but not really cold. I haven't seen a cloud for aweek and the seeing is brilliant. Last night I watched a mag 6 or 7 star for some minutes - rock steady, not a twinkle. Humidity is 20 % which helps the superb seeing. I used a 6mm to view the core of Omega Centauri at 330X and the stars were rock steady. No need for dew heaters. All this while road trains that are lit up like Christmas trees roar past 300 metres away. Can't wait to get into a really dark site.
Anyone make it to Bretti? I have heard the weather has been poor down your way.
