Western Brecon Beacons Dark Sky Sites

[John_D]

I've just joined the ranks of Seestar owners and am currently in the mandatory 2 week purgatory period where it's permanently cloudy at night. ( So far I've taken one picture of the sun ). However given that the Seestar is a lot more portable than lugging the TAL2 around I've been spending my time looking for some reasonably local dark sky sites ( not too far from Swansea ). I came across "10 places to go Stargazing in the Brecon Beacons" and on the western end I think that these two are definitely possible:

 #1 Usk Reservoir: good views all round from the dam wall
 #6 Pen Rhiw Ddu ( aka Herbert's Quarry ) : good views to the north, the south will suffer from light pollution from the Swansea / Neath area
 
Slightly further afield I've also looked at Llyn Brianne but I'm not sure that it offers much more than the Usk Reservoir to be honest, although I think that there are more possibilities for landscape astro photography. 

I was just wondering if anybody had tried these before or can suggest any alternatives?

[reddoss]

If you are in Swansea, then The Gower is quite good

 

[Gfamily]

Are you familiar with the GoStargazing co.uk site? It has a locations map that may also be useful

https://gostargazing.co.uk/location-map/

Locations in your area are shown on the map below

If you fancy making a weekend of it, it'll only be a short hop (90 odd minutes) for you to join us at the Autumn Astrocamp at Cwmdu (near Crickhowell, not Llandeilo) at the end of September.  

You won't be the only one with a Seestar there, so it may be useful for picking up tips. 

[John_D]

22 hours ago, Gfamily said:

Are you familiar with the GoStargazing co.uk site? It has a locations map that may also be useful

https://gostargazing.co.uk/location-map/

 

I hadn't seen that one, thank you. I'll bear the astrocamp in mind, thanks.

[John_D]

On 25/07/2024 at 11:04, reddoss said:

If you are in Swansea, then The Gower is quite good

 

Thanks, I'd thought of that but was concerned about the light pollution from Swansea. However I can certainly give it a go. There are a few trig points with excellent all round views so plonking the Seestar on top of one of those seems like a plan 😄

[fireballxl5]

I'd recommend Rhossili beach,  my time-lapse taken July last year. 

https://youtube.com/shorts/a-pStzCwJK0?feature=shared

[John_D]

3 hours ago, fireballxl5 said:

I'd recommend Rhossili beach,  my time-lapse taken July last year. 

https://youtube.com/shorts/a-pStzCwJK0?feature=shared

Very nice. Was that taken from the top end of Rhossili Bay?

[fireballxl5]

11 hours ago, John_D said:

Very nice. Was that taken from the top end of Rhossili Bay?

Thanks🙂

I was approx at the mid-point of the beach, where the path reaches the beach from Hill End car park. 

X marks the spot!