Broadymike

You're right thanet earth there are workers there 24/7. The issue is that they think that putting blinds on the vertical glass walls would be enough to stop the light pollution. They don't however have any blinds on the glass roofs. This is the big issue. As you can see from the photos I posted its ridiculous the amount of light escaping. Hence they are Britain's 2nd worst light polluter. This has been an ongoing issue for a while and they have done nothing to try to rectify it.

Definitely upgrade those kellner EPs and the barlow. The ones that come with the scope are most likely terrible. Like I said in my earlier comment I'd be swapping them out for half decent plossls at least. The barow will most likely be worth changing as again they supply cheap rubbish to "get you started". Think about it like this decent EPs and barlows can give a reasonable image with mediocre scope, but bad EPs will make even the best scopes give terrible images.

I really wouldn't worry about that too much as LEDs create very little heat. Also looking at the one you have got if you stretched the tape over the opening rather than the lens of the light it would still work and would give an air gap so even less chance of any issues. I used packing tape over an old style torch without LEDs and had no issues even though it technically gets hotter.

I have a 4.5" newt as well. I was a little disappointed at first with the images I could see. Then I bought some half decent plossl EPs and it made a huge difference. The most important thing when looking at jupiter/Saturn is not to over magnify. You actually see a far better image at lower power although what you see is obviously smaller in your FOV. As for DSOs like andromeda you probably won't see much more than a faint misty smudge. It's why they're colloquially known as fuzzies. For DSOs aperture is definitely king. I'm currently putting a bit aside each month to get something bigger for DSOs.

Try some brown packing tape. It'll help to dim the light while retaining the red light.

You're the 2nd person today on this forum I've seen from thanet. Small world eh lol. Im on the clifftop at stone bay so at least half my sky is over the sea. The only LP I can see to the east is occasionally the oil refinery in Dunkirk. But that's only on a cloudy night. They really need to sort something out. Theres already overwhelming evidence that it's affecting the local wildlife. Yourself and a few others have said it's all about the cost but to me that doesn't wash. Thanet earth make huge profits every year. They should be forced to rectify the situation.

Well there's only so much that us public can do. Unfortunately our local MP Craig Mckinlay is a terrible politician that I can't see giving a [removed word] about it, as he's more into whipping up anti immigrant rhetoric at the moment to try and keep his seat. I believe that there's a petition about to come to the end of its time (or possibly has already) that when I signed it was already over the threshold to force parliament to dicuss it.

Its actually been quite a big thing locally in the last couple of months. So I certainly know the relevant people are aware.

Thanet earth is the site in Manston. Thanet is made up of several towns/villages. The only upside for me is that from where I am its in the south west which is where just about the worst direction for obstructions like trees and buildings. I live on the clifftop so get uninterrupted views over the channel so anything south east to the north isn't quite so bad. The bit that gets me is they do stargazing nights at Monkton nature reserve which is less than a mile from thanet earth. I can't see anyone seeing anything much at all from there. Sorry just seen that your reply was about the driving range not thanet earth lol. I spose at least the driving range is so close to thanet earth that its keeping the issue in the same area.

Like I said apparently it's the 2nd worst LP site in the country. I think the pics show that quite well.

I'm a wearer of glasses and have never found a pair of bins that I could use well with glasses on day or night. I've always relied on using the adjustment for the one eyepiece to match the focus of my eyes then use the main focuser to focus on my target. I have astigmatism in one eye but doesn't seem to affect me that much. I did however get given a pair of bins a few years ago and struggled to get a good clean image. The problem ended up being one of the tubes had been cross threaded at some point which had thrown the alignment right out. Once I rectified this they have been my goto 10x50s ever since.

For a start if they're the eyepieces/barlow that came with the scope I would chuck the 10mm and barlow in the bin straight away, the 20mm may be a bit more acceptable. Celestron (as with most manufacturers) supply really cheap eps with their scopes. I would replace the barlow for a decent one. Possibly an 8-24mm zoom ep could be an idea as you can try out different powers to find out what works best with your scope and then buy individual eps when you know what works. I got an svbony 8-24mm and it's actually an acceptable bit of kit. Other than that possibly a 32mm ep which will give you a far bigger field of view which makes locating targets much easier. When choosing eps try not to get ones which the barlow makes irrelevant. Basically why have a 20mm and 10mm when a barlowed 20mm is the same magnification as the 10mm. Better of say having 32mm, 25mm and a 10mm. Or something similar. This with a barlow gives you the equivalent of 32mm, 25mm, 16mm, 10mm and 5mm. This would give a pretty good range of magnifications. Without knowing the exact model its hard to tell what would work. Just remember it's not worth over magnifying as it just makes things fuzzy. As a general rule of thumb twice the aperture of your scope (in mm) will give you the maximum useful magnification. Like with all these things your budget will massively affect the quality. If on a tight budget the astro essentials plossls from FLO are pretty good for the price. Both my 32mm and 2x barlow are from them and are good for the price (£45 for the 2 of them) my other eps are all svbony. They all seem to be more than acceptable. Obviously if you're not on a really tight budget like myself (us musicians don't make a lot of money lol) then there are much better quality options out there. Both these budget friendly option were researched so I knew I wasn't buying complete crap. I'd definitely steer clear of cheap "amazon" non branded stuff as you really don't know what you're getting.

All joking aside that's exactly what I do! Once I've got my eyes adapted to the dark if I need to go in the flat I really do put an eyepatch on. My flatmate thinks it's hilarious.

Don't get me started on waste discharge. Just this summer alone southern water have pumped sewage into the sea off the coast less than a mile from my flat at least 4 times. All the beaches in thanet this summer have had advice not to swim because of this. So if you add this to the LP that's a big chunk of my favourite pastimes (I surf occasionally if we have the right conditions) either diminished or completely ruined.

Thanks for that I'll look into that. Anything that may help 8s worth a shot.

As you can see from the pictures I posted there is absolutely no way that they shield the light escaping. There really is no excuse apart from saving money on putting screens/blinds in place. The pictures of the blinds has already been shown in the local press to be a red herring. Apparently according to some staff the blinds are there in a couple of their greenhouses but don't get closed due to lack of maintenence. Basically in this day and age with the technology we have there is literally no excuse for this.

To be fair I went with the environmental impact approach citing some scientific papers on the effect to wildlife. That's been the main crux of the local argument/petitions.

Apparently a few years ago when thanet earth was first built and was half the size it is now they promised to put blinds up to stop this. Not a thing has been done about that and they slowly keep adding the odd extra greenhouse still with no blinds. I've already mailed my local MP about it although he's about as much use as a chocolate teapot. Will try and find some info on the parliamentary dark sky lot and see if I can bring this to their attention. At least Wembley and Twickenham are basically in quite badly polluted skies already. This was built on farmland well outside town.

If it was cannabis I might be a little more forgiving lol. Its actually fruit and vegetables. Even if they do feel the need to have the lights on all night why can't they put blinds up to stop the light escaping?

I live on the very tip of the Kent coast (thanet). The LP maps reckon I'm in a bortle 5 area so not great but not appalling either. I always thought as half of the night sky that I can see is over over the English channel so no real LP from the east for 30miles that this may improve my LP levels. Its just come up though in the local news that a couple of miles down the road there's a place called "Thanet earth" even though it sounds like it might be an environmentally friendly business its actually just a complex of massive greenhouses witch have lights on all night and no blinds or anything to stop light escaping. Thanet earth as I've just found out is the 2nd worst culprit of LP in the whole of the UK. The only good thing is that I'm on the other side of the island (Thanet used to be cut off from the mainland and is still known as the Isle of thanet) so I'm a little distance away but nowhere near enough distance lol. I have friends that live a lot closer and they've informed me that other than the moon and maybe saturn/jupiter they haven't seen any stars for a few years now even though their house is basically in the middle of a field that is on the cliffs. Luckily there is a big campaign/petition locally to try to get them to sort this out, but with our local authorities I don't hold that much hope lol. Well thats my rant over! Was just wondering if others have had similar issues with local big businesses wrecking their enjoyment of such a fascinating pastime? Also if anyone is from a high LP area do they have any tips/advice on any filters etc that may help my situation? Also I'll post a pic here to show the extent one selfish businesses effect on our local night sky.

Well if you can make do until you repave the yard you could always have some flush eyes put in at the same time.

If you own the property you could always use some fixings and install some steel eye bolts to tie one to. If not buckets of water or bags of sand work well to secure gazebos if there's no grass around.

I have a similar issue where I am. The solution I came up with was to put my gazebo up in the garden with 2 sides on but no roof. It's a dark green textile one rather than the white plastic type. The 2 sides do an amazing job of blocking out the direct light that was causing me issues. The only downside I have found is occasionally one of the poles that make the frame may get in the way, but seeming as though everything is moving up there its not a real issue. Also if its on the windy side I can put all the sides up and give myself a bit of shelter. Just need to make sure it's secured down if using it for wind protection lol.

Glad you have it sorted. I would definite recommend a finder as they are essential really. Also another vote for a 32mm EP. On my 70mm refractor I use a rigel quickfinder. Because there is no magnification or flipping of images its very intuitive to use. Also having the concentric illuminated rings can really help with star hopping. Once you have your target in the finder move to the 32mm and you can then fine tune and swap out to higher power eps if necessary. On my 5" newt I use basically the same set up with the addition of a 9x50 RACI (right angle correct image) as well. The RACI is like an intermediate view between the non magnifying rigel and the higher magnification of the 32mm ep. Also the RACI can help to find fainter objects in the sky as it gather more light than your naked eye can. For example in my location I can't see andromeda with the naked eye. I use the rigel to get to the approximate area of the sky, this doesn't necessarily mean that I can see it through and eyepiece. I then use the RACI and through that I can now start to see andromeda in the fov. Centre in the RACI and I'm now aligned for using eps. Basically there are many options for what kind of finder set up you use. It's just working out what works best for you.

+1 for the rigel/telrad and using together with a 9x50 RACI finder. Having the circles on the rigel really helps with star hopping and getting in the right general area and the RACI is great for zeroing in more precisely. Using the RACI has 2 advantages over a lot of normal finders. First is it is far more comfortable to use than a straight through finder and 2nd it keeps everything in the same orientation as the rigel which makes the locating process far more intuitive.