Before you come
Questions people actually ask
Including the ones with answers you may not want. We would rather you read them now than discover them at eleven at night, eleven kilometres from the road.
Booking
- Why can I not book Deep Field on the date I want?
- Because the moon is up and lit on that date. Deep Field needs the moon below 15% illumination, which is about ten nights a month. The calendar on this site shows the real figure for every night; nothing is being held back from you.
- Can children come?
- To First Dark and Sun at Hydrogen, yes, from about eight. To Deep Field and The Long Exposure, no — they run to two and four in the morning respectively and the capacity is too small to carry someone who wants to leave at midnight.
Getting here
- Can I get here in a normal car?
- The last eleven kilometres are graded dirt with a washboard surface and two shallow fords that are dry most of the year. A standard hire car makes it slowly in daylight. A low-clearance car in the dark is a bad idea, and we run a transfer from the highway junction for exactly this reason.
Observing
- Do I really have to give up my phone screen?
- Yes, after dusk, and this is the rule people find hardest. A white phone screen destroys your own dark adaptation for about twenty minutes and everyone else's for as long as it is visible. Phones in red night mode at minimum brightness are fine. We hand out red film at the start of every session and we do ask twice.
- Can I bring my own telescope?
- Yes, and a number of guests do. There are four powered pads with a clear horizon and level concrete. Tell us in advance so we allocate one, and be aware the pads are shared with the site's own portable instrument on Camino nights.
- Will I get photographs from a visual session?
- Not from Deep Field or First Dark. Those are eyepiece sessions and phone photography through an eyepiece produces something you will not want. The Long Exposure produces real data that you take home. We would rather be clear about this than have you arrive with a camera and an expectation.
Staying
- Is 2,480 m high enough to affect me?
- For most people, not much. A minority sleep badly the first night and a few get a headache on arrival. Neither is dangerous at this elevation, but both are more likely if you drive straight up from the coast in one day. Arrive in the afternoon and do not plan anything demanding for the first evening.
- How cold does it actually get?
- Pre-dawn in June and July, minus six is normal and minus eleven happens. In December it rarely goes below plus two. The wind is the part people underestimate: it drops after midnight, but between dusk and about eleven it is constant. Bring more than you think, including gloves you can operate a focuser in.
- Is there internet?
- In the common room, on a satellite link, and it is slow. There is no mobile signal on the plateau at all. This is a genuine inconvenience for some people and the main reason others come.
Weather
- What happens if it is cloudy?
- We reschedule; we do not refund. The plateau is clear about 300 nights a year, so a cancelled night is usually replaceable within your stay. If you are here for one night only and it clouds out, you have lost the night — book two if the trip matters.