Dark Sky Sites

[hobsey]

Thought this may be of use to some people, discovered it while looking for somewhere to go camping next year that has a Dark Skies Status.

http://www.darkskydiscovery.org.uk/dark-sky-discovery-sites/map.html#sites

[hobsey]

Also, if anyone can recommend a good place to go camping for some good stargazing, please let me know.

[laser_jock99]

Also, if anyone can recommend a good place to go camping for some good stargazing, please let me know.

How far are you prepared to travel?

[hobsey]

Probably as far as the lake district from Guildford.

[ronin]

Before you leap into somewhere to go, and you mention the Lakes.

I would suggest thinking along the lines that a dark sky is your second requirement, not your first.

First you need a clear sky, then a dark one.

Recent program about something mentioned the building of the recervoir to supply water to Birmingham. It was built in Wales and was there because it experienced on average 235 days of rain a year. So 235 rainy days add in a fair number for cloud and no rain and what is left is not a lot.

I can be on the edge of Cambridge with a fair bit light pollution and see stars, how many would you see under 100% dark but cloudy skies.

Strangely the clearest place in the UK is I think Margate.

Now that is a scary thought.

That link is a bit odd: 2 locations are central London and one is middle of Birmingham.

One good option is Sark in the CI. Don't think it has DS status but I understand that it is dark, very dark.

[Reeny]

Also, if anyone can recommend a good place to go camping for some good stargazing, please let me know.

I have seen a spectacular naked eye view of the Milky way at Croyde Bay Devon.

No street lights, shrouded by hills, the campsite lies on a slightly North facing slope on the hill side.

http://www.bayviewfarm.co.uk/tents-trailer-tents.htm

The other dark camp site we know about is a mile walk to the pubs at Pooley Bridge in the Lakes.

http://www.watersidefarm-campsite.co.uk/camping.html

[Stu]

Probably as far as the lake district from Guildford.

New Forest or the Purbeck Peninsula in Dorset aren't far from you and have great skies. Not as good as some others in the UK but far more accessible.

Stu

[CumbrianGadgey]

That puts me in a Milky Way site.

Mind you, there are plenty of places pretty close that should be better than that. The North west coast next to the Solway Firth is pretty impressive for one and that's just 10 miles off.

My next astronomy investment is going to be an air-rifle so I can shoot a few of the local streetlights out...but don't tell the police about my cunning plan.

I notice they haven't yet got the Kielder Forest Internationally recognised Dark Sky site marked up yet.

[laser_jock99]

Before you leap into somewhere to go, and you mention the Lakes.

I would suggest thinking along the lines that a dark sky is your second requirement, not your first.

First you need a clear sky, then a dark one.

Recent program about something mentioned the building of the recervoir to supply water to Birmingham. It was built in Wales and was there because it experienced on average 235 days of rain a year. So 235 rainy days add in a fair number for cloud and no rain and what is left is not a lot.

Tricky one that.....notice how one map is almost exactly the inverse of the other!!

Sunshine/clear skies

Light pollution.

Give me the dark skies though anytime- you can't see sights like this in Cambridge!!

[Stu]

Very true!!

It does look like some if the more southerly places like Purbeck or Exmoor/Dartmoor. Have a good balance of dark skies and clear nights.

Stu

[Knight of Clear Skies]

Looking at the sunshine hours and light pollution maps together, some of the best locations seem to be East Cornwall/North Devon/West Somerset, around the New Forest in Hampshire, around Romney Marsh in Kent and East Anglia.

[hobsey]

Thanks for the ideas people.

Looks like it may be the New forest or the West Country which will work in my favor because the other half likes both of them parts of the country. 

[ScottS]

Before you leap into somewhere to go, and you mention the Lakes.

I would suggest thinking along the lines that a dark sky is your second requirement, not your first.

First you need a clear sky, then a dark one.

Recent program about something mentioned the building of the recervoir to supply water to Birmingham. It was built in Wales and was there because it experienced on average 235 days of rain a year. So 235 rainy days add in a fair number for cloud and no rain and what is left is not a lot.

I can be on the edge of Cambridge with a fair bit light pollution and see stars, how many would you see under 100% dark but cloudy skies.

Strangely the clearest place in the UK is I think Margate.

Now that is a scary thought.

That link is a bit odd: 2 locations are central London and one is middle of Birmingham.

One good option is Sark in the CI. Don't think it has DS status but I understand that it is dark, very dark.

I disagree. You can get cloud to some degree anywhere at anytime. Nothing is a certainty there. But a dark sky, that's pretty much guaranteed, provided you pick the right spot. You just have to take your chances with the clouds as you would anywhere in this changeable climate of ours. I agree that there are places where you have less chance of cloud, but who knows?

[laser_jock99]

I just stumbled across Chad Powells Flickr pages:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/chadpowellgraphicdesign/sets/72157631665014556/

http://www.isleofwightmilkyway.com/

From the look of some of his Milky Way images it looks like the Isle Of wight might be the place to go?

Remarkably he has captured some green 'airglow' in a few of his images which really needs ultra dark skies.

Disturbingly the light pollution from Cherborg 70 miles away is still visible on the horizon........

[Uranium235]

This is a pretty good reference for light pollution, it also has a zoomable map to help find dark spots in your local area.

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

[Wyvern]

Only problem with the Isle of Wight is the mortgage required for the ferry crossing.!! 

Les

[Beulah]

I'm surprised the Isle of Wight seems so dark. The northern part of the sky must be completely washed out with coastal light pollution from the mainland.

[PeterW]

West Wight is dark, 21.3 sqm when I went in eary oct for a Starparty, nice place, Milky Way very good. The hills shield england and Bournemouth is bright on the horizon. Yes, Cherbourg was visible 70miles south... Stars to the horizon. The ferrying be expensive but there's other stuff to do and the weather is statistically better than most other places that are equally dark. I believe they are looking for dark sky status too.

Cheers

Peter

[Mike73]

From the look of some of his Milky Way images it looks like the Isle Of wight might be the place to go?

Remarkably he has captured some green 'airglow' in a few of his images which really needs ultra dark skies.

Disturbingly the light pollution from Cherborg 70 miles away is still visible on the horizon........

I think this is the problem when looking at wide field images of the Milky Way, its so easy to boost the contrast and paint in/out areas of LP just to make the image appear more striking.

I think its safe to say that the airglow in Chad Powells images is actually painted LP.

Still...21.3SQM isn't to bad at all considering how close it is to the built up areas.

[hippie]

Try the New forest around Sway Burley plenty of Campsites dotted around the forest with Dark Skies surrounding Like at Long slades View, Or Clay hill, Both have good 360% views & can clearly see the milky way  with your eye's ,  There is some Light pollution from Southampton looking north east but minimal     

[Jason71]

Thought this may be of use to some people, discovered it while looking for somewhere to go camping next year that has a Dark Skies Status.

http://www.darkskydiscovery.org.uk/dark-sky-discovery-sites/map.html#sites

Nice bit of information here. I'm going to try one of these dark sites in the Peak District .