Tell us your sky quality

[geoflewis]

22 minutes ago, kirkster501 said:

Regardless of Bortle class, give me some clear skies.  I'd happily swap a drop in Bortle and have more clear skies.

I also vote for more clear (and moonless) skies, but not sure if I want to give up my bortle class.....?. Here's a series recent of readings off my iPhone using the DSM app, which average at the lower end of Bortle 3, but with several readings in the Bortle 2 range. I usually take 4 readings one after the other pointing towards the zenith, but facing roughly E,S,W,N in sequence. The actual phone camera angle (90 deg being vertical) is shown, so somewhat less than the zenith and generally tilted slightly in the direction I'm facing.

[faulksy]

20.65 /class 4 from home ?

[MarsG76]

Currently clouds.... so 0 ?

 

[kirkster501]

What app are youy guys using on your phone to do this?

Wow Geof, you get a 2? In England????

[souls33k3r]

This is how i roll ?

 

Edited May 2, 2019 by souls33k3r

[scarp15]

I wonder how receptive a phone app is in comparison to a Unihedron SQM-L device in accurately assessing in measuring sky brightness?

[hadyn42]

Hello Guys

Just submitting my pennies worth. I live just on the outskirts of Douglas in the village of Onchan Isle of Man.

 

Regards,

Hadyn - Isle of Man

 

 

[geoflewis]

3 hours ago, kirkster501 said:

What app are youy guys using on your phone to do this?

Wow Geof, you get a 2? In England????

I use the Dark Sky Meter app for iPhone. It definitely is not as reliable as a dedicated SQM meter and is only capable of readings down to ~21.5 SQM, so I would take any readings better than that with a huge pinch of salt. When my sky is truly at its darkest, I sometimes get a warning ‘too dark for this device’. That said my readings broadly fit to on line estimates of sky quality where I have used it, so i think it’s a reasonable guide. I’ll accept Bortle 3 as likely correct, but as for Bortle 2, nah, that’s probably wishful thinking..... ? 

Cheers, Geof

[symmetal]

Here's mine.  If only the clouds would behave themselves. 

Alan

[Mr niall]

But that doesn't match my experience, M31 is, at best, suspected on an excellent night.

Edited May 2, 2019 by Mr niall

[Geoff Barnes]

It suddenly occurred to me that when the next Carrington Event happens (as it surely will one day, resulting in the end of all electrical power and the consequences that go with that), us astronomy nerds would finally all have Bortle 1 skies at last!!! 👍

 

[Stub Mandrel]

4 hours ago, Geoff Barnes said:

It suddenly occurred to me that when the next Carrington Event happens (as it surely will one day, resulting in the end of all electrical power and the consequences that go with that), us astronomy nerds would finally all have Bortle 1 skies at last!!! 👍

 

So keep your batteries charged :-)

[DirkSteele]

This is where I keep going in Namibia.  Does not get much better than that.

This is where I went on my Honeymoon.

This is where I am going on holiday this year.

Why do I go to these places??  Because of this!!!!  Welcome to central London....

Edited May 22, 2019 by DirkSteele
Wrong location in Namibia. Updated to correct coordinates.

[Paul73]

Namibia here we come!

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

SQM 18.77 mag./arc sec2

Brightness 3.36 mcd/m2

Artif. bright. 3190 μcd/m2

Ratio 18.6

Bortle class 7

Elevation 30 meters

Pants. The urban jungle 5.5 miles from Liverpool city centre. Around 50 metres from an urban A road lit up with new LED lamps and new LEDs in the cul de sac. Also, other web tools suggest the area is Bortle 8...

[F15Rules]

On 17/05/2019 at 09:32, Geoff Barnes said:

It suddenly occurred to me that when the next Carrington Event happens (as it surely will one day, resulting in the end of all electrical power and the consequences that go with that), us astronomy nerds would finally all have Bortle 1 skies at last!!! 👍

 

...and our imaging friends would have to turn to the "dark side" of visual only - literally!!😁

Dave

[Stub Mandrel]

I'm not entirely unconvinced that we might see a return to the 3-day week next winter

[miguel87]

This is me, very low down.

I'm not sure about this bortle scale and naked eye limiting magnitude.

The worst score, 9 I think, says limiting magnitude of 4, described as inner city.

I used to live in central birmingham and there is NO WAY I am seeing coma berenices naked eye from there.

So I think it could do with some tweeking.

I am listed at bortle 4 and should be able to see magnitude 6 or higher but to be honest, a clear view of all main stars in cancer can be a challenge, and these arent even mag 5.

Just my thoughts!

[Steve2012]

Hi everyone

I'm in bortle class 7

Steve

[geoflewis]

Hi @miguel87, well now we know exactly where you live - you need to be careful about posting those GPS coordinates 😉.

I agree with you though, but then what you can actually see is largely affected by the quality of your eyesight. What I could see when I was 10 years old is vastly different than what I can see in my mid 60s... I know the skies have deteriorated, but as I child I could count naked eye stars in the Pleiades in the high teens (I think either 17 was my record), now I just see the main 6 or 7, sometimes 8.

I have an an app on my phone called 'Loss of the Night Sky' (http://lossofthenight.blogspot.com/2015/01/brief-introduction-to-loss-of-night-app.html). It gets you to look at a series of stars of varying, but gradually diminishing brightness and calculates what your personal limiting magnitude is. I get a very different result than what Bortle suggests I can see. My skies are Bortle 4, bordering on Bortle 3 (typical SQM 21.2-21.4), but the best I can see in seemingly perfect conditions is something like mag 5.5, so not even close to the suggested NELM of 6.1-6.5.

[miguel87]

17 minutes ago, geoflewis said:

Hi @miguel87, well now we know exactly where you live - you need to be careful about posting those GPS coordinates 😉.

I agree with you though, but then what you can actually see is largely affected by the quality of your eyesight. What I could see when I was 10 years old is vastly different than what I can see in my mid 60s... I know the skies have deteriorated, but as I child I could count naked eye stars in the Pleiades in the high teens (I think either 17 was my record), now I just see the main 6 or 7, sometimes 8.

I have an an app on my phone called 'Loss of the Night Sky' (http://lossofthenight.blogspot.com/2015/01/brief-introduction-to-loss-of-night-app.html). It gets you to look at a series of stars of varying, but gradually diminishing brightness and calculates what your personal limiting magnitude is. I get a very different result than what Bortle suggests I can see. My skies are Bortle 4, bordering on Bortle 3 (typical SQM 21.2-21.4), but the best I can see in seemingly perfect conditions is something like mag 5.5, so not even close to the suggested NELM of 6.1-6.5.

I will have a look at that app.

I dont mind people knowing where I live, all my neighbours know, my postman knows, my amazon delivery man knows, my employer knows, my friends know.

I dont understand the risk of somebody knowing where I live?

I see alot of paranoia online ✌

[DaveS]

When you have kit worth a nice family car in your back garden, telling all and sundry where you live (On an open forum) may not be a good idea.

[geoflewis]

39 minutes ago, DaveS said:

When you have kit worth a nice family car in your back garden, telling all and sundry where you live (On an open forum) may not be a good idea.

That was what I was getting at......🤔

[Skipper Billy]

55 minutes ago, miguel87 said:

I dont mind people knowing where I live, all my neighbours know, my postman knows, my amazon delivery man knows, my employer knows, my friends know.

With respect they aren't the people who are likely to nick your rig.

I know from bitter experience that some thieves troll forums where people have high value kit with a view to nick them.  Many years ago I posted a photo of my new Harley on a Harley forum and the 'for sale' board for our house was in the photo. The culprit was caught and he admitted that he had called the estate agent - described the house and got the address - the estate agent very kindly informed him that viewings could only be done in the evening as we were both at work during the day - by the following evening I was sans Harley. I got it back and he got smacked legs but it taught me a lesson.

[tingting44]

yeah i wouldnt put my gps online, especially if you have kids and family, so many weirdos around

 

nice VW tho, im looking to get a campervan soon, or a T3 and do it up slowly over time

 

im in the city, terrible skies, i have to travel about 35 mins to get to my dark spot which is so nice, not sure on sky quality tho