Excited 😊

[CraigT82]

I'm currently on holiday on the Isles of Scilly and I brought 7x50 binos on the off chance of a clear night as I thought there would be dark skies, but didn't think it would be this dark... 

Forecast is excellent for tonight and I'm really excited to get out there shortly and do some binocular observing. Living in a city and only really ever paying attention to the moons and planets this is something special for me! Report to come later hopefully.

 

 

 

 

 

[Stu]

Nice one Craig! Hope you have a great night. Binos are often the best thing under a really dark sky.

[CraigT82]

14 minutes ago, Stu said:

Nice one Craig! Hope you have a great night. Binos are often the best thing under a really dark sky.

Thanks Stu, might try a little bit of smartphone AP too!

[Peter Drew]

24 minutes ago, CraigT82 said:

Thanks Stu, might try a little bit of smartphone AP too!

It would be Scilly not to.     🙂

[markse68]

wow- Enjoy that sky Craig! I did think about trying to get over there with a scope but thinking about it some bins like yours and maybe some constellation bins would probably be more than enough with skies like that!

I bet it’s as hard to navigate that sky as it is from my bortle 8/9 where there’s very few stars 😂

Edited September 14, 2021 by markse68

[Pixies]

I've wondered about that location for a family break before.

Some parts are Bortle 1, aren't they?

[John]

Hope you are having some excellent sessions Craig 

I had similar conditions on a few nights recently on Dartmoor when I had 11x70 binoculars. Truly memorable !!!

[CraigT82]

Well what an evening that was. I started out with an observing plan but it went out of the window because I was struggling to identify constellations as there were so many stars. Im not sure it was quite as dark as CO makes out but certainly darker than anywhere I've been so far on the mainland. Even my wife came out to have a look and was stunned with the sheer number of stars visible.

Didn't have a star chart and didn't want to use my phone and ruin my dark adaption so I just spent a while scanning around with the bins and just looking up with the old mk1 eyeballs. Great fun! Wished I could have packed my H130p but just not enough room for it.

Before going back inside I fired off a 30s exposure using my phone propped up on the doorstep looking towards cygnus...

 

[Mark at Beaufort]

That looks incredible Craig. I agree that using binos can be as good as using a scope. 

[steppenwolf]

Wow, what I’d do to have skies like that! My non-astronomer son has just returned from a motorhome holiday just inland from St Ives in Cornwall and it seems he had a similar dark sky from the farm campsite that he was staying on and he was incredibly impressed with the view of the Milky Way - guess where I’m going next year!!

[tripleped]

Looks awesome!  Great  pic!

[CraigT82]

18 hours ago, Pixies said:

I've wondered about that location for a family break before.

Some parts are Bortle 1, aren't they?

Fantastic for families, we are here with our almost 2 year old and he is as happy as we've ever seen him.

I'm sure there are some bits that will be bortle 1, there is one island with only 3 inhabitants so that would be a great place for astro! 

[Pixies]

3 minutes ago, CraigT82 said:

Fantastic for families, we are here with our almost 2 year old and he is as happy as we've ever seen him.

I'm sure there are some bits that will be bortle 1, there is one island with only 3 inhabitants so that would be a great place for astro! 

My kids are 14 and 16. Is the a mobile signal?

[John]

7 minutes ago, Pixies said:

My kids are 14 and 16. Is the a mobile signal?

That was the (slight) drawback where I was in Dartmoor last week. Very dark skies but no mobile signal without climbing a nearby hill (at least there was a pub at the top !) and no WiFi. Somehow we managed though

[CraigT82]

7 minutes ago, Pixies said:

My kids are 14 and 16. Is the a mobile signal?

Haha! Yes good signal everywhere pretty much, apart from the far corners of the islands. If they like beaches and kayaking/snorkling/paddle boarding and that sort of stuff they will love it. 

[Pete Presland]

Sounds fantastic, thats what you call dark!

[Alan White]

Somewhere we have always wanted to visit, but never made it to so far.
Sounds great, the sky sounds most tempting.

[Luke]

Wow, that's impressive from the phone! I must admit, I don't like my skies too dark, in case I knock over the single malt.

[CraigT82]

26 minutes ago, Alan White said:

Somewhere we have always wanted to visit, but never made it to so far.
Sounds great, the sky sounds most tempting.

It isn't the easiest place to get to to be honest, for us a 3.5hr drive from Bristol to Penzance and then a 3 hour ferry, would have been quicker to fly to the Greek Islands! Of course there's helicopter and fixed wind flights daily but the luggage limits were stricter and we do not travel light 😂

[John]

27 minutes ago, CraigT82 said:

It isn't the easiest place to get to to be honest, for us a 3.5hr drive from Bristol to Penzance and then a 3 hour ferry, would have been quicker to fly to the Greek Islands!

We did it as a day trip once - from Looe !

The crossing can be quite "choppy" as I recall

[CraigT82]

24 minutes ago, John said:

We did it as a day trip once - from Looe !

The crossing can be quite "choppy" as I recall

Wow that is a pretty dedicated day trip! Our crossing out was quite choppy, not too bad for me though a good few people were filling the sick bags 🤢. Before coming out we did watch a few YT vids of the Scillonian in REALLY choppy seas and prayed we didn't have that kind of ride! 

[Astro Noodles]

Sailed across once and rode at anchor for a few days, Don't remember any dark skies, but I do remember a pub. I think it is called The Turk's Head. 🙂

[CraigT82]

18 minutes ago, Astro Noodles said:

Sailed across once and rode at anchor for a few days, Don't remember any dark skies, but I do remember a pub. I think it is called The Turk's Head. 🙂

I imagine the time you spent in the pub is the reason why you don't remember the night skies! 

[neil phillips]

On 15/09/2021 at 09:18, CraigT82 said:

Well what an evening that was. I started out with an observing plan but it went out of the window because I was struggling to identify constellations as there were so many stars. Im not sure it was quite as dark as CO makes out but certainly darker than anywhere I've been so far on the mainland. Even my wife came out to have a look and was stunned with the sheer number of stars visible.

Didn't have a star chart and didn't want to use my phone and ruin my dark adaption so I just spent a while scanning around with the bins and just looking up with the old mk1 eyeballs. Great fun! Wished I could have packed my H130p but just not enough room for it.

Before going back inside I fired off a 30s exposure using my phone propped up on the doorstep looking towards cygnus...

 

Know your feelings Craig. Only ever had light pollution in my life. But stayed at Maddogs wells In Wales many years ago. I know the feeling indeed coming out of the caravan to be confronted by the wall of stars so rich. I couldnt tell which direction i was facing. Congrats on getting this experiance. Enjoy the holiday. Have a great time. Sounds like so much fun. 

[powerlord]

On 15/09/2021 at 18:03, Pixies said:

My kids are 14 and 16. Is the a mobile signal?

I'm curious what to see what happens when they cold turkey..