Where in England is truly dark? Milky Way very visible

[skybadger]

While we are on the topic, does the six penny handly star party still exist in Wiltshire and what sort of skies do you get there ?

[geoflewis]

I moved to south Norfok 2.5 years ago for better skies than I experienced in suburban, light polluted skies on the Surrey/Hants border. I now live in a rural Bortle 4 location with no local street lights, that gives me 21.3SQM skies, with the Milky Way very prominent on clear moonless nights, however, with the UK weather those nights sadly remain pretty rare...

[Anthonyexmouth]

Im in East Devon , Bortle 4 apparently, but in my garden in town on a clear night the milky way is a bright swathe across the sky. in my opinion its only marginally better on dartmoor so rarely make the 40 min trip and stick to my backyard. 

[cletrac1922]

I am very bias been from Land Down Under

Have brilliant views of the Milky Way

So cluttered hard to pick out where want to view

In Indigenous Australia, dating back over 40,000 years, they look at the dark and not the light in the milky way

Hence the Emu in the sky

http://www.emudreaming.com/whatis.htm 

John

 

 

[John]

52 minutes ago, cletrac1922 said:

....So cluttered hard to pick out where want to viewIn Indigenous Australia, dating back over 40,000 years, they look at the dark and not the light in the milky way

Hence the Emu in the sky

http://www.emudreaming.com/whatis.htm 

John

 

 

Hope to find out next month - 1st trip down under

[cletrac1922]

31 minutes ago, John said:

Hope to find out next month - 1st trip down under

If you make it to the Goldcoast

Welcome to come along to one of our club meets

20th October club is hosting International Night of the Moon Goldcoast hinterland

In Victoria, mate of mine has an astronomy at Philip Island

Home of the fairy penguins

https://owlcation.com/stem/Fairy-Penguins

 

 

 

[Louis D]

4 hours ago, Beulah said:

if you are talking about England, the CPRE have stated that Herefordshire is the darkest county in England.

Maybe on average.  There's a couple of small areas adjacent to Wales of Bortle 3.  The vast majority is Bortle 4 at best.  Unless you need a visa to enter Wales, I'd probably just head west a bit further and pick up those Bortle 2 skies in the Cambrian Mountains.

[Alfian]

15 hours ago, paulo leeds said:

Thanks. Would you agree that the Milky Way is not truly visible in Yorkshire Dales areas like Malham and Swaledale?

It depends on what you mean by "truly" visible.So much depends on conditions. On one of those exceptional  nights here on top of the Pennines the Milky Way is easily visible as a myriad of stars (not  just a vague blur) and wonderful through binoculars, but in terms of resolution I couldn't say - so at Malham and Swaledale that I know quite well, it follows that with the undoubted darker skies there, it would be better still. I've had several trips to Galloway (not far from the dark sky park) over the past 12 months and on a clear night the Milky Way is an astounding sight and a bit of an education as to what a difference dark sky makes.

[Captain Scarlet]

16 hours ago, paulo leeds said:

I went to Malham in Yorkshire Dales other night and The Milky Way was apparent but not really detailed.

lightpollutionmap.info is a well-regarded map of Light Pollution around the world. To get an idea of how much light pollution you would expect to see as an observer, you need to select the "Atlas 2015" button in the menu. The other settings, VIIRS 2018 for instance, do not show what light pollution you see as an observer on the ground, they show what light sources you'd see looking down from, say the ISS.

For Malham it suggests it's SQM 21.4 & Bortle 4, so you should easily see the MW on a dark night from there.

When you say "the other night" how recently was that? If within the last 2 weeks the Moon has been up and that will certainly wash out the Milky Way.

Cheers, Magnus

[Moonshane]

Just outside Kirkby Lonsdale in a village called Whittington was the best I have seen in England. In Wales there are lots of places and also I imagine in Scotland and Ireland.

[ollypenrice]

16 hours ago, Stu said:

Errrr, no unfortunately. That’s a long exposure so I doubt you can see it that bright anywhere  

I’d love to be proved wrong by some who live in mag 21.8 and transparent skies!

I live under skies that reach SQM22 on occasion and the Milky Way never looks as it does in the photo so, sadly, so all I can do is prove you right! I see no colour in it, though it is bright and beautiful none the less, and the Great Rift is a glorious naked eye feature.

Olly

[Moonshane]

Agreed. It's all monochrome pretty much in space (outside the solar system) unless you are very lucky and even then it tales large aperture to see colour in most objects and large aperture = restricted field so not suitable for Milky Way. The single exceptions are Planetary Nebulae and double stars I guess.

[Stub Mandrel]

2 hours ago, ollypenrice said:

I live under skies that reach SQM22 on occasion and the Milky Way never looks as it does in the photo so, sadly, so all I can do is prove you right! I see no colour in it, though it is bright and beautiful none the less, and the Great Rift is a glorious naked eye feature.

Olly

The milk way is wonderful in North Wales and on Exmoor, but it will never look like the photos to the naked eye.

[DaveS]

Back in July I was on holiday in Litton Cheney in the Bride Valley Dorset, and although still off Astro Dark the Milky Way was clear and detailed with the Cygnus Rift well shown. Light Pollution map shows SQI 21.66, ie the dark end of Bortle 4. Go down the road a bit and you first of all pass the house I'm buying, then end up at West Bexington where the car park rates SQI 21.72, just into Bortle 3.

[rockystar]

Brecon Beckons are nice and dark.  Milky way easily visible from there

[scarp15]

3 hours ago, DaveS said:

 Light Pollution map shows SQI 21.66, ie the dark end of Bortle 4. Go down the road a bit and you first of all pass the house I'm buying, then end up at West Bexington where the car park rates SQI 21.72, just into Bortle 3.

That light pollution map is a vague guide but not an accurate account for localised dark sky quality. You do really need to take your own readings using a Unihedron SQM meter for a more clear reckoning of sky brightness in an area on a selective night.

[DaveS]

However it's still a good starting point, plus a boots on the ground eyeball judgment.

I'll be getting a SQM sometime soon.

[Spaced Out]

I'm lucky to live on the (mid) Northumberland coast at Embleton, the MW is very clear from our little garden on moonless nights.

There are few other places around here with lovely dark skies too. Some more local pics here.......

https://www.flickr.com/photos/132427272@N04/albums/72157655928764628

[dcweather]

I've only just joined but was inspired to by the night sky where I attended my daughter's wedding. It was the Rane Peninsular in Cornwall, near Tor Point, back in August. One night I was out about midnight and looked up and was gobsmacked. I thought there was a cloud of smoke filling the sky. I then looked through my bins, being a birder and it was jaw dropping. I'd completely forgotten what it was like, living in a metropolis. That's what has got me into this.

I would add that there is a difference between seeing and astrophotography as far as I can tell. With the modern sensors and  clever software I have seen some wonderful Milky Way wide field landscapes taken from light polluted Essex not 50 miles from London.

[paulo leeds]

On ‎03‎/‎10‎/‎2018 at 10:22, Alfian said:

It depends on what you mean by "truly" visible.So much depends on conditions. On one of those exceptional  nights here on top of the Pennines the Milky Way is easily visible as a myriad of stars (not  just a vague blur) and wonderful through binoculars, but in terms of resolution I couldn't say - so at Malham and Swaledale that I know quite well, it follows that with the undoubted darker skies there, it would be better still. I've had several trips to Galloway (not far from the dark sky park) over the past 12 months and on a clear night the Milky Way is an astounding sight and a bit of an education as to what a difference dark sky makes.

Thanks. So Galloway is noticeably clearer than Malham? (I was in Malham last sunday night before Moonrise)

 

 

[Alfian]

56 minutes ago, paulo leeds said:

Thanks. So Galloway is noticeably clearer than Malham? (I was in Malham last sunday night before Moonrise)

 

 

I couldn't say with any measurable certainty how good the skies are on a good night at Malham but the clearest skies I have ever seen have been in Galloway.

 

[AstroNowt]

I was on Mull, west coast of Scotland this summer. 

The best sky I have seen in the UK and fantastic views of the Milky Way.  I don’t know how often you get good nights for astronomy though. Seems to rain most of the time. ?