some general advice on choosing an observing site

[steviegall]

hi all, my name is steve

im fairly new here(1-2 weeks) and ive been reading up on astronomy for a while and been interested in buying a telescope for 4-5 years but i think im actually going to take the plunge

i figure im going to buy an 8" skywatcher dob as i think ill be able to navigate ok without a goto system, a few months ago before i went to sleep i noticed it was an especially clear night so i went out into the backyard(in a medium sized town id say) and i coudlnt make out anything at first but as my eyes adjusted the stars started coming out to play, i saw vega, cassiopeia, and with that i was able to find polaris and finally work out where the two stars that point to polaris are in the plough and ofc eventually ursa major

all with the help of a free phone app(whatever it takes right?)

since then ive been seriously considering buying  telescope and eventally settled on the sw 8" dob so thats taken care of at least

in that time ive been scouting possible locations within 10-15 mins drive where i could get some less polluted views of out glorious skies and i think ive found  good one , i would just set up in my backyard but there is a builders merchants like 200 m away and one of their flood lights is 25-50% shining in my backyard so that cuts out any viewing west, house and trees cut out south and east so that just leaves me north(40o+), high angle south and east views(55-60o+)

so here is where my first question comes in, can anyone translate this light pollution map into english for me,

http://www.lightpollutionmap.info/#zoom=14&lat=7326436.40522&lon=-816716.00423&layers=0BTFFFFTT

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@54.821406,-7.341531,3a,75y,217.47h,58.52t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1swRmQ6_7j501tbMZgin4oXQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

at that t junction is where im thinking of, its 10 miles from the largest source of light in the area, a city(no direct los), about 5 miles away form the nearest light source(my town) once again no direct los and behind a hill or two and about according to google maps you have good views north east and west and only the hill is blocking south and according to the light pollution map its just outside the lowest level so id assume that would be very good?  

for other considerations its got a large area off the road away from trees and not much concrete so it "shouldnt" radiate too much heat at night and iths only a 10 min drive on roads im familiar with

another question is i understand bodies of water could be a problem?

is that true, as my second best location within 15-20min drive would be next to a lake and im unsure how much a problem that could be, here it is, it gives better all round views but if water is a no no then so be it

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@54.831485,-7.30772,3a,75y,21h,84.71t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1shl8uqQYeuNnsl0Z4qH7F2g!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

ive chosen both these sites as they are familiar to me are not on public roads , i dont have to hike through 50m of bog to get to them carrying a telescope and i dont have to sit in a field off the road risking annoying a cow or something

ive recently bought turn left at orion to give me a better indea what and when i can see things and a planisphere to more familiarize myself with the night sky before i take the final plunge, the scope

[Charic]

A great choice with the 8" . If you see light, it see's you, so to avoid, you must finder darker sites.

I have local street lighting, but if I shield from the pollution, things are better.

Get to a dark site and you'll think you have a bigger, better scope.

Also, check out the BST Starguiders as a possible first upgrade, changing the supplied SW 10mm for an 8mm? There are better optics for more funds, but none that offer what these offer at their low price.

And welcome Steve to SGL, enjoy the journey ahead!

[NGC 1502]

Hi Steve, welcome to SGL.  LP maps can help, but its best to visit potential observing sites at night, because the area may have changed since the map was made, new estates, businesses etc can appear anywhere, as you have found.

Ideally what you need is somewhere not too far, as free of lighting as poss, safe and secure, not a 'lovers lane' at night, where few people are likely to go. For most of us, that's a tall order, and quite often compromises are necessary.

Sometimes, the best bet can be private land, with of course the owners permission.  This means that privacy is more likely, but of course you may have to pay for the privelige. One option is to join a local astronomy club if one is not far away, they may have a dark site, so your membership fee will give you access.

Please don't forget that lots of good astronomy is possible under light polluted skies.  The moon, planets, brighter deep sky objects and double stars are still very worthwhile from town. Of course, there's no doubt at all that the less LP the better.

An 8" Dob can provide years of fun, good call

Hope you find a good site, Ed.

[steviegall]

thanks to both for the help, 

the only local astronomy club is the northern ireland main one based like 80miles away

yeah my next decisions would be eyepieces as i understand that the ones supplied are usually pants

.....i thought choosing a scope gave me a lot of options

[JG777]

I use a couple of dark sites near to me with the nearest one being 10 minute drive and the other a 20 minute journey. Both out of town so to speak. The difference in the sky is not huge, the LP is still there but both sites unaffected by street or security lights and with pretty good all round vision. Parking is good and both are safe but the further one is nearer a river, maybe 250 metres from it and some nights when I have been there the mist has rolled over the adjacent field into the small car park and everything gets damp very quick. 

A dark site definitely helps as you attain night vision and this most certainly helps you see more. It sounds like you have done your research as moving astro gear to a dark site needs a bit of careful planning and thought. Familiarise yourself with a potential site in the day and the evening and check you have a phone signal out there as well. Practice set up and tear down in the dark as well, it really does help to be prepared.

One other thing, you will leave home on a clear night only to arrive at your destination, set up then realise clouds have moved in and ruined your evening. That's part of the reason to have a nearby dark site rather than one a long way away, and if there is a pub within a 5 minute drive from your site then you have a very acceptable plan B when clouds spoil things.

I would recommend a tick sheet of the gear and equipment you need to take with you, honestly I have been out a few times and forgotten vital things which have curtailed the whole evening. We all make mistakes!

The BST EPs are good performers and affordable, I have 4 of them in my set so can vouch for them. They get good press here and elsewhere. Good luck with your choices.

[steviegall]

ty kindly

[scarp15]

Agree with John's comments above, you have some potentially good locations lined up there including the Lake location. As they only require 15 -20 min to reach, no harm in heading to each and see how you get on. The 8" dob is of cause very quick and easy n' portable to take along, so if for some reason things did not quite go to plan, will be quick to make a departure. A small camping table will be useful, dim read torch, in time an adjustable observers chair. Getting completely away from any distant light dome will probably require driving much further distances, but those locations should provide a much better quality of sky than from home and hopefully you will be able to enjoy the milkyway. Though it is not for everyone, I go solo observing to, venturing when I can to dark sites and really enjoy this experience, even when on some occasions the weather forecast is incorrect and I have to give up and head back. 

[steviegall]

yeah next to the lake is looking more like the better choice, ive fished there for years so know it like the back of my hand, dont get me wrong i was at the first site on saturday for a while(in daylight) and the views are crazy there, you can see for 35miles+ from wnw clockwise through to east but one thing i didnt consider is that while it is a country road it is still a road and roads have traffic even at night, headlights = ruined night adjusted vision

at least with the lake i have the certainty that there is no through traffic

i have a low light multi coloured torch coming from amazon so provided how low the light actually is diy with some packing tape will be employed

[scarp15]

In terms of night vision, put some gaffa tape across the car boot light, those things are blinding. In conjunction with a dim red light torch, I take a magnifying glass to assist reading charts, partly a less than perfect eye sight thing I suppose and I do take a lens cloth to wipe off accumulating thin ice (which is useful under the same circumstances for the telrad to). Some nights can get quite breezy, so something else to take into account would be as to how sheltered the site is, though some breeze will help with cooling and prevent condensation building. One of my favourite sites is situated upon fairly exposed moorland, it is situated quite close to a road, but there is very little if any passing traffic, more likely to see roe deer. 

[skywatcher58gb]

Our society use two dark sites, one at Derwent reservoir and the other at Kielder reservoir. These can be a bit tricky as the humidity can cause quite a lot of dew on the scopes. However your 8" Dob I believe is the closed tube type and may not suffer too badly with dew. Reservoirs being remote usually afford good dark skies, I wish you luck on the weather on your observing sessions.

[tonylumley]

yeah next to the lake is looking more like the better choice, ive fished there for years so know it like the back of my hand, dont get me wrong i was at the first site on saturday for a while(in daylight) and the views are crazy there, you can see for 35miles+ from wnw clockwise through to east but one thing i didnt consider is that while it is a country road it is still a road and roads have traffic even at night, headlights = ruined night adjusted vision

at least with the lake i have the certainty that there is no through traffic

i have a low light multi coloured torch coming from amazon so provided how low the light actually is diy with some packing tape will be employed

just a thought, if all else fails, pack a rod as well and if clouds move in etc,  a bit of night fishing, problem solved, lol, Lum.

[steviegall]

well visited the two sites last night, first clear (non work)night since this thread started and the lake is out, 

its surprising how much you dont notice when you are there for a specific purpose, i never noticed how tall the trees were when i went there for fishing, its only when you want the site for a different purpose that you notice these things

so the little windfarm driveway off the road it is

i stepped out of the car, looked up and it hit me as clear as day it was streaking across the sky, the milky way

didnt have to wait for my eyes to adjust it was just there, AMAZING

its crazy how many stars you can see outside the glare of a towns lights,

i gave my eyes time to adjust before taking out the planisphere and seeing what i could see but when i did something struck me, the milkyway was running the wrong way, surely enough i didnt take into account the east west shift when holding it in the normal reading position

so searching through this literal sea of stars looking for something anything that was at least a small bit familiar(i at least knew where north was as i before i went out i checked with google maps to make sure what was was north from my expected observing spots at each of my prospective sites and i realised the answer lay in my observing from my backyard under the towns lights

since i could only see the brightest stars from my backyard i should search the sky by magnitude

shortly after i got ursa major, polaris, ursa minor, cassiopeia, all seen from my backyard, moving SW through the milkyway from cassiopeia led me to cephus, cygnus and aquila

decided to now head in the other direction along the milky way but here is where the planisphere failed me, or should i say i didnt take into account my latitude, looking for auriga near the horizon i couldnt find it, the uk planispheres are set for 51o and i live at 54o so i can see further/farther?........much more of the northerly sky than the planisphere would suggest, so thats another one down

got ambitious then, tried to go off the beaten track(MW) looking to see a smudge SE of cassiopeia, try as i might i just couldnt make it out, so only the one galaxy first time actively looking to the sky

a little too ambitious for my first night i think and it was around this time i realised i didnt have any thermal layer on my legs  as the rest of me was toasty warm so i called it a night

thanks for all the advice and maybe when next you look up there ill be doing the same

[Charic]

Glad you had a great time........The Planisphere itself needs to be set to UTC/GMT to be  accurate, remembering  that were 1 hour ahead at present  under  BST!

Also the Planisphere needs to be held aloft / over your head to be truly aligned ( not low in front of you, read like a book, as you discovered, ) and yes, the Milky Way is very bright, and moves just  like everything else up there.

On a good night it casts shadows at my location 57N,  A truly amazing sight as witnessed by a recent family visit to my location.

keep looking, the more you look, the more you'll see, especially under the right conditions.