Milky Way

[Mark68]

Hi all,

I live in Brentwood in Essex and have a few clear nights at the moment, I was wondering if I could have some help in knowing where a good place to go would be to try and see the milky way.

Is this a good time if the year, is there a particular direction I need to look.

 

Thanks in advance.

Edited January 18, 2023 by Mark68

[happy-kat]

Hi, if you use a planetary app like stellarium and input your location you'll see where the MW is.

 

 

[pipnina]

3 hours ago, Mark68 said:

Hi all,

I live in Brentwood in Essex and have a few clear nights at the moment, I was wondering if I could have some help in knowing where a good place to go would be to try and see the milky way.

Is this a good time if the year, is there a particular direction I need to look.

 

Thanks in advance.

It's the wrong time of year right now, as the milky way core is more of a summer-autumn object.

I know that usually people refer to the core when they say "Milky Way", but of course everything our human eyes can see without assistance is the milky way (except for the megallanic clouds and andromeda) so really the core would be best specified as the outer milky way is also visible under suitable skies!

 

Based on your location however, visual observations of the milky way structure could be challenging. This is because the brightest part (the core) appears in the south, where you will be staring at london's light pollution!

The outer sections of the milky way structure are fainter, and so harder to detect. The outer milky way runs through Cassiopeia down just to the left of Orion. It's not easy to spot but if you can it's quite incredible!

In your case I would think you need to drive somewhere dark, but maybe someone more local to you will have better tips and experience to let you know how practical your aims are! I live in deepest darkest devon so the lack of life down here has made astronomical observations a bit easier. I have seen all parts of the milky way visible from the north only a short drive away from my host city. I appreciate I am raletively lucky in this way however.

 

Happy hunting! If you have a modern or higher end phone you might catch the core of the milky way in the summer via the long exposure camera mode? Even when I can't see it directly, the phone seems to be able to with a bit of teasing.