Darksky Site Recommendations near Frankfurt

[ramxis]

Hi I am new to this, I live near frankfurt germany and have been trying to find Andromeda galaxy from my backyard and havent had any luck. I was wondering if someone knows any darksky sites near frankfurt / darmstadt that i can goto to observe andromeda and other deepsky objects. If any one have any software recommendations that will let me find such sites that would also be very helpful.

[cloudsweeper]

Hi ramxis.  You don't need a dark site to see the Andromeda Galaxy.  I saw it the other day with a small aperture, polluted skies, and a bright Moon.  Take a look at an online chart for hopping to it, or download Stellarium to locate it.  Use the lowest power eyepiece you have at first.  You will only see its "core", but it stands out as a fairly bright, fuzzy patch.

Have fun.  (Viel Spass!)

Doug.

[Annehouw]

Hi ramxis

 

Have a look here https://darksitefinder.com/maps/world.html#8/50.179/9.877

Even better here: https://www.lightpollutionmap.info/#zoom=7.80&lat=50.1755&lon=9.2515&layers=B0FFFFFTFFFFFFFFFF

Frankfurt is bad, but if you go to the east a bit, it gets a lot better. Have fun!

For your smartphone, there is also this: https://www.darkskymap.com/

Fun thing about an app is that you can turn on your gps and see how far you have to go from your current position. White is bad,  red is bad, yellow is better, shades of green are quite OK, blue is even better and dar, dark blue is fantastic (this colour s heme both for the website and the app)

Edited November 3, 2020 by Annehouw

[Nyctimene]

Hallo, und willkommen! I'm a German stargazer, living in the rural Odenwald region, approx. 65 km S of Frankfurt. Some great sites can be found in the Rhön region NE of Frankfurt, but also in the Odenwald, SE of Erbach/Michelstadt (Bullau; Breitenbuch). I don't know anything about the Taunus sites, but you may contact the people of the Volksternwarte Frankfurt (they run an observatory at the Kleiner Feldberg):

https://www.physikalischer-verein.de/sternwarte

S of Darmstadt are also observing sites; contact the people of the Volkssternwarte Darmstadt:

https://vsda.de/

If you have special questions, you can email to me.

Enjoy the journey!

Stephan

Edited November 3, 2020 by Nyctimene

[ramxis]

16 minutes ago, Nyctimene said:

Hallo, und willkommen! I'm a German stargazer, living in the rural Odenwald region, approx. 65 km S of Frankfurt. Some great sites can be found in the Rhön region NE of Frankfurt, but also in the Odenwald, SE of Erbach/Michelstadt (Bullau; Breitenbuch). I don't know anything about the Taunus sites, but you may contact the people of the Volksternwarte Frankfurt (they run an observatory at the Kleiner Feldberg):

https://www.physikalischer-verein.de/sternwarte

S of Darmstadt are also observing sites; contact the people of the Volkssternwarte Darmstadt:

https://vsda.de/

If you have special questions, you can email to me.

Enjoy the journey!

Stephan

Hi Stephan danke, I actually live in Darmstadt and have been to VSDA a few months back,  they told me about Odenwald,  I believe the exact quote was "just go south towards odenwald" 😛, but unfortunately due to corona they are closed for in person visits now,

I have a car and plan to bring my telescope to odenwald, Unfortunately I don't knw the region and have never been to odenwald region before, would be nice if you had some GPS coordinates for some good stargazing sites around odenwald ?

LG

Rameez

Edited November 3, 2020 by ramxis

[ramxis]

42 minutes ago, Annehouw said:

Hi ramxis

 

Have a look here https://darksitefinder.com/maps/world.html#8/50.179/9.877

Even better here: https://www.lightpollutionmap.info/#zoom=7.80&lat=50.1755&lon=9.2515&layers=B0FFFFFTFFFFFFFFFF

Frankfurt is bad, but if you go to the east a bit, it gets a lot better. Have fun!

For your smartphone, there is also this: https://www.darkskymap.com/

Fun thing about an app is that you can turn on your gps and see how far you have to go from your current position. White is bad,  red is bad, yellow is better, shades of green are quite OK, blue is even better and dar, dark blue is fantastic (this colour s heme both for the website and the app)

Thank you, I will give them a try this weekend

 

[Nyctimene]

48 minutes ago, ramxis said:

would be nice if you had some GPS coordinates for some good stargazing sites around odenwald ?

Hello, Rameez,

unfortunately, the lightpollutionmap server is not accessible at the moment. ASAP, I'll send you a map, and point out some good sites; have patience!

Stephan

[ramxis]

Danke, no hurry, I plan my reisen fur Friday oder samstag 😛

[Nyctimene]

Hello, Rameez,

lightpollutionmap is working again, and I've added a map of the Odenwald region SE of Darmstadt.

The dark sky site closest to you is the Neutscher Höhe, about 10 km SSE of Darmstadt (close to Nieder-/Ober- Modau; two wind power stations close by). You might also try the very interesting archeological site of the Roman "Haselburg", SW of Höchst and S  of Hummetroth, that will give you an excellent panoramic view.

If you want still darker skies (Bortle 4 or even 3), you may try the Mossautal region (my own location), or, at the Hessen-Bayern-Baden-Württemberg border triangle, the tiny village Hesseneck-Hesselbach, 530 m elevation (cosy accomodation and excellent restaurant in the "Grüner Baum" hotel - but not at the moment due to lockdown).

https://www.lightpollutionmap.info/#zoom=9.50&lat=49.7194&lon=9.1075&layers=B0TFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

Have a nice weekend; but the moon will be up still rather early, so don't lose time; clear skies!

Btw., what kind of scope will you use?

PS: link to the hotel added:https://www.gruenerbaum-hesselbach.de/wir.php

Stephan

Edited November 4, 2020 by Nyctimene
Link added

[ramxis]

On 04/11/2020 at 15:42, Nyctimene said:

Hello, Rameez,

lightpollutionmap is working again, and I've added a map of the Odenwald region SE of Darmstadt.

The dark sky site closest to you is the Neutscher Höhe, about 10 km SSE of Darmstadt (close to Nieder-/Ober- Modau; two wind power stations close by). You might also try the very interesting archeological site of the Roman "Haselburg", SW of Höchst and S  of Hummetroth, that will give you an excellent panoramic view.

If you want still darker skies (Bortle 4 or even 3), you may try the Mossautal region (my own location), or, at the Hessen-Bayern-Baden-Württemberg border triangle, the tiny village Hesseneck-Hesselbach, 530 m elevation (cosy accomodation and excellent restaurant in the "Grüner Baum" hotel - but not at the moment due to lockdown).

https://www.lightpollutionmap.info/#zoom=9.50&lat=49.7194&lon=9.1075&layers=B0TFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

Have a nice weekend; but the moon will be up still rather early, so don't lose time; clear skies!

Btw., what kind of scope will you use?

PS: link to the hotel added:https://www.gruenerbaum-hesselbach.de/wir.php

Stephan

Hallo Stephan,

Vielen Dank for the recommendations, I will surely be out tonight  . I have a Newtonian reflector 130 / 650  on an EQ-3 manual mount.  Its my first scope, I am planning to get a 10inch goto Dobsonian next around Christmas time. 

VG

Rameez

Edited November 6, 2020 by ramxis

[Nyctimene]

Hello, Rameez,

thank you for the reply. This evening, the summer triangle (Vega, Deneb, Altair) will still be high up, also parts of the summer Milky Way; so a lot of objects are waiting for you and the 130/650. As you are new to all this, it's best to "learn the ropes" of stargazing with a small-to-medium scope, as yours is, because it will give you a wide field of view, which makes finding the objects easier. It's easy to transport and to set up. I' d recommend to use  your scope for at least half a year before upgrading. Btw., a 10" is a beast, esp. the GoTo versions (weight); it's good to see (and use) one "in the flesh", before ordering. IMO, it's better to spend some money on decent eyepieces, a UHC filter, software (SkySafari Plus), decent maps (Pocket Sky Atlas; Interstellarum Deep Sky Atlas), decent winter clothing etc.

Clear skies, and enjoy the journey!

Stephan

PS: please, post an observing report on here!

Edited November 6, 2020 by Nyctimene

[ramxis]

Hey stephan

Thanks for the recommendation, the site worked out great, was finally able to find Andromeda :),

 

Rameez

[Nyctimene]

Hello, Rameez,

congratulations on finding M 31/Andromeda! You will often return to this splendid neighbour galaxy; it should be visible naked eye from your location. Btw., where did you observe? Neutscher Höhe or Haselburg? Did you manage to spot some other DSO's?

Stephan

[ramxis]

Hi Stephan,

I went to Neutscher Höhe the spot between the two windmills, unfortunately we didnt get to observe any other deep sky objects, It was too cold and we were a little underprepared for that, 

I will try again from my backyard now that I know approximately where it is. About your comments about checking out the dob for myself I do plan to do that first,

I actually have had the current teleskop for almost 3 years now, but since i was a student before and lived in a studentenwohnheim, I didnt have access to a car or a backyard to really take advantage of it, for the last 1 year I have gotten into this hobby more and more,

Rameez

Edited November 9, 2020 by ramxis

[Nyctimene]

Hello, Rameez,

thank you for your reply. The Neutscher Höhe (that I don't know from own experience) is a place often used by the observers of the Volkssternwarte. Maybe, you'll meet one of them there in the future.

An old rule of thumb for clothing: dress for one season colder - in summer, like you would dress in autumn or spring; in autumn, like in winter; and in winter, as you would dress in Northern Scandinavia e.g. Often, in May, I'm still wearing my ski overall and moon boots (- no one is going to see me in the dark). Look for fishermen's or hunter's gear; they have the same problems: sitting motionless for hours in the cold (and partially darkness)

Stephan

Edited November 9, 2020 by Nyctimene