Jump to content

Banner.jpg.b89429c566825f6ab32bcafbada449c9.jpg

Best locations to view the Milky Way in South West?


Recommended Posts

I’m planning a holiday to South West UK in June in the week of the new moon and thought if I’m going to the lovely light pollution free South West I should take the opportunity to try to see the Milky Way (not a possibility in my local area outside London!). I’m trying to choose between locations in Cornwall, Devon or Dorset but I have very little stargazing experience here. Recommendations for the best chances of seeing the Milky Way in all its glory would be highly appreciated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd have thought that the moors would give you the best possible opportunity.  I'm right on the edge of Exmoor in west Somerset and on a good night the Milky Way looks lovely from here (and M31 is just visible to the naked eye as well).  I'm sure there will be other good places, perhaps a little nearer what passes for "civilisation" that might be more convenient however.  It's really a question of balancing what else you might do against your astronomy desires in the event that the lovely summer weather in the south west turns out to be somewhat less clement than desirable :)

James

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quote

 

The 3 main moorlands, Bodmin moor, Dartmoor & Exmoor are all good dark sites. Here are another couple of links with more information

http://www.darkskydiscovery.org.uk/ highlights Bodmin moor & Exmoor

https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/getoutside/guides/top-5-dark-sky-locations-in-great-britain/  mentions Exmoor

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lists/stargazing-in-the-south-west has some additional sites in Cornwall

Link to comment
Share on other sites

31 minutes ago, Demonperformer said:

Here's a rough guide (The link opens at worldwide scale, just zoom in on SW England).

That pollution map really is quite depressing. We in the UK are in one of the worst possible countries for LP, you just can't get away from it (within reason) unless you live in the far North of Scotland :(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, parallaxerr said:

That pollution map really is quite depressing. We in the UK are in one of the worst possible countries for LP, you just can't get away from it (within reason) unless you live in the far North of Scotland :(

Out this way I think that map makes it look worse than it is, though certainly on a relatively small island with a fairly large population it's always going to be difficult to escape light pollution without a massive change in attitude for the average person in the street.

James

Link to comment
Share on other sites

26 minutes ago, Pete Presland said:

As soon as you leave even the smaller towns, the darkness of the sky becomes more apparent.

This is very true.  Even in Wellington, which is really quite a small town, the effect of light pollution on the sky seems horrendous compared with what I'm used to out here.

James

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The LIght Pollution Map is a good place to start. The map indicates  that the best areas in the whole of the southwest , and arguably the south of England, are in the Exmoor area and an area between Hartland Point in Devon (west of Biddeford), south towards Bude and then curving around in a loop, east of Bude to an area north and west of Launceton and the Bodmin dark sky area. 

For some years I have observed and imaged (not often enough) in the area between 6 miles north of Bude and Hartland point. Some of this area is Bortle class 2 according to that map. It's coastal so it can be clear but misty. But sometimes when clear it's magic, absolutely magic. Just before Christmas I succeeded for the first time in my life seeing M31 with unaided eye. 

Good luck with wherever you find. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, parallaxerr said:

That pollution map really is quite depressing. We in the UK are in one of the worst possible countries for LP, you just can't get away from it (within reason) unless you live in the far North of Scotland :(

......or Scots Borders & Mid Wales look okay.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I’d also add to your growing list the Lizard, especially the southern part away from the air station. Was there last summer at Kuggar and nice dark skies. You’re also in striking distance of Falmouth and St Ives for the days and some great coves for the beach.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Steve Bastable said:

I’d also add to your growing list the Lizard, especially the southern part away from the air station. Was there last summer at Kuggar and nice dark skies. You’re also in striking distance of Falmouth and St Ives for the days and some great coves for the beach.

Yes, that's a good area too and we've had many holidays in that area over the years. One place to stay that stands out in my memory is Wireless Cottage right at the tip the Lizard. It was where Marconi first received Morse wireless signals over the horizon. The transmitter was on the Isle of Wight. The National Trust have converted what is essentially a shed into a very comfortable small self-catering cottage. The views from the cottage which is adjacent to the coast path were spectacular. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi everyone, just want to say I live in a small town in north Devon. I got a 8inch dobsonian for my 40th birthday off my lovely wife. I had to hand my driving licence back in to the DVLA for health reasons so I can't get anywhere anymore. One day my wife said she would drive me out to exmoor to go and look at the stars as long as I found somewhere good. I look on the dark skies map, put the lactation into Google maps and we drove and drove for just over an hour. The light pollution was getting less and less as we were getting closer and closer to our location. I was getting more and more excited looking out the windows at the stars thinking this is going to be great. When we finally got to the location I kid you not it was so foggy we couldn't see 20 feet in front of us.  So we decided to drive back and find somewhere less foggy. We kept stopping every so often got out had a look and it was either to hilly around us or to many trees. We did stop in a layby near lynton and had a quick look and a hot chocolate but even there, too many trees to see anything really.We carried on and on until finally got about 4 miles away from where we live. My wife got out the car and could not believe the amount of stars we could see. I set the telescope up and we had an amazing time. Just thought I'd share that story as I don't usually post anything on this site. But now my wife and I find it quite funny.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yep. Local weather conditions can change over a short distance. Looking at the satellite images can help. But even then mist and cloud is often not visible to the infrared satellite images taken at night. That's because infrared images are sensitive to temperature. If there's little difference between the ground temperature and cloud then cloudy areas don't show up very well. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Craig2017 said:

Hi everyone, just want to say I live in a small town in north Devon. I got a 8inch dobsonian for my 40th birthday off my lovely wife. I had to hand my driving licence back in to the DVLA for health reasons so I can't get anywhere anymore. One day my wife said she would drive me out to exmoor to go and look at the stars as long as I found somewhere good. I look on the dark skies map, put the lactation into Google maps and we drove and drove for just over an hour. The light pollution was getting less and less as we were getting closer and closer to our location. I was getting more and more excited looking out the windows at the stars thinking this is going to be great. When we finally got to the location I kid you not it was so foggy we couldn't see 20 feet in front of us.  So we decided to drive back and find somewhere less foggy. We kept stopping every so often got out had a look and it was either to hilly around us or to many trees. We did stop in a layby near lynton and had a quick look and a hot chocolate but even there, too many trees to see anything really.We carried on and on until finally got about 4 miles away from where we live. My wife got out the car and could not believe the amount of stars we could see. I set the telescope up and we had an amazing time. Just thought I'd share that story as I don't usually post anything on this site. But now my wife and I find it quite funny.

 

What a wife. :)

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi,

On the subject of Light Pollution maps:

I live in Chippenham, which apparently has high LP, we get the lights around our housing estate turned off at midnight every night. Apparently most lights in the town centre are not turned off, so it doesn't have a major impact on sky brightness. However, when the lights go off, the number of stars visible more than doubles. Presumably that's because the localized glare from the nearby streetlights is gone.

Depending on the conditions and the time, some locations can have a dramatic change in LP!

John

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.