How's your dark sky site?

[Mr Spock]

This is mine, lol...

Yep, this is in the Peak District between Sheffield and Manchester looking south. Depressing isn't it?

You can see why I stay home and look at the moon and planets

Image: Nikon D-300 and Nikon 12-24mm f4 @ 12mm and f4, ISO 1600, 30s.

[nightfisher]

Spock, im lucky, i go to a place near holm moss, its better than your spot by look of it and only 6 miles from home, the hills seem to block a lot of LP as its 530 metrs above see level

[Uranium235]

Could it be any more orange?!

Better off pointing straight up mate   There is a lot on offer around the Zenith at the mo.

[Qualia]

I empathise with you, Michael. Living in a city, from home I will stick with the Sun, Moon, planets and doubles. There's plenty enough to fascinate and get on with, and I save up for my trips out to dark sites where I'll concentrate more on DSOs. It's a nice balance where all celestial objects can get their undue attention. 

[Raga]

Spock, my condolences. I thought I had it rough.

[Jonny99]

Brilliant up here posted a photo before of a little bit of milkyway but think I left it for too long

[Jonny99]

http://s53.photobucket.com/user/johnbook/media/Astrophoto/IMG_0454.jpg.html

[estwing]

errr the view I get from Longnor a bit better than that!!

[cotterless45]

Luckily we're on the edge of town facing North East . Quite reasonable seeing,

Nick.

[laowho]

Wow. Well, at home we have about 4.5 naked eye LM, and absolutely no southern sky due to huge trees spanning half the property. Best and nearest dark sky is 1.5 hours for about 6 NELM. But, being near the coast either way, lack of transparency can be as fatal as LP (almost). Even if we drive 5+ hours to a designated dark sky site...darkest in the eastern U.S.?...we still get killed by moisture.

[MadAlbert]

Eeuuuwww...!  Wasn't the Peak District the first National Park? Might as well be Hyde Park....!  Commiserations. One saving grace perhaps is things will change...one day.

[laowho]

Eeuuuwww...!  Wasn't the Peak District the first National Park? Might as well be Hyde Park....!  Commiserations. One saving grace perhaps is things will change...one day.

They say that even our Cherry Springs State Park--second ever designated dark sky site(?)--isn't what it used to be due to fracking and all the things that come with it (truck traffic, security lights, etc., and even though they've agreed to stop other operations on those nights when there may be a lot of observers). Things will change, no doubt--they'll get worse before they get better for we who only do visual observing.

[Mr Spock]

This is about a mile north of the Peak District's 'dark sky discovery site'

[laser_jock99]

This is mine, lol...

Yep, this is in the Peak District between Sheffield and Manchester looking south. Depressing isn't it?

You can see why I stay home and look at the moon and planets

Image: Nikon D-300 and Nikon 12-24mm f4 @ 12mm and f4, ISO 1600, 30s.

Some of the 'Dark Sky' designations are a bit dubious- light pollution travels a long way. You need to be at least 80-100 miles away from the big conurbations to not see the light domes. Even then a bad local installation can blight an entire night scape - there's plenty of farm 'insecutity' lights wrecking otherwise pristine skies.

Your best bet is to find somewhere with a nice dark, unpopulated southern horizon. The Avex Light Pollution Map can help:

http://www.avex-asso.org/dossiers/pl/uk/index.html

The Peak District is clearly surrounded on all sides by major cities.

Conversely the middle of Wales has long central, low population mountainous region.

If you can get far enough north of the Brecons (and South Wales in general!) then the southern horizon really starts to get quite dark.

[scarp15]

A1, dont stop until you reach Northumberland

[Pete D]

Top right hand corner of your pictures looks ok.

[CharlesW]

I suppose I'm rather fortunate. I live in southern California and have some VERY dark skies, gray, within a one hour drive. When I had a Celestron CPC800 it was difficult to pick out the alignment stars. Gladly I've now got a mount that does automatic plate solving for alignments. Even my wife, who just humors me with this hobby, loves to go out to the dark skies. It's like looking at sand on the beach.

[Stargazer_00]

That Avex map is fantastic, thanks!

My back garden is in a pink (cant be any worse) area and I actually feel I can see quite alot (having never seen anything else).  Within 10 miles of my house are dark blue areas so the next clear evening I am going to take a drive with a pair of bins and see if I can find somewhere I can set up in the future that is off of the main roads.  Ideally on a farmers land.  I'll naturally contact them before going on their land.

I live in Stevenage on this map.  In the top section of the pink area, in the centre of town.

The distance to buntingford from my house is 10 miles exactly (10.2) so there are dark skies well within a short car journey.    I just need to find one as close as possible that is very dark.

[Jonny99]

Where i live is pretty damn good

[foundaplanet]

This is the difference between my home and my dark site..

[Pig]

Ours is pretty excellent, very dark indeed

[laser_jock99]

Ours is pretty excellent, very dark indeed

Where's that then? 

[Nakedgun]

I wanted to post an image taken at my dark sky site when this thread first started, but thought I'd deleted(!) it. Found it tonight (whew). Taken early Oct 13.

It's a 100-mile drive to get there:

(Pentax K-5 IIs,  18mm f/4, 13 sec. ISO 12800, still tripod)

[Kirscovitch]

I found this for my area.

[starman1969]

_{That is not a pretty sight but at least some of the MW is visible. I bet it's also a pretty busy flightpath being between Manchester & Leeds/Bradford.}