Back Garden Observing - its the future

[stevetynant]

I had such a great night in my back garden last night I thought it deserved a post. My Back Garden has a North facing aspect - if I move the scope I can get some East viewing in but its not exactly a panoramic sweep. I live about 15 Miles North of Cardiff but I am on the edge of a mountain so the light pollution is not too bad I guess.

I do go to some dark sky sites North of Brecon when you realise how poor the quality of your own sky is and also go to Community events with my local group which I really enjoy - but - I've come to realise that despite the frustrations of wife and daughter constantly turning lights on and leaving them on when their elsewhere - back garden Observing is the mainstay and future of my budding astronomy career.

When I look at my (admittedly meagre) observing list I've come to realise that at least 90% of my observations are from my tiny bit of grass and Patio in the S Wales Valleys.

Why is it that with such a restricted view, relatively poor skies and complete solitude that I'm now seeing the back garden as the future for me - well a few things

No stress - I go out onto the mountains on my own and though the views are infinitely better there is always a sense of panic welling up inside no matter how hard you try to suppress it

As long as you get a good few hours to spare your tiny panorama can be expanded hugely.

As much as I love the group sessions I go to and I like to think I've made some really good friends there - I tend to spend 75% of the night at least socializing and talking to fellow observers - not really spending any time at my own scope at all.

and last but not least I'm ready to go in a few minutes - gear out, cup of tea and the sheer pleasure of just staring up into the night sky is worth its weight in gold.

I realise you may not feel the same way living in the centre of Liverpool or Nottingham perhaps but just thought I'd put down my thoughts which have changed completely since I first took up this hobby about a year ago.

I'd be really interested to know what you feel about your own patch - frustration or perfection?

Steve

[groaninjock]

My back garden is good enough for me too. I'm in a small town on the east coast of Scotland, and there are street lights less than 20 metres away - as well as houses on three sides of the garden. But I can see most of the stuff I want to see without too many problems.

[wookie1965]

My patch is not bad got some light pollution but ive seen M31 and last night was the best in ages i would still like to go to a really dark site to get the best out of my scope.

[Ags]

I live in the middle of a city but I still get great views of the planets, the moon, double stars and even some DSOs. I don't drive so I don't get many opportunities away from the city goow, and you have to go a long way away from Amsterdam to get anywhere dark.

[Guest]

I would love to do observing from my back garden and if it is a very clear night I can but the LP is horrible most of the time (Edinburgh). Might get a small dob for sticking in the car but really want to upgrade my horrible cheap 6" Newt with something better (it really is poor quality)

[garethmob]

The yard where I live has amazing sky's. but admittedly iv come to notice some really clear sky's with pants for clarity but on the one offs of lush sky's it is good. I live litterly up a lane on a locked site with a 18 hole golf course to my right and a mountain behind me for the next 15 miles. And to the north and north east is the only slight lp I have and it is ever so slight too. I find now a lights been installed I'm less on edge as Steve said to things around me and looking at my images the light dosent even effect the photos

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[RikM]

I feel exactly the same. I love group observing, especially public outreach but the vast majority of my observing is just me and the dob in the back garden. Although I live on edge of Gloucester, my garden isn't overlooked by any streetlights. I have a 10-15° horizon W-S-E and 30° to the North, so there is plenty of sky to look at.

[jonathan]

I am quite lucky in that our back garden is quite long and backs onto open countryside, so North is pretty clear (though the horizon is obscured by the hill). South is just the rest of the village but it's down hill so again does not impede too much on the views, particularly if I venture up the garden as it slopes Northwards to give good views across the valley to the South.

The only things I struggle with are those close to the horizon, as there are no clear views to sea level from here, either obscured by hills or trees on either side.

I have yet to try doing any star gazing from another site, I keep meaning to drive up to the top of the hill but have the fear of being alone in the dark with expensive kit.

I'm confident that I should be able to complete the Moore Winter Marathon without leaving the comfort of my back garden.

[Siriusmeg]

Love my back garden - especially now I've 'trimmed' a tree or two It gives me the chance to just get on and observe with few distractions. Also it means I can involve the rest of the family if I find something good - my owl-mad daughter was impressed with the owl cluster the other night even if I did have to get her out of bed to see it!

[Naemeth]

Frustration, I'm blighted by light pollution (living only 1.7 miles from the centre of Norwich), lights from the car park opposite often shine in my face to remove my dark adaptation, houses are constantly in the way.... mind you, at least it's quick, and without a car, I have no other option really, other than taking my binoculars to slightly darker skies.

[bish]

I used to live in a flat with a small balcony. It was just big enough to put my 150p on. I had a balcony directly above, more flats surrounding and street lights at about my level less than 20 feet away. This left a small portion of the sky visble to me. I hadn't owned a telescope for 20 years when I bought my 150p so I put my scope out on the balcony nearly every clear night. I would be out on the balcony until the early hours. Now I've moved and have a garden where I can point the dob overhead to the best part of the sky. It's great to be able to do that after having overhead blocked off. Can't beat a dark sky for observing, but it's also nice to just chuck the scope outside (garden or balcony) and spend the night under the stars.

Just realised the first part of my post sounds like that comedy sketch - '150 of us lived in a cardboard box by the side of the road...etc,etc'

[jam1e1]

For me back garden isn't ideal but does offer convenience when just don't have the time or mindset to head further afield- job, family, social etc eat into spare time hence really not convenient at times.

On the other hand met some really great ppl in Obs group, learned a lot and enjoy social aspect also. Nice to see and experience others kit and really helps make informed choices on future purchases. Also it's good to break up observing with a bit of chat. Also visits to dark and very dark sites opens up additional experience that would never have got from garden.

So to summarise both aspects suit me and like the variety, it's just what can fit in within limited time

[DazC]

I've been up to the peak district a few times, and although the skies are noticably better there, i'm always on edge when i'm there, even when i'm with other people.

At home (Long Eaton), my skies aren't too badly light polluted and my west view is the only blocked view, so really i can't complain.

LP not too bad, don't have to be on edge all the time, fridge, kettle and bed only seconds away.

Home wins 98% of the time.

D.C

[astro mick]

Yep.

Back garden for me.I live on the East Coast,and my back gaden faces south,with uninterupted views over farmland,so quite lucky in that respect.

Mick.

[Marki]

For me the move to a house with a back garden has been a revelation. I used to have to observe from a little front yard that faced onto an A road, and across from a brighlty lit car park and tram stop. Hated the hassle of drunk people and car head lights constantly. Now I can take the time to learn my kit and the constellations and the light pollution is much less (my neighbours are not too bad with their security lights). Although my views are a bit more restricted by trees and house (especially to the west) I can get a nice view to the east and south. Its so nice to not worry and just take my time with things - I can see much more on targets like Jupiter than I used to, can split tighter doubles and generally appreciate what I can see a lot more than before. I love my little garden, and for now I'm in no rush to load up the car and find anywhere darker (this bit of sub-urban York is so much darker than the bit of Sheffield I used to live in anyway).

[jabberwocky]

My back garden is full of trees so no chance of observing from there, my front garden is ok, I can see just enough to keep me happy, I do have to wait for everything to rise above the neighbours house but considering I'm only 100 yards from the high street I can see quite a few DSO, M31, m32, m110, Orion Nebula , M51 just but very easy to miss, M78 is incredibly faint, I used to be able to see M81 and M82 but the light pollution has increased too much.

[Andy McK]

My back garden is in the middle of a housing est. in the middle of Port Talbot, but I do manage to "get some in" and I was happy with that

untill Mat lured me to Bleanavon, the dark sky site used by most of the S Wales SGLers and on the few nights I've been there, It really does

show the difference in what you can "see"

For instance, my last visit was a bit difficult for me as I was having trouble locating Polaris, I knew roughly where it is, but with the Tapiocca puddin of a star field behind it

I had difficulty identiying it. (not really a complaint, just pointing out the stark difference between a dark site and a town site)

but since Bleanavon is about an hour away for me, my back garden is the first "Port" of call (no pun intended)

[jason.p]

I'm fairly lucky having quite a big garden (and a few fields if necessary). My nearest town is around 10 miles away to the South so the glow is minimal.

My only problems are a couple of street lights which I've managed to crudely screen off. My view to the West is a bit restricted by some forestry which is being cut down at the moment (to be replaced by native hardwoods). I am by nature a bit of a loner (sad old git ) so the star party scene doesn't really appeal, although I accept it would be the best place to learn (this is where SGL is such a Godsend). I think if I had to drive to a dark site each time I would not have continued.

(Still can't do anything about clouds )

[fredster]

Back garden is so convenient that sometimes its all i want to do. Takes 30secs to setup the scope, can take out a cup of freshly made tea and come back in when things a little cold.

On the downside the skies are not great. I can see the Milkyway and on good nights i can just see M31 naked eye. But compared to the skies where we observe as a group they are pretty poor. It always feels me with such excitement when i first step out of the car at the dark site. The sky just knocks you back. Get the same feeling that i got when i first started the hobby decades ago.

I agree with other comments that group sessions do reduce actually observing at the eyepiece. But it does mean we take time to gawp at the sky naked eye and to be honest its better than anything actually in the eyepiece. Plus we tend to see a lot more meteors as we gaze to the heavens having a good natter.

I've tried solo observing at the dark site and completely agree with the previous poster who mentioned the sense of growing panic. Its daft but absolutely right. No matter how much i tell myself i'm a grown man, just chill, the more i panic. In the end there's no point because i can't enjoy myself.

Bottom line: i equally like my garden and group sessions at the dark site. Both have pros and cons.

[Redpaul]

I live on the edge of a town called Craigavon in Co Armagh. My back garden has good views of the east, south and west but having a neighbour who works out of his back garden as a mechanic can be a pain when he puts his security lights on!

Paul

[euphony]

WARNING: RIDICULOUSLY LONG REPLY!

I have only been to a dark site once and the view was much much better, but for my own personal circumstances the hassle getting there and back was just too much, so 99.99% of my viewing has been from my back garden.

I have only been observing since April, but have seen some spectacular sights. I have been longing for the earlier darker winter evenings all year and now they have arrived, I am actually getting a bit frustrated. That might sound odd, but I have a number of reasons that all combine to make me feel that way.

Firstly, as I started in April, the trees were beginning to blossom and leaves appearing on all the bushes. My garden has bushes and trees all around which are great for privacy. There was only ever one streetlight that caused me problems and I finally got the council to put a shield on the back that blocked most of it from the garden, so by June/July, if I stayed up until astronomical darkness then I got some crystal clear nights, despite the warmer temperatures. I was also able to set up in a specific area of the garden that enabled me to see more of the sky than any other area. I thought I had it sorted!

Come November, the trees started to shed their leaves and I suddenly noticed to my horror that there was now 3 other streetlights that I could now see shining over to me. Good grief! I live on a corner, so two of them are down the side and one on the front. I then had to adjust where I set up as these were constanly ruining my eyes as there was no way to escape them from where I usually set up, even with blankets draped over clothes lines etc etc etc.

So, I moved my observing position to the best place possible (or so I thought). The street lights were minimised and I carried on. I had much less area of sky to view and was finding that all the objects I hadn't seen before were rising from the front of the house just out of view behind the houses across the road and then as they got higher in the sky disappearing behind my house, which was a little annoying. I was hoping I could do a few hours earlier on and get to bed at a reasonable hour as I have to be up so early for work and always uber-busy at the weekends too!. I took solace in the fact that these objects will be viewable eventually as they cross the sky over the weeks and months.

The next thing I noticed was that as I was viewing earlier, someone somewhere was always turning a light on inside their house and this would appear at random, each time ruining my adjusted eyes again. I could never see any of this previously as this was all shielded by leaves. I then had to move my position again to an area where I could drape sheets everywhere around me to stop that. The net result is having the narrowest part of the sky yet! To top it off, I think all the lights from people who are still milling around in their houses was actually making the light pollution worse (not sure if this is my imagination or not). Unless I stay up until midnight, the skies just do not get dark enough as people haven't gone to bed and turned their lights off yet!

This was why I had such crystal clear nights in spring/summer/early autumn, because my viewing started later on when everyone was going to bed. Staying up until this time now means I get so cold I get grumpy and everything is freezing to touch and I gradually start to not enjoy the experience!

I have actually also noticed that if I go upstairs and I look out my bedroom window across the valley behind, that when it's dark I can see a general glow from the horizon upwards that I could never see in the summer. What's that all about? I notice the same thing now from my original viewing spot when looking south/south west, but never noticed it earlier in the year. Looking north east/east is always full of a glow towards the horizon as that's the direction nottingham is in (8 miles away).

So, I'm in a pickle.....It is darker earlier, but the darkness is offset by neighbours lights and streetlights and having a smaller area of sky to see. I seemed to see darker skies here in the summer, when I'm not supposed to! Also, to get the darkest skies possible where I am I need to stay up really late (or get up early, but I can't bring myself to get out of my warm bed ). Staying up late means it gets very very very cold (as you all know!), and I am not a person who likes the cold.

The only thing I can think of doing is buying a new shed to place where I set up observing in the spring/summer and creating a permanent observatory with a seperate warm room (or area) that I can retreat to for 5 minutes when I get grumpy. I would be in the best part of the garden so can see the most amount of sky, I can stay up later when it's darker as I can get myself warm when I'm desperately cold (sorry to be a wimp! but I like tropical weather!), and as I'm observing from inside the shed it should block out the neighbours lights and streetlights all year.

I really loved my back garden in the spring and summer and I would love to get that quality of viewing back in the winter.

So, after a little novel there, I can state that my back garden is the future, but it needs work yet to make it ideal. I'm always going to be scuppered by general light pollution here, but it was the unexpected late autumn and winter lighting that really made me have to re-evaluate.

if they ever start switching street lights off here after midnight, I'll be in heaven!

Phew, my fingers hurt now..............

[stevetynant]

Well Euphony I think you've perfectly encapsulated the frustration of back garden astronomy - astronomy in general perhaps- a constant juggle between dark skies, light avoidance and cold - lets not even mention the weather. Perhaps its the rarety of those "perfect" nights that makes the hobby so special.

[SteveNickolls]

I live about 3 miles from the orange sky glow of Nottingham and am just caught in the suburb pall of light pollution so I'm literally viewing from inside the light bulb. My best views are to the NW to SE which are in the direction of the countryside and because of the topography the back garden is not overlooked in these directions. I can therefore view the circumpolar constellations quite well and the Moon and planets rising in the E-SE. I have found that the best observing instrument is my mounted binoculars which cut through the restricting light pollution to view the sky above. I use my SCT for the Moon and planets. I hope it will become generally darker once the street lights are dimmed/turned off around here but that will now not be until 2014 if it happens at all. A recent holiday in North Norfolk showed how poor the sky was back home in comparison but being outside and alone in the very dark locations was scary so observation suffered. I guess if you lived in such a place such worries would not exist. What the holiday did do was to inspire me to do what ever I can to get local light pollution reduced as I can't see me moving anytime soon unless the big lottery win comes this way and in many ways that would be a cop out. So yes, back garden observing is the future for me.

Cheers,

Steve

[euphony]

Perhaps its the rarety of those "perfect" nights that makes the hobby so special.

That could indeed be true. A very thought provoking statement

[Tom2012]

I live about 2 miles from the centre of Liverpool. Although it's a pretty light polluted area, you can still see some good views. The detail on the moon, Jupiter and even splitting double stars is amazing! I can see Andromeda but it is just a smudge about 3-4cm across. No detail but you can tell it's got a bright centre.

I think the closest "dark sky" area worth travelling to, would be mid Wales! Far too far with the drive back and work the next day etc. I enjoy if from our back year and for the amount of light knocking about its a pretty impressive view, although saying that I have never properly observed form a dark sky.

We did have a caravan just outside Wrexham North Wales and you could see a hint of the Milky Way! That was pretty more waive but was young at the time and not into astronomy.