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First time dark skies

stevetynant

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stevetynant

stevetynant

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made my first trip from the garden with my scope tonight - North of Brecon - was absolutely amazing - never seen so many stars in the sky and saw the Milky Way for the first time. Was even too cold / windy to get the scope out so just sat using the car as a windbreak and stared at the skies - can't wait to go again - if you've never been from your back garden and you live in light polluted areas -plan and make the effort you won't believe the difference. :)

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kirkster501

kirkster501

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Congrats on where you live - its nice there and great skies as you say.

Near Midlands cities - East of Nottingham in my case - it is very difficult to get away from the halo of light on the horizon and the street lights from villages. I had a drive round my area looking for a truly dark spot between Nottingham and Grantham and to no avail, always that orange glow on several horizons.

Anyway, we have to live with what we have got so no complaints from me really :)

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stevetynant

stevetynant

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Congrats on where you live - its nice there and great skies as you say.

Near Midlands cities - East of Nottingham in my case - it is very difficult to get away from the halo of light on the horizon and the street lights from villages. I had a drive round my area looking for a truly dark spot between Nottingham and Grantham and to no avail, always that orange glow on several horizons.

Anyway, we have to live with what we have got so no complaints from me really :)

Hi Kirkster - I got myself a dark sky map from Phillips (Amazon about £4 I think) - the ratings it has for Dark Skies are between 1-6, where I was last night was at 5.5 to 5.75 -the second darkest area (the first darkest is actually where we have our static Caravan and I never even knew)

If you drove a bit further than Grantham towards Donnington on the A52 and could get off somewhere before Donnington - that area is rated 5.25 to 5.5 -the 3rd darkest sky areas on their ratings - might be worth a shot - I can see why Nottingham might be a problem like all cities I guess - was stationed in the RAF not far from there in Swinderby a long time ago

best of luck anyway

cheers

Steve

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stevetynant

stevetynant

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Cheers Steve! I really don't spend enough time in God's country. I sometimes take the Brecon route to-from Pembs when we're seeing my in-laws. I must find reason to stop a while :)

when your on that route your crossing some of the darkest skies in Britain - if you ever do make the effort let me know

cheers

Steve

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dcwales2012

dcwales2012

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Hi Steve,

Glad you had clear skies. I didn't have to leave the back garden last night, it was amazing just with the naked eye. Funny thing though, I was looking north towards the beacons and the sky was clear, yet it was raining - well I think it was rain, it wasn't yellow BTW.

I have got myself a Planisphere and Stargazing 2012 from Amazon and coloured a torch glass with red felt tip to get to know my way around and just laid back in the garden chair and let the world spin by - brilliant, absolutely brilliant. No wonder you guys, sorry and lass's are so hooked.

DC

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stevetynant

stevetynant

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Hi DC- it was quite strange really - it rained on the way there, then cleared then a huge bank of clouds appeared - then went - the wind was so strong it was blowing them at a rate of knots - which made it freezing cold we even had a bit of hale / snow in the short time we were there - decided to call it a day quite quickly unfortunately as another huge bank of clouds came along but in the time we took to pack away - the skies cleared up again.

although I live on the edge of a mountain in the Valleys there is a lot of light pollution and my front garden is only partially shaded from the orange street lights - you sound really lucky where you are.

One lesson learned though - I printed out a star chart - highlighted in yellow then laminated it - took it out last night - had my red torch on it and couldn't see a thing I had marked - red felt to highlight next time lol

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stevetynant

stevetynant

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Glad you found a nice spot. It's just incredible ain't it?

This is why I pick Dobs. You can be observing from spots like these with a good sized scope.

Transportable scopes rule.:)

Regards Steve

Hi Steve - the spot is great and only just over an hour away really so pretty easy for me to get to. I've still got the area you showed me mapped and will try it out when we are in our caravan from March although - the roads there look a bit scarey to be honest. God bless Google street view lol

Steve

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