Living With Light Pollution in the West Mids.

[Northern Soul man]

Hi Moonshane, thats really faint - from home with my new scope I can detect all of the brighter M galaxies in Ursa Major (except 108 going off memory) - but not had the scope long enough to get out and observe and with this weather its not been out at all.

The slight increase from 8 to 11 has helped a little - but its really down to the light pollution wether the galaxies are there or not. Atleast now with the Goto the objects are very near to the centre FOV - with my old dob, I struggled for searching the Zenith where objects were at their highest - least amount of atmosphere and light pollution, the RACI and Sky Atlas 2000 charts here helped a great deal, but at the end of the day with very bright backgounds, its always going to be a challenge and with the increase of aperture its helped a great deal - its just the clouds now - went down to Cornwall last week hoping for some really good skies - you guessed it - wall to wall cloud.

Just looking forward to darker nights and the winter skies - we have a few members hunting for a dark site that we can all get to within reason. I think Cosford where the Wolves/black country guys and gals are meeting up is looking good but to try and accomodate everyone is going to be tricky - Thanks again Moonshane and to all members for their input - lookin good. Paul.

[Moonshane]

don't get me wrong Paul, the galaxy was a slight whiff of fuzz around the SN and not an impressive sight! I am hopeful that in good skies and on a good night I'll really see the scope perform. Only ever been able to see the very core of M101 from home on one occasion so still struggle. the aperture is great though when it works.

[Beulah]

Yeah I've been thinking about Clee Hills, I think that would be quite a good place to go. Looking on the light pollution maps it looks like it's very low on the LP so should give some fantastic views It's just about finding a good place around there. Time for Google maps and street

Your best bet is the Titterstone Clee. You can get a car close to the summit - the aspect is South-West facing. There will be LP from the Clee Hill Village/Ludlow, but not much, as there will be part-night lighting from July/August. The car park is public, so there is a risk of the usual riff raff.

With Abdon Burf, you've got a 360 view from the summit (windy) but you will have to park at the bottom & walk up the hill to observe (about 25 mins). There is a steep lane going right up to the summit, but it is only accessed by the radar guys. I have made it up there with a small Mak-Cassy, a tripod and a bag full of EPs, flask and biscuits. It is VERY remote here, you won't see a soul.

The West side of the Brown Clee is not suitable for astronomy unless you scrambled up to the hillfort. However it can get boggy and is boggy at the moment!

The South Western side might be suitable - although you will have to walk onto the common land to set up.

Being the highest points in the West Midlands, the views are absolutely gobsmacking.

Used to go walking that area yonks back.

[Dazzyd]

Thanks Beulah. I think Titterstone Clee is defintely going in to my "to view from" list. Would like to maybe get 3+ others up there too partially for safety and partially for the social side of things. Wonder if there are people on SGL nearer to there than I am (I'm around 35 miles away), may be able to get a meet arranged later in the year

[Northern Soul man]

I Think It shows from the posts on here that all of us suffer from light pollution to some degree but its great that people on here are really positve about astronomy whatever sky conditions you all suffer with and with a little luck we can sort a site out and hopefully all meet up with 1 goal OBSERVING - wether we know the sky very well - I'll admit - only being able to see the brighter objects and the birth of Goto - the majority of the faint galaxies and deep sky are out of the reach of my equipment (not the equipments fault but the sky where I observe from), but its really nice to know that there are other people out there as interested in the hobby as I am - I know - we all have different degrees of experience on finding objects, but the fun is, sharing the knowledge with others at the eyepiece. Paul

[Beulah]

Do a rekkie in the daytime first.

The chipshop in the village does a nice curry & chips....

Also the Kremlin isn't a bad place either - here's a bit of local info about it..

There is a long-standing rumour in the local area - that is that they are the highest land eastwards until the Ural Mountains in Russia. Hence the name of the pub in Clee Hill village - The Kremlin Inn.

It has even been known for radios in the area to pick up signals via the air traffic control masts from Radio Moscow.

[Northern Soul man]

Hi Beulah, Yes Clee is high, with my other head on I'm a Radio Ham and live just under the side of the Rowley hills, I think its about a 900 foot summit on Rowley with 2 large communication towers well over 100 feet - been up there several times using my radio - but from home, I can work easily into Russia, from the top theres a fantastic view - Clent, Malvern, clee and also well into Staffordshire round to the North - but suppose its terrible for gazing with sky glow all the way round from Dudley, Blackheath, Halesowen, Oldbury. Clee would be a much better option as out in the sticks. Paul.

[Moonshane]

one reason I am generally happy with my site and my scope is that whatever site you observe from and whatever your aperture, there's always galaxies just out of range so you may as well enjoy the ones you can see, not worry about the ones you cannot.

[Northern Soul man]

I know Moonshane, when I first started out in astronomy I was getting a little frustrated in not seeing all thats up there, but after a while I found that not being able to see faint objects was not the equipments fault that I was using, I found that when I got my LX90, trying for objects that I could see, as you say, was a lot more rewarding and understanding that an increase in aperture doesn't mean a massive increase in object size and actually being able to see much fainter objects (which I think is where alot of beginners struggle to understand).

I used my LX90 for about 5 years and really enjoyed using the scope and from year to year - the changing apparitions of the planets residing in different constellations - some well above the ecliptic (fantastic) and some well below the ecliptic, also Mars' apparitions - very different - the closest to the Earth for years - very low on the ecliptic and the highest on the ecliptic but alot smaller at opposition. I then decided to get the CPC 1100 - still very new to me and not really had the time at the eyepice to evaluate yet but as it is with Astronomy - its always going to be up there, so no rush. Paul

[pyrasanth]

Hi everybody.

I live 4 miles away from Birmingham airport where the skies are not brilliant. I have a very good setup & have just taken delivery of a Paramount MX+ mount. I am in the process of commissioning the new mount which is a fantastic piece of engineering. I find light pollution a problem & have had to adapt my observing to suit. There are lots of interesting bright objects like double stars & globular clusters which are fantastic objects in moderate aperture telescopes. I think the secret is being able to adapt. I'm going to buy a small go-to telescope so I enjoy the skies from selected dark sites.