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Dark Site: South East England - Anyone interested in some group stargazing?

Rob_UK_SE

By Rob_UK_SE
in Star Parties & Astro Events

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Rob_UK_SE

Rob_UK_SE

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Hi Rob,

This weekend is gonna be no good for me unfortunately. Shame as I would love to have had a peek through your TV's:cool:

Next time you are going let me know and I will catch up with you all then.

Fingers crossed for you re the forecast!!

Cheers

Alan

You would be more than welcome Alan. The Naglers are a recent investment after a great deal of deliberating. The clincher was the Tele Vue prince increase that is round the corner (the states have just had theirs on Jan 1st). I have regrettably rather caught the wide field view bug. Careful, they do say it is terribly contagious! Fortunately there is a cure... It's comes in a little black and green variety. :icon_scratch:

I'm still hopeful for tomorrow - although those folks that predict the weather are making me rather suspicious of cloud looming and a hazy atmosphere. However, I will remain optimistic and keep my fingers crossed.

The weather does look good for the weekend so I might head down at some point either Sat / Sun. The drop in temperature is at least a good sign. I will private message my mobile number to those that have asked. Please let me know if others would like it as part of any potential meet.

Rob

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Rob_UK_SE

Rob_UK_SE

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It is a bit of a gamble, but looking at the sky here I am going to say...

It's on for tonight.

I intend to be there from about 7pm onwards. Look forward to meeting any folks that decide to pop down too.

Keep those positive thoughts for clear skies going.

Rob

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Reggie

Reggie

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I might wander out to join you guys one night in the future, when I'm feeling more up to it, depends on transport too, I don't drive so will be lrelying on a 'keen' friend, not sure how keen he is though, no way to know until you've had them standing in a cold field for a couple of hours :) I take it there's no power at the site? Probably a stupid question but you never know, makes me wonder whether it would be worth talking to the owners of the village hall to see if it would be possible to hire it or the use of amenities overnight depending on cost? I'm south of the darksite on the coast, was pretty clear here all night, although the seeing was distinctly wobbly.

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Rob_UK_SE

Rob_UK_SE

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I am delighted to say that we had success last night! :)

Log: 13 Jan 2012

The sky high above was very clear for the first two hours and just started to become a little 'shy' after this due to a haze rolling in. The constellations remained visible, but the detail in the Milky Way started to fade.

The targets were M42 (which really was a treat last night - lots of detail - it filled my 31 Nagler from top to bottom), M35 & M37, M1, M31 & 32 (which Paul's scope showed beautifully with low magnification), Almach, Double Cluster, Owl Cluster, Blue Snowball, Pleiades, Sirius, Betelgeuse, Jupiter and Venus. We decided to call it a night just as the moon started to rise...and the frost bite started to set in!

We were treated to a wonderful view above and fortunately had very stable skies until about 9:30pm. Despite the haze on the horizon, the milky way was pretty clear most of the way above, only disappearing on the rather murky horizon. Magnification was fine up to about 180x - 200x, at which point there really was little to no benefit increasing.

The evening's highlight was observing two meteors, one that broke into two! It really was a special moment indeed.

Although uninvited we also had a brief visit from a local fox, that promptly ran off - presumably realising he / she had forgotten their telescope.

It would be really great to establish a regular-ish group of fellow mad folk that enjoy (for some strange reason) standing out in the middle of a field, in the cold, looking up, talking scopes and gear, talking stars / DSOs / planets, and generally spending time peering down a telescope.

I will keep an eye on the weather for the next installment!

Wishing clear skies to all.

Rob

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Pauly

Pauly

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Just to echo Robs comments,we had a great time last night, well worth the effort. It was also the first opportunity for me to evaluate my kit under such good conditions. I'm already looking forward to the next session.

Oh, and the meteor that split into 2 was something to see.

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Reggie

Reggie

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Nice to hear that you had a good time guys, I had a little session here but didn't get the scope out until 1.30am :) I know it sounds late but I waited for the moon to clear the steps as I wanted to do some easy imaging, trying to relearn how to use all my kit.

I didn't see the haze that you guys mentioned, it was clear and frosty all night, although my video capture was very wobbly seeing wise.

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dishmop

dishmop

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I was doing a little searching around for other dark sky sites in the south and came across this list from the National Trust which shows a couple of spots in West/East Sussex and Surrey (as well as some north of the watford gap!).

They look intriguing but without having gone there before I suspect some awkward lugging of kit is required - wonder if anyone's tried those spots before?

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swamp thing

swamp thing

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I was doing a little searching around for other dark sky sites in the south and came across this list from the National Trust which shows a couple of spots in West/East Sussex and Surrey (as well as some north of the watford gap!).

They look intriguing but without having gone there before I suspect some awkward lugging of kit is required - wonder if anyone's tried those spots before?

I have observed from three of them.

Bignor Hill: pretty good for a south east location and by far the best of the three. No lugging of kit as the car park itself is extremely secluded and no stray lights.

Headley Down: terrible LP, site is too near London. No lugging but TBH not worth a visit.

Leith Hill: Better than Headley but still effected by the LP from London. There is also no way of getting your motor up there and it's a long walk with a scope on your shoulder.

Sometimes some AS open the gates at Leith hill to allow people to drive up to the top to set up. But this is not the norm so I would rule it out.

Regards Steve

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Rob_UK_SE

Rob_UK_SE

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Evening to all,

Tomorrow evening is looking rather promising with a low of 4ºc and clear skies. There is rain right through the afternoon so the atmosphere should be pretty stable too. Might be a good one for dragging the scopes and bins out...

Any takers?

Rob

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bonefish

bonefish

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Just getting my scope all set up and making sure the alignment is correct.

What is the plan as i fancy a evening out Saturday 21.01.12.

So is there anything planned for a meet, if not i will probably head to Wood church to Ashford Astronomical Society Stargazing LIVE event.

A warm welcome to you from Ashford Astronomical Society and welcome to the site! | Ashford Astronomical Society

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Rob_UK_SE

Rob_UK_SE

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In East Sussex the weather looks rather poor for the weekend. Sunday pm might clear up, but there's quite a bit of wind with strong gusts making it even harder to predict. It's a real shame as there are lots of events organised for Stargazing Live that will be affected. I was intending to head over to Herstmonceux Observatory on Saturday - they have a lovely old 26" Thompson refractor which is wonderful on globs.

Steve and I took the scopes out to the site yesterday, however, we were thwarted in our efforts by a total wash out of cloud after about an hour... most frustrating indeed.

I have a feeling we may be in for a period of rather poor weather.... someone must have bought a new scope? :)

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