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City observers, give yourself a pat on the back!

Stu

By Stu
in The Astro Lounge

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Highburymark

Highburymark

Posted
Posted

God knows what the population per square inch is here in Islington, London. But the first clear night for many weeks the other day proved that there are still a few deep sky targets to enjoy - M45, Hyades etc as well as the M42, M31. It's not that you can't do any deep sky observing in the city, it's just that there's not much choice or variety. But if you're passionate about it, then you set yourself up to enjoy other targets - the moon, sun, planets and double stars provides more than enough to keep me happy - though I can't deny that the prospect of a night's stargazing in a dark location with a large dob (something I've never experienced) would be fantastic.

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swamp thing

swamp thing

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I'm certainly going to pat myself on the back for making the effort to get away from the city to do my observing.

I don't moan about poor LP skies, I get out and move my scopes to somewhere dark. :)

I guess I view it the same way as I would as if I was into surfing.......You cant do that from London either. ;)

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faulksy

faulksy

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I'm certainly going to pat myself on the back for making the effort to get away from the city to do my observing.

I don't moan about poor LP skies, I get out and move my scopes to somewhere dark. :)

I guess I view it the same way as I would as if I was into surfing.......You cant do that from London either. ;)

Good points there Steve, and quite right. Just do it [emoji1]
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Dave Lloyd

Dave Lloyd

Posted
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God knows what the population per square inch is here in Islington, London. But the first clear night for many weeks the other day proved that there are still a few deep sky targets to enjoy - M45, Hyades etc as well as the M42, M31. It's not that you can't do any deep sky observing in the city, it's just that there's not much choice or variety. But if you're passionate about it, then you set yourself up to enjoy other targets - the moon, sun, planets and double stars provides more than enough to keep me happy - though I can't deny that the prospect of a night's stargazing in a dark location with a large dob (something I've never experienced) would be fantastic.

About 14500/km2 according to a census website.

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Darkstar_1

Darkstar_1

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Where I am situated we have 530/km2,  Light pollution is quite bad in town. Luckily a 15 min drive and I can be on open moorland, and a 45-60 min drive puts me in the heart of the Trough of Bowland a.o.n.b  which has been given dark sky status :grin:  So I don't have too much too moan about.

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digital_davem

digital_davem

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Where I am situated we have 530/km2,  Light pollution is quite bad in town. Luckily a 15 min drive and I can be on open moorland, and a 45-60 min drive puts me in the heart of the Trough of Bowland a.o.n.b  which has been given dark sky status :grin:  So I don't have too much too moan about.

Of course it doesn't matter whether you are in the West End or Kielder Forest if it's cloudy! 

Does anyone have any stats for how often it's clear?

Since I've had my scope (52 days) there have been about 3 nights when there was at least 5 minutes of clear skies (even just a little hole in the clouds).  For me to date, that represents a minimum 5mins per night clear sky percentage of c. 6% this autumn.

Anyone else keep records :p ??

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digital_davem

digital_davem

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Of course it doesn't matter whether you are in the West End or Kielder Forest if it's cloudy! 

Does anyone have any stats for how often it's clear?

Since I've had my scope (52 days) there have been about 3 nights when there was at least 5 minutes of clear skies (even just a little hole in the clouds).  For me to date, that represents a minimum 5mins per night clear sky percentage of c. 6% this autumn.

Anyone else keep records :p ??

Answering my own question, I googled this...

"On July 7, the clearest day of the year, the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 42% of the time, and overcast or mostly cloudy 26% of the time."

"On January 20, the cloudiest day of the year, the sky is overcast, mostly cloudy, or partly cloudy 61% of the time, and clear or mostly clear 9% of the time."

So, my 6% clear so far is a bit worse than average for this time of year!

It would seem that in London during the winter season, the best we can hope for is about 3 clear nights per month.  Not a great location for taking up stargazing...

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Highburymark

Highburymark

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Answering my own question, I googled this...

"On July 7, the clearest day of the year, the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 42% of the time, and overcast or mostly cloudy 26% of the time."

"On January 20, the cloudiest day of the year, the sky is overcast, mostly cloudy, or partly cloudy 61% of the time, and clear or mostly clear 9% of the time."

So, my 6% clear so far is a bit worse than average for this time of year!

It would seem that in London during the winter season, the best we can hope for is about 3 clear nights per month.  Not a great location for taking up stargazing...

But boy is it great when we do get a clear evening.

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