The Joys of Dark Skies

[Alkaid]

Hello all,

Just returned from a nice easter break camping and exploring the Howgill Fells. As everybody else was probably in the Lakes, this lovely area was relatively quiet. Bliss.

Friday night I set up my scope after a hot day with clear skies. Unbelievably, half an hour after sundown the cloud rolled in (well I suppose that is perfectly believable in the UK!) and I packed up my gear in a disappointed mood. That night it rained. Oh well, perhaps the rain might wash the haze from the atmosphere...

Saturday was cloudy, but that didn't matter as we went out walking most of the day. When we got back, the cloud was thicker than ever and I called it a day (night!) on the astro - I didn't bother getting the scope out of the car and after a nice bottle of red with my wife we turned in.

About 2am I woke up and decided to nip out to the loo. Opening the tent door I was greeted by perfectly clear skies and the most amazing scene of stars that I have ever seen. It was unbelievable - I found it hard to make out the constellations as there were so many stars and the slightly fainter ones hindered the identification of the brighter ones. I was so un-used to seeing the sky like this from my house in Leeds, and even from where I considered to be a 'dark' site by driving 20 miles out of the city, it was no-where near as good as this. No immediate distinct patterns, just thousands of stars.

I had not turned on my headtorch from the moment I woke, so my eyes were well adapted. Saturn from Leeds has the appearance of a star - nothing more. From here is was extremely bright and had a distint yellow appearance. I could see the Beehive open cluster easily with my naked eyes and was surprised at how big it was. I could see the faint patch of M13, plus other star clusters that usually require my scope under my normal observing conditions. I spent about half an hour out there scanning the sky with my eyes before I started to get cold.

Now - here was my conumdrum, we were on a 'quiet' campsite with no noise after 11pm and I knew that my scope and other bits were buried in the boot of the car. I knew that I would kick myself in the morning but decided to respect others closeby and not cause a noise banging car doors at 2.30am.

Next day, I did kick myself, but then realised that I had had one of 'those' experiences just using my own eyes. This took me back to when I first developed an interest. If there are any beginners to the hobby reading this, you don't need a huge scope to enjoy the hobby, just using the eyes to ID and learn the constellations under perfectly dark skies is most rewarding in itself.

[Revs]

Nice report buddy After reading that I'm thinking I should head up there at some point. Not been to the Dales for years.

[West End Wendy]

Thanks for the report. I empathise with a good deal of it.

Tim.

[ianpadley]

Great report, thanks mountianman. Just back from a morning on mountainbikes by the Howgills and spotted some good potential observing sites just off the roads across the moors north of Orton. Thinking about the parking spot on the road over Nine Standards Rigg into Swaledale as well. Even here in South Cumbria we have too much glow from Morcambe, Lancaster and Kendal plus all the villages, so I'm planning to get out from time to time.

M13 naked eye: imagine!

[JamesM]

I had the same experience when I went camping on Exmoor, namely so many stars it took me ages to work out where the Ursa Major was. It is important when we have those moments where we just stand and stare, that we leave the kit to one side, put the laptops away and just stand there and breathe it all in. I know we all complain about the weather, but perhaps we learn to be more appreciative about a clear sky and our relationship with it, which I suppose is not a bad.

Mind you, its doesn't stop me wanting to emigrate to the the Nevada desert to observe every night!.

James

p.s keep the gear in the tent next time!

[SonicBOOM!]

Sounds great, mountainman - I'm off to Galloway in June and am hoping for a similar experience!

Maybe keep the bins to hand on future trips!

[pss53]

Sounds a good trip that Steve, when we heading up? Me and our lass are free august/sept time ?? :-)

[Alkaid]

Yes, bins close to hand and scope in tent from now on ha ha!

Thank you for all replies, I really had a great time and amazing experience up there.

Until that point I would often spend time thinking about equipment and future purchases rather than the night sky itself. Not anymore

Paul - I'll send you a PM about that trip....and if anyone else would like to meet up in East Cumbria / Western Dales, away from the city lights then you are most welcome.

Thanks Steve