Your Astro Holiday Plans

[Paul73]

Have just returned from a week in the Lot Valley in Mid dark France. The sky was amazing (compared to ruralish Blighty)! I had a ball with my bins and enjoyed resurrecting a Mead 10" Newt which my host had dug out for our visit. And, I even managed a quick look through a 20" dome based newt at the local observatory (not a patch on Swampthing's Dob!).

We'll be heading back soon. My darling wife has a phobia about flying and a, more understandable, phobia of spending 12 hours in a car with three small children. So, for the next visit, she has volenteered to drive my 16" scope down whilst me and the three kids fly!!

Paul

 

[BGazing]

I just stumbled upon this when checking out some SQM readings on the LP map

http://www.turismoestelar.com/

[DHEB]

On 08/03/2016 at 10:02, Paul73 said:

Have just returned from a week in the Lot Valley in Mid dark France. The sky was amazing (compared to ruralish Blighty)! I had a ball with my bins and enjoyed resurrecting a Mead 10" Newt which my host had dug out for our visit. And, I even managed a quick look through a 20" dome based newt at the local observatory (not a patch on Swampthing's Dob!).

We'll be heading back soon. My darling wife has a phobia about flying and a, more understandable, phobia of spending 12 hours in a car with three small children. So, for the next visit, she has volenteered to drive my 16" scope down whilst me and the three kids fly!!

Paul

 

We should never forget the importance and value of having an understanding spouse

[Roy Challen]

Well, leading in from the post above, my Mrs has suggested we go away again after our Georgia trip next month. She has found some good deals and the choices are; Lanzarote, Costa Dorada, Albufeira, Rhodes, or Berlin.

As I'm a Cold War history nut, I straight away said Berlin, but then I looked at the dates (October to December, and then thought hmmm super dark skies in Lanzarote. 

Anyone been there in December? How was it? There's volcanoes there too....love volcanoes, whadya reckon?

[DRT]

4 hours ago, Roy Challen said:

Well, leading in from the post above, my Mrs has suggested we go away again after our Georgia trip next month. She has found some good deals and the choices are; Lanzarote, Costa Dorada, Albufeira, Rhodes, or Berlin.

As I'm a Cold War history nut, I straight away said Berlin, but then I looked at the dates (October to December, and then thought hmmm super dark skies in Lanzarote. 

Anyone been there in December? How was it? There's volcanoes there too....love volcanoes, whadya reckon?

I haven't been to Lanzarote, Roy, but my memory of a couple of winter trips to Tenerife make me think of wall to wall cloud

We might have been unlucky but it is worth checking out

 

[Roy Challen]

11 hours ago, DRT said:

I haven't been to Lanzarote, Roy, but my memory of a couple of winter trips to Tenerife make me think of wall to wall cloud

We might have been unlucky but it is worth checking out

 

Wall to wall cloud! I might as well stay here...only joking! I hope you were unlucky and that I will be lucky with the weather then.

 

[DaveS]

Just came back today from my week in Dorset, staying in one of the cottages here:

http://www.lightpollutionmap.info/#zoom=16&lat=6591657&lon=-289970&layers=0BTFFFF

Not the darkest site, even in not-very-dark Dorset, however...

Went down on the Sat, pretty good weather but the sky stayed cloudy that night. Sun was a lot better though. Morning at Maiden Castle, then an afternoon on the beach at Weymouth. The night didn't disappoint either, as it cleared around 9.30-10 o/c just as it was getting dark. When it did get dark it was worth the wait as the Milky Way was clear and bright, if not as powerful as in darker sites. there was, however plenty of structure which could be followed pretty much down to the south-west horizon where Sagittarius was very clear, as was Scorpius, lying on its side with Mars and Saturn nicely setting off Antares. Running the binoculars along the Milky Way was very rewarding with M20 and M8 very clear as was M16 higher up. The double-Cluster in Perseus was a clear naked-eye object.

Less said about Mon and Tue the better as the weather was dire both days, though I did get to Lyme-Regis on Tue. Wed was still cloudy in the evening but Thu was another cracker. After a longer return trip to Lyme-Regis (Including an expensive foray into the fossil shop), the night cleared completely, unlike sun when there was still a little cloud blowing through.

Again the Milky-Way was clear and well structured, down to the horizon, with plenty to see through bins. After waiting a bit for it to climb out of some haze, M31 was a naked eye object even at fairly low altitude. Again running the bins down through Aquila to Saggitarius was highly rewarding.

It was interesting to note the light-dome from Beaminster a good few miles to the ESE, and the bigger ones from Evershot just to the north, and Yeovil, further north but bigger, covering about 20 degrees of the north horizon. I couldn't see Dorchester and Weymouth directly as there were trees and buildings in the way, but I think they had some effect on the sky in that direction. Interestingly the sky wasn't completely dark, even at the zenith, but a *very* dark grey. It was also illuminating (Pun!) to notice how a single red-LED head torch could be very off-putting to any kind of dark adaption, something to note for SGL12.

So, all-in-all a happy trip.

[LukeSkywatcher]

Ive abandoned all and any hope of a holiday this year.Hopefully this time next year i'll be in a position to travel. I'm thinking of 3-4 weeks in Oz. Its a holiday ive wanted to do since i was a kid. Not sure how i'll do it.........either base myself in Sydney or Melbourne and do a coach tour.........or maybe a car rental.

I'd love to see the Southern delights.

 

[scarp15]

Just back from a trip to the Isle of Mull. I took with me my 16x70's and monopod. Only one evening suitable for observing and it was very necessary to cover up due to there not being a breeze. As we were situated in Tobermory, it became necessary to go on a 10 minute drive along the Calgary road to a suitable dark sky observing spot. Transparency not the best and the moon would rise after only an hours observing, but it was great to sweep around Cassiopeia and Cygnus after open clusters, asterisms and planetary nebula. 

Day time weather was fabulous and night time would be spectacular under the right conditions. The Isle of Mull, great for hill and coastal walking, boat trips, wildlife and potentially magnificent dark skies.

 

 

 

[m.tweedy]

Iain Starbque on Saturday 3rd September

[mcrowle]

Back on page 2 of this thread I mentioned my plan to check out the sky during an upcoming trip to Kandersteg in the Swiss Alps. I thought I'd post a follow-up, if that's ok.

Briefly, was it a success? Yes, largely! I found a spot above the village, just a 10/15-minute walk from my hotel. Here there was a little indirect light pollution from the valley below, but no direct artificial light at all. I got the feeling I was seeing purely by starlight, and the Milky Way looked gorgeous overhead and to the South (though unfortunately Sagittarius was behind a mountain).

On the downside there were only 2 clear nights during my visit, with occasional thin cloud patches during the first of those nights. Curiously, those clouds were not obvious to the eye as there was no artificial light to illuminate them from below (unlike at home in Cornwall).  The next clear night had better transparency, but only for about an hour before thick cloud closed in.

I did some imaging, and I'll post a couple that help illustrate the conditions (Cassiopeia and M31: 24mm, f/2, 25-sec, ISO 3200. Aquila and Scutum: 14mm, f/2.8, 30-sec, ISO 3200).

Best regards,

Mike Crowle

[Paz]

On 12/09/2016 at 23:36, mcrowle said:

Back on page 2 of this thread I mentioned my plan to check out the sky during an upcoming trip to Kandersteg in the Swiss Alps. I thought I'd post a follow-up, if that's ok.

Briefly, was it a success? Yes, largely! I found a spot above the village, just a 10/15-minute walk from my hotel. Here there was a little indirect light pollution from the valley below, but no direct artificial light at all. I got the feeling I was seeing purely by starlight, and the Milky Way looked gorgeous overhead and to the South (though unfortunately Sagittarius was behind a mountain).

On the downside there were only 2 clear nights during my visit, with occasional thin cloud patches during the first of those nights. Curiously, those clouds were not obvious to the eye as there was no artificial light to illuminate them from below (unlike at home in Cornwall).  The next clear night had better transparency, but only for about an hour before thick cloud closed in.

I did some imaging, and I'll post a couple that help illustrate the conditions (Cassiopeia and M31: 24mm, f/2, 25-sec, ISO 3200. Aquila and Scutum: 14mm, f/2.8, 30-sec, ISO 3200).

Best regards,

Mike Crowle

Nice pictures. What are the two bright splodges in the first one, half way down the right hand side of the mountain under Cassiopeia? Possibly the double cluster or something else in that vicinity?

[iPeace]

As promised, here in the Aegean armed with 15x50 bins and a pocket sky atlas.

Life is good.

[mcrowle]

7 minutes ago, Paz said:

Nice pictures. What are the two bright splodges in the first one, half way down the right hand side of the mountain under Cassiopeia? Possibly the double cluster or something else in that vicinity?

Thanks, Paz! Yes indeed, that is the Double Cluster in Perseus (NGC 884 and 869).

Best regards,

Mike Crowle

[neural]

On 01/07/2016 at 22:09, neural said:

This year it's Andalucia for us - we're splitting a week between Granada* where I'm not expecting much skywatching, and a little farm place just outside somewhere called Busquistar which is in the Sierra Nevada national park. High hopes! My trusty binocs and monopod will be taking up most of my luggage space as usual.

* (just typed Grandad there, not quite the same)

Came back today. Lovely part of the world but will refrain from gushing about scenery and will stick to hard astro facts for anyone contemplating a visit for nocturnal reasons:

1. Location: El Castañar Nazarí, about 5km past Trevélez in Sierra Nevada of Andalucía, N 36°58' W 3°16'.
2. Found a spot with minimal ground-level light interference. Prominent light pollution domes from Granada to the north-west and Motril to the south.
3. Atmosphere a bit dusty and hazy, thin cloud in at least some areas. Clouds illuminated near horizon, dark overhead.
4. Naked-eye limiting magnitude around 5.8-5.9 (judged by counting nine stars in Square of Pegasus, not including those just outside the square).
5. Detail in Milky Way visible from about 35 degrees above horizon.
6. M31 visible to naked eye with direct vision. M33 invisible though only 40 degrees max above horizon.

As such I make it a Bortle 4-5, on nights that seemed no better than average for the area.

Observing report will be posted in the appropriate place soon.  [Edit: report is here.]

[Peter Drew]

Holiday plans still on track, Kelling on Thursday followed by Tenerife on next Tuesday.   

[stanford__]

Luckily my girlfriend is french and her family live very close to the alps in a remote location with boarder-line perfect conditions.

I'm just ordering a new HEQ5 + SW 80ED as I type (as my first set-up) and am very much looking forward to spending 2 weeks there with the scopes next year!

 

Danny

[cotterless45]

Week two, Osdale Byre,Skye, come on darkness my old friend ! Old Nick.

[happy-kat]

That looks a perfect location. Can you see the sea?

[wookie1965]

That looks stunning Nick No wonder get great skies there wow some view.

[scarp15]

Yep that's the real deal Nick, stunning spot.

[BGazing]

two months of no clear skies here for me. than a new year's trip to andalucia, but the itinerary was so dense (and i made a mistake of not ensuring a day or two in the national parks) that i ended up not taking the little borg with me. of course, the sky was crystal clear for all 9 nights.

then a skiing trip to italy. packed the borg and figured out i might have a night or two without the clouds. on the way to italy we stopped to sleep in slovenia. never booked the place, but once i was on the parking lot...it was...so nice and transparent and clear. although i was tired, figured out that the grab and go is exactly for such occassions and started assembling it. my friend, who was travelling with his family, was super excited to take a peek through it and then...only then...did i realize that i have not packed the diagonal  and i could not reach focus without it...nor would it be comfortable. had to drown my sorrow with a lot of wine.

realizing i am now diagonal-less, i figured out that i might buy one on the way to the dolomites, bet my luck on http://www.otticasanmarco.it/ and managed to get a cheapo meade diagonal cannibalized off the c8 in the shop window. many thanks, guys!

once in the dolomites, i have grabbed one clear freezing night and went through those targets that 71mm can show decently. actually my first opportunity to check such a small aperture on the winter sky. sqm was around 20.6, so not great but not that bad. orion was good and using filter did not improve things. played with different eps and the dsv-m mount. have still a thing or two to learn on how to balance it properly.

[ollypenrice]

I guess I'll be staying at home for my astro holidays again this year! 

Olly

[BGazing]

10 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

I guess I'll be staying at home for my astro holidays again this year! 

Olly

I will definitively join you at some point, just not this spring. Already started some preparatory work on the missus...good hiking around would help.

[ollypenrice]

2 hours ago, BGazing said:

I will definitively join you at some point, just not this spring. Already started some preparatory work on the missus...good hiking around would help.

I'm a hiking lover, too. If I tell you it's great around here it will look like canvassing, so I'll tell you the truth! It's great between about Easter and late October when the trails on the local boulder-clay are hard. At this time they are rock hard. With a couple or three weeks of intermittent rain they turn into nightmares of clay gloop and it's over. Walking and mountain biking on the paths and trails just stops unless there is a dry fortnight or more. This does happen but an overview of this landscape says 'Half the year the hiking is great, half the year it ain't.'

Olly