Tips on finding a good stargazing site?

[gh0st452 (Matt)]

Hi Gang,

The weather is finally getting good again in my corner of the world and I was wondering where would people go to look through a telescope?

Before I would set the telescope outside my house and there is a freaking street light across the road ( I would usually give it a kick so it would go out for a while) and its not to bad.

So where would you go if you wanted to take a look at the stars ?

[Liz]

Originally Posted by gh0st452

Hi Gang,

there is a freaking street light across the road ( I would usually give it a kick so it would go out for a while) and its not to bad.

You are not alone there. Some are lucky to have good back yards, otherwise you will need to head out of town a bit. Depending on how big your town/city is, is dependent on how far you have to go.
I live in a town of 160,000 ish, so need about 30 min out - its not black/dark but much better.

[astroron (Ron)]

Hi Matt, I guess that you are in WA somewhere there are a few members on this site who live in the Lower area of WA (Perth)who go to a couple of dark sites
Golden Grove near Pearce Airbase, and Tammin about 2hour East on the Great Eastern Highway.
I am sure someone from your area will come forward with some more info
Cheers and

[midnight (Darrin)]

G'Day Matt,

I live in Collie and I have two sites to get into some nice dark skies.

1. Collie Williams road (it gets very cold out thay way - often below 0 in winter on most nights). Go for the plantation forests - plenty of clearings
2. Duranillin (Very dark - but a nightmare when travelling home due to the roos)

I pick council stockpile sites which are usually well cleared and off the road.

Not sure where you live but if you're out that way they're good and far enough from the mine and power stations.

And backyard for moon, star trails, bright constellations.

Cheers,
darrin...

[mental4astro (Alexander)]

When looking for a dark site, there are a few things I look for:

* Any astro clubs nearby?

* If not, choice of site firstly needs to be safe as you may be by yourself, or to protect the expensive gear of fellow astro-heads.

* Out of town is needed to reduce influence of light pollution

* Prospective site needs to have wide expanse of sky- Ovals, sporting fields, even out-of-town airfields. Seek owner's/manager's permission. I've developed a relationship with the manager of an Airfield two hours west of Sydney, all he asks for in return is a case of his preferred brew. The more folks that come, the more the cost is shared out.

* Not too close to the coast to minimise the detrimental effects of the sea air, if it can be helped.

* Suss out facilities/locals. Mozzies are never welcome, but niether is spraying Aeroguard near astro-gear. (funny enough, at the Airfield we attend, the local tiny bats see to the mozzies for us!!). Possums, roos, wombats, etc, can frighten several years out of your life.

* Though a good view of the sky is wanted, the site would be ideal if there was some shelter from wind.

Just some things to keep in mind for a dark site, .

[gh0st452 (Matt)]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the suggestions!

I live about 40Ks south of perth, and only about 20mins from the serpentine/jarradale area which has some potential sites.

Theres on particular site that you need a 4wd to get to as its pretty much a huge clearing in the middle of the bush which would make an awesome place to setup a telescope.

I might do some investigation.

@ Darrin - I'm quite familiar with collie ive got a mate with a farm down there so i might hit some of those places up you mentioned next time.

[WestAusChris (Chris)]

Ah the joys of living out of the city.

I live in Bridgetown or actually 3 minutes out of the town, no street lights, highish elevation on a hill side and no neibours on any side so other than the light of a full moon im pretty much dark

Now all i need is for my bino's to hurry up and arrive and i can look at the stars lol

[blink138 (Pat)]

hi matt my parents lived out at serpentine for many years and beleive me it is actually a very good site as it is
i know that if you look north west you can see the kwinana industrial sights lights but luckily most of the universe is in the opposite direction
i have very fond memories of the night skies at serpentine on moonless nights i think you are lucky
pat

[blink138 (Pat)]

sorry matt just re read your post it sounds like you are in the rockingham area which while is not ideal isnt too bad (i grew up there) but serpentine is very good especially if you can just pop over the escarpment and is a very good close dark sight in my opinion
pat