Hello, I want to go star gazing this weekend (been wanting to precorona and my NZ flights were cancelled and turned into sh*tty flight credits) but it seems no national parks are even open? Was looking at Kooyoora State Park. Does anyone know any good locations with high elevation 2-3hours out of Melbourne? I have done/will do the other necessary checks surrounding weather and preparation (any tips are welcomed!) please help and thanks in advanced for reading!
Star Gazing This Weekend
ayad on 12/11/2020 - 21:14
Comments
New Moon 15th Nov
smh we're in summer months right? is it too late for it to be enjoyable?
basically the further away from 'artificial light' the better your star gazing will be
Walhalla,
between Woods Point & Jamison
Mt Matlock fire tower is great.. ran a night run for the 4wd club up there, was clear as a bell… but flamming freezinganywhere there is no light pollution really.
There are some interesting rocket launches coming up over the next few days/weeks. The reusable first stage landings are pretty amazing.
"Crew-1" is a manned mission to ISS coming up 15-16th.
Delta IV Heavy is seriously worth watching (frequently delayed massive rocket). Pretty good chance there is a nuclear missile onboard aimed at China, as the payload is 30 tonnes of top secret.
SpaceX has been launching Starlink satellites and NROL satellite missions several times a month.
Can we observe rocket launches from here ? :O
Well, if you insist on being a Smart Alec, the Starlink trains are more than visible, so YES.
What are your main interests ? I mean DSO ? Milky Way? Planets ?
Any equipment (binoculars/telescopes) or just naked eye?Milky way but honestly all the above
I'm tracking down a pair of 10x50 binoculars however finding it difficult. found and only found 7x50
It will be ok for starting, don't worry too much about it. Clear sky with less light pollution is the best resource. If you have a DSLR camera, you can also use it.
Will you be using anything besides your eyes to view them?
As Dust has suggested, now is probably not the best time,
Use a light pollution website/app and pick a spot with the least amount of light pollution that you can travel to, eg. https://www.lightpollutionmap.info/#zoom=8.83&lat=-37.8394&l…
Next, use an app like PhotoPills(this one is a paid app), and plan out where you will be, it will tell you where the milky-way will be and in which direction. I just did a quick look for you and the core is pretty much parallel and along the horizon during sunset towards the South-West. Dips below the horizon, and then from about 2am until sunrise, the tail of it will slowly rise in the South from the horizon to almost above you when the light from the sun rise will prevent you from seeing it anymore.
I will have some binoculars with me
wow that's such bad luck. I had a look at the app and it's a bit complicated for a beginner. what about the stars in general? will they still be hard to see? I saw that on the 15th is a new moon. are there any dates you could possibly suggest?
Another app I would recommend is Planets, I believe this one is free, it has an AR function which will show you placements of constellations and planets relative to you, have a look at it in the middle of the night to give you an idea of what you would be able to see if you did go out star gazing.
I didn't recommend this in the first place, as it's doesn't have the planning ability and time shifts as per PhotoPills, but I had a look at it again and you can change the date and time so have a better idea on what you would be able to see.
You want to go to Heathcote - https://asv.org.au/lmdss. Best site in victoria because it has the lowest light pollution.
looks good but a paid membership it seems?
You don’t need to go in - any side street in the area would be good. The point is that this is the darkest town in Victoria near Melbourne and the best place to see stars.
Thank you!
Reed lookout at Halls Gap is lovely at night. But I would be checking the weather forecast/cloud cover before you depart, it might be too cloudy to see much.
Check the moon phase (if it's full moon the stars aren't nearly as bright). Also, in the summer months you can't see the core of the milky way (the brightest part).