Very dumb question

[smolloy]

Hi all. This is my first post here, so please go easy on me

I plan to start sky-watching pretty soon, and have been reading as much as I can about what to buy, and what to avoid, and I am starting to form a plan (a pair of binoculars & a good book, followed a few months later by a 6 - 8 inch reflector).

One question I have is that my garden is (sadly) illuminated quite strongly by a streetlamp, and I can imagine that this will have a disastrous effect on the quality of viewing. Since my plan was to try to begin with lunar and planetary viewing, I was wondering quite how bad this would be. Does this entirely rule out viewing from my garden, or does it only rule out the patch of sky surrounding the light? Surely the moon, and many planets, are bright enough not to be too badly disturbed by the light?

There is a large, unlit, patch of waste-ground near me, but I would like to do a lot of this viewing with my kids, and don't want to have to drag them there every time.

[kniclander]

moon and planets are pretty undisturbed by ambient LP although you don't want lights shining down the end of your scope - you can get/ make shrouds and long dew shields to stop that happening. there are also several posts on disabling streetlamps...

[nightfisher]

give the local chavs a packet of cigs to "disable said lamp" probably take council months to fix it

[Shibby]

Not a dumb question at all! In the case of a streetlight shining into your garden, this problem is mostly solved by shielding yourself and your scope from the light. The biggest problem (I would say) is that your eyesight won't properly dark adapt, making it harder to view DSOs. Also ensure the light doesn't shine down the OTA as already stated. For lunar and planetary observing, it's not a major problem at all.

If you complain to the council they will fit a shield; many people have had success with their local council. I live on a new housing estate and nagged the site developers until they fitted a shield on mine. I still can't really point my scope in that direction though, other than for lunar/planetary.

[damnut]

Hi Smolloy,

Please see my profile for how I dealt with my streetlamp. two lengths of 3m batten taped together, dog leg brush on the end half a tin of hammerrite -- sorted. No complaints fro council as they don't have to do anything and they come and replace the bulb when it goes and always put the cover back on the right way..

[smolloy]

Thanks all for the useful replies. To be honest, I was expecting a storm of "stop being so dumb, of course it won't work!", so your friendly (and ingenious) replies have been brilliant.

I might ask the local authority if they'd mind if I shielded it myself. If I do, I'll let you know how it goes, but it's useful to know that my plans for viewing solar system objects haven't been foiled by this stupid light.

I'd thought about how my night vision will be destroyed by this, but I guess I can haul my kit out somewhere darker if I want to view fainter objects.

Thanks everyone.

[Dunkster]

Just remember to tell them that it shines in your bedroom window affecting your quality of sleep, rather than telling them you're an amateur astronomer

[brantuk]

This may sound odd - but some folks with LP problems use a black blanket to shield the light and preserve night vision. It makes a huge difference but you do have to put it over your head as you look through the eyepiece and keep it there for a good twenty mins.

You can add a dew shield to the end of the scope as well which will not only help the secondary to stay free of dew but will also shield out stray light. Hope that helps

[Anweniel]

I like many have the same problem as you mate, other members have floodlights, security lights, neighbours who like to leave teir lights on 24/7. We all have our ways of coping/solving/putting up with this. Personally so far have just put up with mine and consider it an inconvenience that I just accept is there. I guess like others have said that I could contact the council or find a way of shielding the sodium lamp but tbh that seems more hassle than just moving my scope a little or waiting until my target has moved to a more convenient position.

I'm sure once I start to dabble in AP or DSO observing a solution will have to be resolved but for now as a keen observer (and rank amateur!) its not stopping me in anyway

[cantab]

You could always get into solar observing