Our house is in the way!

[madatter]

Hi again. As a newbie could someone answer this for me.

I have no view to the west from my garden, i know the sky moves during the night but i cant stay up till 4am waiting for it to reach the north.

Does the sky also advance through the year so anything in the west now wiil be in north in the summer?

[damnut]

Hi And welcome to SGL.

You need a dark site to go to!. Have a look here :-- http://www.eastmidlandsstargazers.org.uk/

We are a firndly lot and have dark sites at Belper and Wymeswold. Number of folk in your area too...(me for one!)..

Cheers

[Spec-Chum]

I have no view north or west from my back garden, but fear not!

The earth revolves around the Sun as well as on it's own axis so yes, the sky also "moves" bringing into view

[McMoon]

Just download this program http://www.stellarium.org/

Set your location and then play around with dates and times to see what you will see later tonight, next week, month or year!

[DeepThought]

Restricted views to the east and west aren't too much of an inconvenience as long as you are patient.

The Rosse six foot telescope (affectionately known as the Leviathan) was aligned North-South and had very little rotation. They built it this way because they knew that at some point in the year everything would come into view at some point.

But as someone else pointed out, if restricted views are spoiling your enjoyment then getting out with a local club at a dark sky site will be a very rewarding experience.

[Mondlicht13]

+1 for Stellarium. Plan ahead

[ronin]

Things start in the East, rise and head to the South, then set in the West.

They do not get to the North, in the North are (generally) the circumpolar stars, constellation and objects, they are there all the time in a general sense.

So in realistic terms the North is fairly constant, a few more bits come into view but not a great change.

It is a South view that is the most changeable throughout the year.

[cotterless45]

Yep, very lucky to face the east, just think of the direction that the Earth rotates in. We've got good views to the north, that does the circumpolar constellations. West : the house is in the way and Low south , an oak tree.

If you've got East you've cracked it.

Nick.

[crazyjedi]

Another +1 for Stellarium and for getting out and about.

My best views from my yard are south and north

If you cannot get out and away from your house a small amount of explosives will take care of it opening up your view nicely

[Marki]

Same situation for me. No view to the west from where I live now, and previously I had no view to the north too. Now I have limited views to south and north and a reasonable view to the east. Think I'd rather have it that way round though, than a limited view west. Its been quite interesting just to follow the changes in the area of sky I can see

[IanL]

The least desirable direction to have an obstruction like a house or a large tree is to the south of your observing location:

- If you have an obstruction to the east of you, you just have to stay up later in the evening and wait for your target to rise above it. If the sun is going to rise before the object is visible, just wait until later in the year.

- Similarly if you have an obstruction to the west, you just need to get out earlier in the evening, before your target sets behind it. If the object has already set before it gets dark, then you will need to wait until later in the year (or in to the next year), as eventually the object will start to rise again after dark in the east (see above!).

- If you have an obstruction to the north of you, first check to see if you can see Polaris (the north star) from your observing positon. If you can, then everything in the northern part of the sky will be visible at some point in the year. The things that are too low to see now will be high up/above your head in six months' time. If you can't see Polaris, then a circle of sky around it will never be visible. Generally it isn't a major issue in UK latitudes unless you live near tall buildings. I observe from my patio about 10 feet from my 2-storey house, which obstructs things to the north and north-west. Polaris is a few degrees above the roofline, even though I couldn't be much closer to the house if I tried, and I can see everything at some point.

- The worst direction to have an obstruction is due south. Some parts of the sky will never rise high enough above the obstruction to be visible from your observing position. How much of the sky depends on how tall the obstruction is and also how wide it is. An isolated tree may not be a problem, as most of the sky will be visible to the east or to the west of the tree at some point. A big/wide obstruction like a row of houses is more of a problem as it will definitely hide some part of the sky. Usually it is not the end of the world, as the sky is pretty murky low down and observing is not that good when things are closer to the horizon. I do have a gigantic tree due south of me, and it obstructs the visible parts of Scorpius, so if the sky is reasonably clear I have to move to the other end of the garden to see it.

The bottom line is that you may have to be prepared to move around your garden or get out to dark skies if your views are too obstructed to see certain things.

[Tiago]

IanL pretty much nailed it. And remember that even going to dark sites, there's some seasonal variations that come into play, some months are better than others for an intended target.

+ 1 on Stellarium, very nice way to plan ahead and help ID stuff you stumble upon

[madatter]

Thanks for all the replies, its just west, i can see The Sherwood Observatory on Coxmoor rd, Sutton in Ashfield to the SE so tne skys are goodish to the East and South, but iv got Kingsmill hospital to the north and its lights up like blackpool illuminations at night

[nightfisher]

Lots of things going on in my life, but one way or another i plan on selling my house and "up sizing " a little, i will be choosing a house with a decent view

[rowan46]

this is what you need to do

[nightfisher]

this is what you need to do

no, i want a bigger house than what i already have and it will be good to buy a place that suits astronomy

[M00NMonkey]

this is what you need to do

I was about to mention the same. Move the house and upgrade to that roll-off-roof loft conversion we have all dreamed about

+1 for stellarium on a more serious note though

[Greg48(newbe)]

I have the west in my backyard so the time anything comes around its time for my cot,,i get up earlyish in the morning for work,,,and the houses at my back are nearly on top of one and other,,dam you builders,,,but sometimes i do have a view of somethings,,and when they are there its raining,,,bring on the lotto so i can build my own house with a 360 view of the sky,,,

[crazyjedi]

My next house will be on the Moon! I hear the light pollution is minimal and the neighbours are a good distance away too. I reckon the views (and lack of atmosphere) will leave me breathless

[Patrice Lanteigne]

Our house blocks the south quadrant up to about 80 degrees, so might as well say totally. My wife has approved in principle the building of a roll off obs on a small detached second garage we have! 360 degree views are on the way! But with astronomy in mind I was on the lookout for a piece of land in an undeveloped area not too far away. We lucked out 3 years ago and found a 7 acre parcel fronting on a beach to the south. The nearest neighbour is nearly 3 km away. the site is 1.5 hours from the house. Cheap too - less than the price of a Chinese 6" triplet on a NEQ6 with taxes of $60 a year. Downside: no road in so i have to make an access (culvert and gravel) at the highway and clear a little road in to the beach.

[crazyjedi]

If only land prices were the same over here - If the land is undeveloped and cheap in this country there would be a very good reason for it eg buried nuclear waste or abandoned sewerage plant etc....

[LukeSkywatcher]

I have NO view of the western sky from my garden (my house is in the way). I have a limited view of the northern sky from my location( neighbours trees are in the way). My southern view is hampered by LP. My only real view is towards the east/northeast.......................and even then i have to wait for objects to rise high because the trees at the end of my garden are so tall.

I think due to all of this, is the reason that my observing sessions are so long.................i spend most of my time waiting for objects to rise to a good height before observing. This is not a bad thing because the higher up objects are closer to zenith.................the better they look.

[moogoomonkey]

I have no real view The house blocks the south (I can manage the ecliptic but I get thermals from the house. I have the town to the north north west and west and to the east I have an even bigger town! Not great Although now they are switching off some of the lights around my house after midnight which is pretty good. Means I have to stay up late though so I can only really do it after work on Fri/Sat and even then it's if the weather agrees with me!

[crazyjedi]

I have no real view The house blocks the south (I can manage the ecliptic but I get thermals from the house. I have the town to the north north west and west and to the east I have an even bigger town! Not great Although now they are switching off some of the lights around my house after midnight which is pretty good. Means I have to stay up late though so I can only really do it after work on Fri/Sat and even then it's if the weather agrees with me!

I am in a simlar boat. - My view South is pretty good but due to work my sessions are either short in the week or restricted to the weekends. A couple of years ago I looked forward to the extended darkness of the winter but this winter has provided terrible cloud cover and so I've had the worst six months of viewing I can remember.