Where to see the Milky Way.

[astromartian]

Hello everyone.

I would appreciate some advice.

I'm looking for a site with accommodation where I could do a couple of evenings of observing and where the Milky Way can be seen.

Somewhere within reasonable driving distance of the West Midlands Midlands (so not the North of Scotland) would be perfect.

Thanks in advance.

[davefrance]

I guess South West France is a touch too far.

[cotterless45]

Middle of Peaks, probably nearest,

Nick.

[Dave_D]

what's cannock chase like now? may be a good place if it isn't as dodgy as it used to be.

[faulksy]

brecon would be great and loads of accommodation and only down the road

[astromartian]

I guess South West France is a touch too far.

A little out of the way but thank's for the idea, hehe.

[davefrance]

A little out of the way but thank's for the idea, hehe.

Well if your ever passing...................

[haitch]

Hi,

 I'm a member of Walsall Astro Society. We meet up near Ludlow in Spring and Autumn for a weekend camping and I've seen the Milky Way clearly there. Your welcome to come to the club in Rushall nr Walsall on a Thursday evening if you are near enough.  PM me if you want details.

[Mr Spock]

There are plenty of places to stay in the Hope valley, also a few around Edale. Nice dark skies for visual work in that area.

[laser_jock99]

After a lot of research and a few field visits I decided Mid Wales was the place to be. The Brecon Beacons NP is okay but suffers from having the big conurbations of South Wales on it's all important southern horizon. Light Pollution travels further than you might think- you need to be 80-100 miles away from a big town to avoid seeing the light dome.

Wales light pollution map (derived from Avex website) http://www.avex-asso.org/dossiers/pl/uk/index.html

The advantage of putting a good distance of empty mountain and moorland between the observer and the big towns is clear- Milky Way visible right down to the southern horizon.

EDIT- I see you were also seeking accommodation. A couple of our neighbours run B&B's- I can pm you the details if needed?

[proflight2000]

Great pic laser of the light pollution, now I know where all the light down my way is coming from, it's Bristol, time to campaign to have them turn their lights off I think.

[astromartian]

After a lot of research and a few field visits I decided Mid Wales was the place to be. The Brecon Beacons NP is okay but suffers from having the big conurbations of South Wales on it's all important southern horizon. Light Pollution travels further than you might think- you need to be 80-100 miles away from a big town to avoid seeing the light dome.

Wales light pollution map (derived from Avex website) http://www.avex-asso.org/dossiers/pl/uk/index.html

The advantage of putting a good distance of empty mountain and moorland between the observer and the big towns is clear- Milky Way visible right down to the southern horizon.

EDIT- I see you were also seeking accommodation. A couple of our neighbours run B&B's- I can pm you the details if needed?

That looks perfect. Please do PM me details of the b&bs. Are there observing sites near to these?

[astromartian]

Hi,

 I'm a member of Walsall Astro Society. We meet up near Ludlow in Spring and Autumn for a weekend camping and I've seen the Milky Way clearly there. Your welcome to come to the club in Rushall nr Walsall on a Thursday evening if you are near enough.  PM me if you want details.

Thank you. That's a lovely offer. I was looking for something a bit more remote than Walsall for this trip ;-) but may well show my face at your meetings some time. Sounds fun.

[astromartian]

Well if your ever passing...................

I'll let you know if I'm in the area (although if I do take a road trip I'll have to argue hard to take up most of the boot with telescope, hehe).

[astromartian]

what's cannock chase like now? may be a good place if it isn't as dodgy as it used to be.

Well lovely during the day but never ventured there at night... although I have heard stories.

I was looking for something a bit more remote, I think the light pollution from the surrounding areas would be still quite viable.

[davefrance]

I'll let you know if I'm in the area (although if I do take a road trip I'll have to argue hard to take up most of the boot with telescope, hehe).

Hate you to think you were missing out so here's a couple of pics taken last autumn.

[astromartian]

:-<

[davefrance]

:-<

Meant to say you DON'T need a telescope to photograph The Milky Way. Both mine taken with 18-55 Nikon kit lens set at 18mm equivalent to 27mm on 35mm film). Multiple 10 sec images stacked with DeepSkyStacker. More room for necessities in the boot now, beer, wine etc.........

[DaveS]

If you go to the Avex-Astro site and click on the CCD  / Astrophotography map it's even worse, and more stringent. It's the one I've been looking at when researching somewhere to retire to.

Ceredigion is looking good.

[laser_jock99]

If you go to the Avex-Astro site and click on the CCD  / Astrophotography map it's even worse, and more stringent. It's the one I've been looking at when researching somewhere to retire to.

Ceredigion is looking good.

Ceredigion or Powys- the county border runs through the middle of the 'oasis of darkness'! 

The  Avex 'CCD' map seems to be drawn from the same (partly flawed) data- a lot of the small villages show as sources of light pollution. I can verify that many of them have no street lights at all!

Link to the rather depressing Avex CCD map: http://www.avex-asso.org/dossiers/pl/uk/uk-ccd.html

[davefrance]

Ceredigion or Powys- the county border runs through the middle of the 'oasis of darkness'! 

The  Avex 'CCD' map seems to be drawn from the same (partly flawed) data- a lot of the small villages show as sources of light pollution. I can verify that many of them have no street lights at all!

Link to the rather depressing Avex CCD map: http://www.avex-asso.org/dossiers/pl/uk/uk-ccd.html

What a brilliant site, just downloaded Google Earth Astro and can zone in directly to my house. Yes!!!! Dark Blue cannot be bad. Thanks for the link

[DaveS]

I ran the Need-Less dark sky simulator over the region. The best I came up with was Bortle 2 with a LVM of 7.0, but that looked well away from any habitation.

[laser_jock99]

I ran the Need-Less dark sky simulator over the region. The best I came up with was Bortle 2 with a LVM of 7.0, but that looked well away from any habitation.

There is a simple equation People=Light Pollution. 

[DaveS]

Unfortunately that's true.

[astromartian]

Meant to say you DON'T need a telescope to photograph The Milky Way. Both mine taken with 18-55 Nikon kit lens set at 18mm equivalent to 27mm on 35mm film). Multiple 10 sec images stacked with DeepSkyStacker. More room for necessities in the boot now, beer, wine etc.........

Haha, yes, more space for the all-important stuff.