dark sky map

[Scott]

feel a bit silly asking this as i've been on it loads of times but can someone give me a link to dark sky maps uk. not dark sky sites just an overview of the uk

thanks

Scott

[ixalon]

This one?

http://www.avex-asso.org/dossiers/wordpress/?page_id=127

Or there's this newish one based on NASA's Black Marble imagery:

https://earthbuilder.google.com/10446176163891957399-13737975182519107424-4/mapview/

[Scott]

thanks ixalon

Scott

[SnakeyJ]

Thanks Ixalon - though both maps paint a very depressing picture of our effect on the planet. I've never really appreciated the scale of the LP problem until now, but must consider myself lucky to be located in a reasonably favoured position.

[scoobee]

This one?

http://www.avex-asso...ss/?page_id=127

Or there's this newish one based on NASA's Black Marble imagery:

https://earthbuilder...7424-4/mapview/

thanks for the NASA Black Marble imagery, a great help

[ixalon]

Thanks Ixalon - though both maps paint a very depressing picture of our effect on the planet.

Yup, it's pretty horrible. I feel really sorry for anyone who lives in Belg*um.

I've been using both of these maps to plan my house move to within commuting distance of London. There's scary little in the way of darkish skies within a 90-minute radius of London, though they do exist - have had an offer accepted on a house 7 miles from the nearest street light to the North, and 11 miles to the South. Fingers crossed!

[BinocularSky]

Go to http://www.need-less.org.uk/ and scroll down to the NIGHT SKY SIMULATOR. It should be obvious from there.

[SnakeyJ]

Ixalon,

Good luck with the house purchase - I trust the there's sufficient garden for a modest observatory and hopefully reasonable internet access.

Jake

[ixalon]

Good luck with the house purchase - I trust the there's sufficient garden for a modest observatory and hopefully reasonable internet access.

Thanks Jake, all is going well so far. Yep, it has a reasonable size South-east facing garden, complete with planning permission from SWMBO for an observatory (at last!) Internet's a bit on the slow side (around 2Mbps), but there's various villages in the area with community wifi projects, so may see if I can get one up and running in the village. Otherwise I might look into satellite broadband which appeals to my stargazing side.

[Mike73]

Go to http://www.need-less.org.uk/ and scroll down to the NIGHT SKY SIMULATOR. It should be obvious from there.

I think this is about the best available to cover nationwide but it is a simulation and the LM (limited magnitude) is a bit pessimistic in the readings it gives so take it with a pinch of salt.

My Dark Sky is alot more accurate as it built up by people actually taking SQM/NELM readings of sky darkness and may also give you some ideas for dark site locations.

[ixalon]

My Dark Sky is alot more accurate as it built up by people actually taking SQM/NELM readings of sky darkness and may also give you some ideas for dark site locations.

Thanks Mike - forgot about that site. Very useful, and I'm grinning like the cheshire cat at the 20.85 SQM reading for the village I'm moving to (19.5 is the best I've recorded where I currently live).

[Mike73]

Thanks Mike - forgot about that site. Very useful, and I'm grinning like the cheshire cat at the 20.85 SQM reading for the village I'm moving to (19.5 is the best I've recorded where I currently live).

That works out to about LM 6, not bad at all and good luck with the move.

[SnakeyJ]

Thanks Jake, all is going well so far. Yep, it has a reasonable size South-east facing garden, complete with planning permission from SWMBO for an observatory (at last!) Internet's a bit on the slow side (around 2Mbps), but there's various villages in the area with community wifi projects, so may see if I can get one up and running in the village. Otherwise I might look into satellite broadband which appeals to my stargazing side.

Good news on the garden and planning permission side - fingers crossed that this all comes through as always keen to read another obsy build thread, one day I will do my own!

On the internet side, 2Mbs is now pretty borderline/minimum and given a more rural location the chance of BT rushing fibre to a cabinet near you is pretty slim. Satellite can provide the bandwidth (at a cost), which is great for file transfers but normal browsing suffers from high latency which makes the connection seem far slower than it really is. If you have a good community wifi project this may well prove a better bet, dependent on mast locations and intervisibility - cost wise this should be a cheaper commitment than satellite so worth a punt in the first instance. Another idea is to check the local exchange with SamKnows to see if there are any local unbundlers that might offer a VDSL or bonded service.

Jake