What direction is best

[mgirdwood]

Hi All, this is a beginners questions but i thought this a better area to post.

if you had to choose an area of the sky to be able to view on any normal night (ie your back or front garden) which would you choose that would give the most satisfaction over the year N, E, S or W ? Polar align is not in the equation.

would love to hear anyone opinions and ideas.

[garethmob]

iv got east to west but only high south, i think theres more objects east - west but with north too

[pajr777]

I get East, West and North, but looking over my house & neighbours to the South.

There is more light pollution to my North as town is that way.

I think given the sun sets in the West the East will be darker quicker so if I had to pick one aspect from my location I would pick East. Also when you're waiting for stuff to rise, you get to see it earliest in the East

[themos]

Traditionally, it's South that we care the most about. That's where objects are at their highest during the night.

[Shibby]

I'd love to have some S/E action, I only have North and West so unless they're high altitude, I'm always chasing things as they drop towards the horizon

[pajr777]

Traditionally, it's South that we care the most about. That's where objects are at their highest during the night.

Sweet! All I have to do is take the bulbs out of the lights in the bedroom and bathroom so my other half doesn't ruin my night vision when she goes to bed and I'm onto a winner....

I'm sure I have a spare head torch somewhere she can have

[acey]

South. As Themos says, objects are at their highest there. If you had a telescope that could only point along the south meridian from Polaris to the horizon then in the course of a year you would be able to see everything viewable from your site. That's why the Leviathan was built as a south-facing instrument between high, fixed supporting walls, the scope having only a very limited azimuth motion between those walls.

leviathan.bmp

[gurneyfan67]

Definately my back yard, looking south, last year my neighbor took down a 90 foot Poplar tree which blocked about 15 degrees of my western view. Now I have mostly unobstructed sky east to west. Only a small porch light interupts.

[rory]

im lucky that my garden is south/southwest faceing.

[Peter Drew]

The preference is S.E.W.N. in that order, if you have a choice.

[Welrod50]

Definitely South. Luckily I guess, our back garden faces south west so I do quite well in general. We are high up on our housing estate and mainly fields to the south so aside from a couple of streetlamps in the street, it's not that bad.

Next time we move, I shall insist on a true south facing house, on a hill, in the middle of nowhere.

Scott.

[Moonshane]

best direction is up. OK ideally south and east.

seriously though, just enjoy the views as the 'sky moves through the seasons' and look at whatever sky you have when you can. don't worry about it, just enjoy it and make the most of it.

[dav1d]

Back yard (East facing) as I don't have a from garden. If it hadn't just started pouring down, I'd be able to see Saturn, Arcturus & Spica over my Southerly neighbour's wall, Mars over their roof & M31 over my Northerly neighbours if I could stay up long enough.

Last month, If I went into the street at the front, I'd just be able to see Venus clear of the chimneys before dark, but it's too light, too late now.

[kniclander]

south is where the planets are - the further away from us , the further south the plane of their orbit will be (assuming you're in the UK)

[DazC]

S-SW is my best view as i have my house and two neighbours blocking most of the north and west and moderate lp to the east although i do look to the east a fair bit.

D.C

[Lynxi]

South/Southeastern I like the best

[mgirdwood]

I will give my wife a compass while she is out looking at houses with strict instruction on South / South east views as minimum for us to move

[acey]

I'm intrigued that so many people favour east as second after south - why? Is it because people like watching objects rise?

My dark site has light domes on the eastern horizon and I don't point there, but from south-east to south-west it's dark so I can view objects at or near the meridian perfectly well. Whether they're still rising towards the meridian or beginning to set away from it makes no difference to their altitude above the horizon, or the quality of the view. To me, seeing an object setting in the west is no different from watching it rise in the east: either is less preferable than seeing it at its highest, due south.

[Moonshane]

for me the peak district is east and Manchester is north and west so that's my reason!

[Peter Drew]

My second choice of East is solely based on the looking forward to the first views of rising objects of interest. The Balcony of my apartment on Tenerife runs N-S with the E obscured, it's really frustrating waiting for objects to clear the roof line.

[Catanonia]

e - s - w is best

[Bart]

Apart from upwards(!) south and east is where I do most of my viewing, although I have views almost 360 degrees, the west is light polluted though. If I had to chose two, I'd go for S then E

[Ganymede12]

In space, there is no such thing as direction! No up, no down, no left no right!

I'm not sure that answer counts but there you go!

[SteveNickolls]

It has to be the South as explained by others. I 'make do' with a NW to SE sweep and get to know the circumpolar constellations well.

[laser_jock99]

South is the most important direction- fortunately for me that is my least obstructed and least light polluted. That's not a coincidence since it was a factor when buying the house!