The Milky Way - I am complete beginner so I apologise in advance

[zdm31]

Hi, I am very new to this. I wondered if you can see the Milky Way from Oxfordshire on a clear night. I've read the best time to see it is when there is no moon. The new moon here is on June 27th so I wondered if it might be possible, if I found a dark sky spot. Any tips and advice would be welcomed. Thank you

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

If you are in a rural setting, you should be able to see the milky way. Later in the year (August, September) is generally better, because the northern part of the Milky Way is in full view, and the nights are darker. The area around Cygnus is well worth a look from a dark site in July

[zdm31]

Thank you. I just wanted to check if I had made sense of what I'd read

[ronin]

You can see it fairly easily, but the sky needs to be dark, you will likely have to wait a couple of months for a decent dark sky.

Best is if you are afraid to take a step in case the ground is not there, if you can see your foot at the end of your leg it isn't dark enough     - honestly that dark.

Then it is spectacular.

One slightly strange aspect is that if it is that dark you will not be able to pick out a lot of the constellations. They get lost in the milky way - Casseiopia, Taurus, Cygnus and others all disappear. Little disconcerting.

[WaveSoarer]

I live in the Vale of White Horse on The Rideway side of the Berkshire border. I was out with my telescope last night and the Milky Way was just visible. The sky wasn't very transparent but it was still discernable. You do need a dark site to get the most from it though. Mrs WaveSoarer and I were on St Agnes in the Isles of Scilly last week and the sky there is very darj indeed so the Milky Way really shone out. As the nights start to draw in then we should get better views and, as Michael has pointed out, Cygnus is a good place to have a look. There is a dark cleft in the Milky Way here, which is caused by dust, and you should get a bit of conrast between the glow of the Milky Way and this line of dust. If you have binoculars then view the region of Cygnus through them too. You wont see the broad details of the Milky Way with binoculars but you should see a huge number of stars peppering the field of view. If you then view somewhere well away from the Milky Way, say around Polaris, then the contrast in the sheer number of stars in Cygnus is quite startling.

[RichM63]

LOL Ronin. Have walked into the car more than once in Winter doh.

Milky Way up and running over here.

[Siriusmeg]

Hi, I am very new to this. I wondered if you can see the Milky Way from Oxfordshire on a clear night. I've read the best time to see it is when there is no moon. The new moon here is on June 27th so I wondered if it might be possible, if I found a dark sky spot. Any tips and advice would be welcomed. Thank you

Certainly is visible - but as others have said, it's best under a dark sky, and around the solstice it doesn't ever get really dark round here.  Give it a few weeks at least, then get out to a rural/dark spot.  Chipping Norton amateur astronomy group (CNAAG) observe from the Rollright Stones just north of Chippy, and it is easily visible from there.