Anyone moved house for astronomy?

[philhas]

Clear? sure. Warm??? It depends entirely where you are.

By the coast the sea keeps the temperature moderate, but inland we regualrly get down to -5° in the winter when the sky is clear and -12° is not unknown.

Between Alicante & La Manga so no problems on either front, Reasonable dark sky's within a short drive, compared to the North East it will be heaven!

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[johnd]

I just moved from a thin band of NE too S & SW views and as a direct result bought my first Scope (I had Bins I rarely used). It wasn't the reason why but it would definitely be a big factor if/when I move again. I think there is a direct correlation between LP and quality of health. Plus it will make my hobby so much more enjoyable!

[JB80]

Between Alicante & La Manga so no problems on either front, Reasonable dark sky's within a short drive, compared to the North East it will be heaven!

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Right now the nights are about 15°C around this area, come summer nearly every night will be 20° or more until around October/November.

Winter is a different story mind you.

The other good thing is you never really lose Astronomical darkness like you do further North.

[alan potts]

I didn't move as such but I had Astronomy in mind when I bought the house and land as I am about 200 yards from a 60w street lamp and have no one within 150yards of me and that is only one and he don't have outside flood-lights

Nice and dark with the nearest small town 6 miles away.

BTW it cost less than my watch did but I spent a few bob doing the rebuild.

Alan

[r3i]

When we moved a couple of years ago, a location good for astronomy was one of the criteria we used when selecting suitable propertties, though it wasn't prime reason for moving.

[Welrod50]

I haven't, but when I next do, it will only be to somewhere with a good southerly view.

[MattGoo]

After residing in a 2 bedroom top floor flat for 5 years, the move to a house is currently underway. Primary reason for moving is to start a family, but the house we've selected just happens to have a large garden and less LP

[Ant]

We were moving anyway and the area was decided by other factors (work and schools for the kids).

But the exact house was strongly influenced by things like Garden direction and surrounding houses, street lights etc, of course I pretended that other things were important just to keep Jane happy.... The LP is actually probably slightly worse than our last house, but the garden is surrounded to the south and west by bungalows, and to the East by houses behind some trees. So all together an improvement.

Cheers

Ant

[Scott]

I moved from the south coast of nsw to the midlands and if you think it had anything to do with astronomy, I've got a couple of eiffel towers for sale .

[ibraidwo]

Oddly, I recently moved about 3 miles as the crow flies in Surrey and the skies above my house are disticntly darker. I think it's purely due to the quantity and direction of the street and neighbours lights. I also have far less foliage and trees blocking my view...

...so no, didn't move for astronomy, but the viewing has greatly benefited as a result!

[Vanilla]

Within the next year, I plan to move to an area that's less polluted both visually and mentally.

[peter shah]

Seriously considering it....the weather here is depressing done virtually no imaging over the past season....it's nice and dark here just not enough usable clear nights.....either I'll move or I might try to find a place that will host my scope......I'm off to Tenerife in a few weeks I might have a look around and see what's out there.

[pete_l]

Seriously considering it....the weather here is depressing done virtually no imaging over the past season....it's nice and dark here just not enough usable clear nights.....either I'll move or I might try to find a place that will host my scope......I'm off to Tenerife in a few weeks I might have a look around and see what's out there.

The problem with Tenerife is that all the good sites at altitude are within the Teide national park - and building isn't allowed there.

I had a good long look at La Palma. It has a lot of locations towards the south of the island that seemed promising: low light pollution, good southerly aspects and wide horizons. However the thing that stopped me was accessibility. At the time there were no direct flights from the UK and (being an island) it was not that easy to move "stuff" over there.

[peter shah]

The problem with Tenerife is that all the good sites at altitude are within the Teide national park - and building isn't allowed there.

I had a good long look at La Palma. It has a lot of locations towards the south of the island that seemed promising: low light pollution, good southerly aspects and wide horizons. However the thing that stopped me was accessibility. At the time there were no direct flights from the UK and (being an island) it was not that easy to move "stuff" over there.

This is what I understand, Tenerife would be difficult, I think realistically I'm looking at Telescope Hosting rather than moving....perhaps Spain or Portugal, I've been looking for suitable locations with good internet.

[Beulah]

This is what I understand, Tenerife would be difficult, I think realistically I'm looking at Telescope Hosting rather than moving....perhaps Spain or Portugal, I've been looking for suitable locations with good internet.

Peter,

Do you have any resources/parents/family members who might fancy a holiday property in the areas you have named?

[peter shah]

Peter,

Do you have any resources/parents/family members who might fancy a holiday property in the areas you have named?

I wish I did....Im just looking at places based on climate and reasonable commutable distance....It just seems such a waste here at the moment,  I have an endless list of objects I want to capture and thousands worth of high end kit that is just sitting idle.....4months of no imaging with half finished projects....I seriously feel like selling the lot and taking up something else....but if I did I know how much I would miss it.....pure frustration I guess.

So the other alternative is to move the kit to a hosting site....but it will be costly.

[laser_jock99]

I think things might clear up toward the end of May (of course it will be too light for most DSO's by then).

We have been sitting under or close to the Jet Stream for months, this model shows it shifting away in late May.

We don't need the live rainfall radar to see that it's raining 'cats & dogs' Powys right now though.....

http://www.netweather.tv/index.cgi?action=radar;sess

[recceranger]

I'm in Army Quarters with the Mrs so pretty restricted as to where we end up every 2 years. I think due to the family connections we will end up in West/mid Wales when I retire which is 10 years time. That will be 34 years done with full army pension, house paid for and lots of free time.

The plan is lots of long RV Holidays in the Western US. Think Utah, Arizona and Nevada. Nice portable set up in the back, a star map and a nice bottle of bourbon. That's what I call retirement!

[JB80]

I wish I did....Im just looking at places based on climate and reasonable commutable distance....It just seems such a waste here at the moment,  I have an endless list of objects I want to capture and thousands worth of high end kit that is just sitting idle.....4months of no imaging with half finished projects....I seriously feel like selling the lot and taking up something else....but if I did I know how much I would miss it.....pure frustration I guess.

So the other alternative is to move the kit to a hosting site....but it will be costly.

Peter, now is the time to buy a property in Spain if you are ever considering it. Lots of commutable airports and lots of sky.

Prices will never better and many properties are selling at under %50 of their valuation so it's bargains galore at the moment. It can be a bit of a minefield though but now is the time to buy.

There is a mob that do hosting somewhere in Spain, maybe Andalucia but they were mentioned in Sky@Night or AN last year. A former astronaut is involved I think.

edit: It is itelescope.net. I thought it was someone else but they are based in Albacete. http://www.itelescope.net/spain-weather

[Macavity]

Moved from a flat to a maisonette to better accommodate two kittens. Moved from a maisonette to a house to better accommodate my Astronomy. A PART success both times! In both cases, somewhat blighted by new neighbours? ("Hell is other People") lol. For such things to be *really* effective, I guess a complete "Escape to the Country" is requisite. Sadly, I don't have the canonical (daytime TV) "half a million" in cash... Shame, really. 

[DaveS]

Yeah, EttC like to go for million quid houses in desirable (But not necessarily dark) locations. "Chocolate-box" villages etc. I'd like to pitch them a "Find somewhere for one bloke with £250k in cash in a dark-sky location". I doubt the numpties who produce the show have ever heard of (Let alone seen) a dark-sky location .

[DaveS]

Another thing to add is that if you want the darkest skies then any neighbours are a no-no. Which could be a problem if you're living alone (Like me). I've been looking at the Avex-Asso site together with Rightmove, and the darkest locations (In Wales) are all miles from nowhere at the ends of dirt tracks.

Do you want to risk being cut off by 6' of snow in winter? I don't think so, therefore may have to sacrifice ultimate darkness for sensible location, which is why Dorset is looking nice, even though it doesn't really cut it as a dark-sky location.

Bother!

[Caldwell14]

No, but would certainly be a major factor if I did, I would build myself a ob and fill it with the biggest dob I could lay my hands on, 20 inch plus.

[davies07]

I'm a bit late to this thread, but ...

Yes, we did consider astronomy when we moved following my retirement two years ago. Like Space Bat we moved away from a heavily polluted area (Stevenage in my case) and are now located six miles to the south west of  Cambridge in the green/light blue regions of light pollution. South facing garden now containing a dome observatory at the end; overlooking gazing fields; no street lights in view. I can see structure in the Milky way on the best nights and I no longer use a LPF for most imaging.The neighbours are great and come and look on fine nights, bringing their kids. One neighbour is a retired physics teacher and says the dome obsey is lovely and a statement of serious intent. We even went halves on the cost of of taking down one of her trees that was blocking my view to the north east. 

Downsides: Rubbish internet; we went from 20Mb/s via cable to 600k/s via BT's wet string; very poor mobile signal; and its a 15 min drive to buy anything other than milk. papers and a few veg. But it's great. The only issue is we get the same weather as everyone else.  

David 

[pete_l]

edit: It is itelescope.net. I thought it was someone else but they are based in Albacete. http://www.itelescope.net/spain-weather

Ooooh, only 100km north from my place.

I have Calar Alto visible 50km to the south, perched on it's mountain (I can see the domes) and La Sagra 40km to the north hidden behind a mountain. So this does seem to be the place where the professionals choose to plant their scopes.  Don't think they'll get much competition from me, tho'