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[ddefoe]

Hi all, 

I've been in Scotland the past couple of weeks so haven't been on much. 

However I found my previous issue was down to light pollution! It was  incredibly dark in Scotland where I was and after setup as normal I got it to slew to the ring nebula and there it was standing out like a sore thumb!!!  Had great fun after that with m57, crab nebula, albireo it was incredible. 

My issue now is, is there a way to combat the light pollution where I am? 

Just an update really

[Ger]

1 hour ago, ddefoe said:

Hi all, 

I've been in Scotland the past couple of weeks so haven't been on much. 

However I found my previous issue was down to light pollution! It was  incredibly dark in Scotland where I was and after setup as normal I got it to slew to the ring nebula and there it was standing out like a sore thumb!!!  Had great fun after that with m57, crab nebula, albireo it was incredible. 

My issue now is, is there a way to combat the light pollution where I am? 

Just an update really

I have just had a similar experience, I had my first dark sky visit last week and then last night went into the garden and what a difference... light pollution is a bigger problem then I thought, trying to solve the same problem as you 

[Beulah]

A bit gutting, eh?

Solutions may include:

Viewing easy and bright targets in your garden, such as double stars, open clusters, lunar and planetary.

Some people have planned holidays to dark sky destinations or plan to get out at least once a month to darker skies. It seems you can have far more valuable experiences this way, depending on your local climate (annual cloud cover, etc.)

There's a lot of resources online to find a dark sky location: http://www.darkskydiscovery.org.uk/dark-sky-discovery-sites/map.html

And a light pollution  map can help: https://avex-asso.org/dossiers/pl/europe-2016/google-map-fausse-couleur/index-uk.html

Others have made light pollution screens (made from dark, opaque material) attached to washing lines or custom made frames. It does block out local light pollution.

My solution is a bit of both. I've modified my 'herd' to include portable observing kit to take out on walks/short drives to remote places: recently acquired a handy Celestron C90; just need a mount and canabalising 'portablising' my 16" dob, if that's a word   . If observing from home, I set up light pollution screens.

If anyone has a solution to get rid of clouds, that would be the icing on the cake.  

 

[Stu]

Great suggestions from Sam. For me it is about making the best of what you have got, and the opportunities you can create.

My garden is not to bad for observing to the South and West, but is still only 19 with an SQM. Our local site (a village green) is a little darker but has car head lights and street lights which prevent good dark adaptation. We have recently found a site about an hour and 15 mins from Walton which measured Mag 21.3, plenty good enough for some decent observing. The main challenge is finding a time when everyone is free, and it is not cloudy. Not easy!

My best observing in any year generally comes when I go camping to Dorset or Devon. Good skies with no need to get up in the morning!

Try not to get disheartened at home, choose the brighter targets, doubles, planets, lunar and things like globs and planetary Neva. Save the faint stuff for those dark sky trips which you will hopefully be making.

[TareqPhoto]

I looked at sky and saw the universe like i never saw in my life before in Scotland, specifically on a hill in Sterling city, i was so scared of the darkness around me and only the castle in the view far with lights, but the sky was so full of objects with stars, so i understand how you feel, funny in that time back which is 2007 i wasn't into astronomy, but sounds that moment GOD gave it to me to prepare me after 10 years, and now i am here started astronomy this year under LP.

I live in a bad light pollution area too, and i will only do astrophotography as i don't want to waste nights doing observing for targets that are hard to see and i must buy more stuff to make that possible, so i just forget this idea and started astrophotography, and for that nothing can beat mono astro cooled with NB in light pollution area, darkness is the dream for all astronomers, but if that is not available then mono + NB filters is the way to go.

[rockystar]

And now you've had the good stuff you'll start planning on where to move to next

Try the ring neb again from your garden, now that you've seen it you may just find it now appears - it won't stands out like I  your dark sky unfortunately 

[JOC]

I found the ring nebula to be quite a find.  Elusive to begin with when I finally spotted it I wondered how I ever couldn't find it.  Then I moved away and later the same night back to it and again it took me time to land on it even with goto on the ball.  It certainly seems to be a target you need to get tour eye in for

[Galen Gilmore]

Yes I understand as well.

My first trip to a dark sky was fantastic. Before I even looked through my scope, I looked at the Orion Nebula through 12x50 binos. Instead of the normal fuzzy blob I see, I saw the "wings" of the nebula, even with binos. Then I looked through the scope, what a sight!!!

I came back home after that trip, the sky looked so bland. It was disappointing.

You could try a LP filter, or narrowband. But it all depends on the color of the LP.