Jump to content

Banner.jpg.b89429c566825f6ab32bcafbada449c9.jpg

Dark sky sites West London


Athena

Recommended Posts

Hi all

I have been out with my new telescope tonight but found myself being disappointed because of the dreaded light pollution. To my west I have Heathrow airport about 1/2 mile away (line of sight) and to the east I have a pub which seems to think it's cool to have really powerful halogen lights directed into the sky...

The only plus is that I have no street lights nearby...

I mean, I could hardly see M13 and M57 tonight. If I really concentrated at the eyepiece and used low magnification then I could just, and only just make them out.

So, I have been wondering, does anybody know of any dark sky areas within striking distance of west London? Unfortunately I have a slightly paradoxical problem: I need a dark sky, but in order to find one, I need to be in a remote location. As a single woman that's a little unsafe... None of my friends share my enthusiasm for spending hours and hours looking through a telescope :)

What do I do?

Regards

A very depressed Nikki

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you haven't already done so, join your local society and join in their observing sessions. They will know all the best local dark(ish) sites, and you will have the company of fellow enthusiasts. Observing is always better with other people to share it with.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Nikki

I live in South Wet London and there are no really dark skies.

I belong to the local astro society www.rkas.org.uk and we are checking out a number of sites local to Richmond park to see if they are worth using.

If you are interested drop me a PM.

Cheers

Ian

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think you did pretty well to see M13 and M57 at all from west London. A nebula filter (OIII or UHC) would definitely improve the view of M57.

Light pollution has two aspects, the direct light you get from nearby sources, and the overall skyglow caused by light scattering off moisture (also dust etc.) high in the air. You really notice the latter when you get to a dark site well away from a large town and see the light dome over the town.

Skyglow is lessened if the air is very dry - but in UK that doesn't happen very often. And I would assume that polluted air scatters more light than cleaner air, though I don't know the extent of the difference.

Definitions of "dark sky" are subjective, but if it means dark enough to see the Milky Way then you aren't going to get that anywhere in the London area. There will certainly be areas with reduced light pollution from direct sources, but unless those areas are many miles across they're not going to have any less skyglow.

Still, from where you are you can see some DSOs - and planetary/lunar views can be just as good from a city as from anywhere else. You also have the advantage that at least in London you've still got some real night-time at this time of the year. In the more northern parts of UK, our "dark" skies don't get properly dark at all right now.

Personally I'd think twice about seeking any kind of "dark" site in the London area. It probably won't be dark enough to make astronomy any better, but it might be dark enough for the sort of terrestrial activities you're better off avoiding.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ian:

I have just sent you a PM.

----

Yes, on reflection I am "quite" lucky as I do live inside a National Trust park, which is thankfully devoid of local street lighting.

If I could just sort out that pub then 50% of my problems would vanish, they even leave their powerful lights on all night. There's also a golf club nearby too who frequently leave their pitch lights on, sometimes for as much as three or four days. :headbang:

I can see the local authority receiving a complaint from a certain individual who is _highly_ concerned about climate change. :)

Anyway, I have just bought myself a 0.5 focal reducer and a UHC filter which I hope will make things a little better. Am I right in thinking that the focal reducer will make my scope faster, albeit increasing the FOV? Hopefully it should also make it easier to get images onto my DMK CCD which at my current inept stage is near to impossible.

How far from the city does one need to be in order to escape skyglow?

Great help, thanks all.

Nikki

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How far from the city does one need to be in order to escape skyglow?

No simple answer. As you move away from a city, the visible light dome reaches lower into the sky. Question then is how low you need it to go: if you've got a good dark sky overhead then that may be all you need. Equally, if you go to a site where all the light pollution is to the north, then even if the light dome reaches near the zenith, it would still give you the south to look at. Also of course depends how big the city is. But for a reasonable size city I'd be wanting to get maybe ten miles away - assuming it would take me to rural or semi-rural land. Suburban sprawl complicates things, and necessitates going further.

It's always a trade-off between the effort of getting to a darker site, and how much more you see when you get there. I drive about twenty miles to a dark site because it's so much better than when I used to only go ten. I could go thirty or forty and see a little bit more - but I want to spend my time observing, not driving. Good enough is better than perfect.

In the meantime your UHC will certainly prove a good investment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

RKAS will be arranging some observing in a members back garden south of Surbiton. Further out you could try Ewell or Guildford AS who observe as a group out on the surrey downs.

For local dazzle, the only real answer is to use screens to shield yourself. Also try to use 'dew shields' to reduce stray light and an observing eyepatch and hood to keep your eye as dark adapted as you can!

Good to see I am not the only 'astro idiot' close to Heathrow! Keep on trying!

Cheers

PEterW

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Join a club; particularly the London clubs you will find people just like you who live in urban areas or apartments and rely on safety in numbers to meet-up somewhere semi-dark. WOLAS even do weekend trips away to somewhere rural.

At the moment I'm with Guildford AS; although they do lots of great outreach work and connecting with the public, unlike the London clubs most members at Guildford AS tend to live in better houses and many have their own private observatories at home. Their guest speakers are great but come with an assumption that you can 'go home afterwards and continue your observing/imaging there'; so they don't cater really for the urban astronomer or apartment dweller (but very nice people though). Yes they do arrange observing nights in the Surrey hills but they're often spoiled by teenagers in their noisy Vauxhall Novas with huge exhausts, flashing their lights at us for fun, and we've had visits from the police because idiots have called in to say there are suspicious things going on in the dark. They have an observatory in Holmbury St Mary but that's quite a long drive from West Londob.

If I were you I would definately join a London club, somewhere where more of the members in your situation (i.e. needing somewhere safe & semi-dark to use your scope), and don't mind driving there to do it.

Regards, Chris

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You need to 'arm' yourselves with suitable 'chav repulsifier' lighting tools! Seriously, it is a shame to hear that Albury has been affected in that way.

The problem is to find a safe and convenient location. A members back garden might be able to give you a more convenient 'half-way house' (pardon the pun). I have yet to find one, though I intend to follow up on the offer from the RKAS observing co-ordinator I mentioned.

All the best, do post if you find a good solution.

PEterW

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks everyone

Well, I'm starting to think a little more adventurous than that. Not wanting to dwell on this issue but I lost my partner back in February to a very rapid and pointless death. Now that I have "recovered" to a point where I can formulate decisions without them being driven by really powerful emotion, I am thinking about selling up in London and moving to South Wales.

I have lots of friends and my family in the North West and it would seem that there are lots of computer jobs around Cardiff. Cost of living cheaper, not as many people around, more friendly and of course a nice dark sky. In fact, living further north again seems very appealing :)

Nothing keeping me in this awful, unfriendly and light polluted city anymore.

Nikki

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Come up north. I am in Sandbach, Junction 17 of M6 and nice skies. Further enough away from Manchester and Stoke on Trent with nice skies. Not quite countryside, but close.

I personally hate London. Too big, busy, noisey and polluted and 'most' people couldn't care less for you.

Move north, much cheaper and friendly

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Nikki,

I suspect that you live at the place I visited on Sunday! If so then I thought it was lovely, and as nice a spot as there is in west London. I may end up having to move into that area myself, and to be honest I would really miss the lower (albeit still fairly bad) light pollution that we have in High Wycombe.

Regarding astro societies, the Wycombe Astro Society (WAS) is located near Amersham. I guess it would be maybe a 40 minute drive, so may be worth considering.

Regards

Baskii

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Come up north. I am in Sandbach, Junction 17 of M6 and nice skies. Further enough away from Manchester and Stoke on Trent with nice skies. Not quite countryside, but close.

I personally hate London. Too big, busy, noisey and polluted and 'most' people couldn't care less for you.

Move north, much cheaper and friendly

Wow, Sandbach :) Now I am forced to use an awful cliché:

"It's a small world, isn't it?"

I was born in Nantwich and lived in Northwich until I was about 20. I don't actually remember the sky being that dark but perhaps it was, especially if compared to London.

I dream of taking *very* early retirement and living under a inky black sky somewhere in North Wales. Great for my rock climbing, fell walking and of course Astronomy.

Nikki

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Nikki,

I suspect that you live at the place I visited on Sunday! If so then I thought it was lovely, and as nice a spot as there is in west London. I may end up having to move into that area myself, and to be honest I would really miss the lower (albeit still fairly bad) light pollution that we have in High Wycombe.

Regarding astro societies, the Wycombe Astro Society (WAS) is located near Amersham. I guess it would be maybe a 40 minute drive, so may be worth considering.

Regards

Baskii

Hi Baskii

Yes, I suspect that you do and yes it's lovely but VERY expensive. Council tax alone costs over £2500 a year. :) :):mad::headbang::mad::) And I'm lucky if I get my rubbish collected! ;)

oh well, time for change!

Nikki

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I live near Epsom, the Epsom Downs are nice but you still have London glowing malevolently in front of you, I've also tried Box Hill, which is nice enough except that the most open point I've found (damn trees!) faces Gatwick and Woking, so the lighting isn't really dark, but better than most.

Then again, most of my observing is done on the roof of my house in the middle of suburbia so I tend to be stuck to planetary observations and the nicer bright stars.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

there are a few pockets about which are better if you head out of town a bit either north west or south west, directly west you just get Reading!... Guildford AC have an obs at Holmbury Saint Mary, South downs where they get visual limiting magnitudes averaging 5.5 - 5.7

Ian

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 years later...
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 7 years later...

Bit late to this thread, but very interesting. Are there any astro clubs in SW London? RKAS website doesn't seem to work. Not sure how often Ewell astro go out observing..guildford a bit far out but possibly an option.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rkas is defunct. Ewell go out when they can, also observe from nonsuch school. Guildford are also quite active, check their webpages for info. Also there is Walton AS as well who meet in Esher. http://www.waltonastrogroup.co.uk/

The skies out in north surrey aren’t amazing, but a definite step up from urban London. The South Downs can really quite dark.

Peter

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not necessarily a great solution since it’s going east not west... but the Flamsteed society attached to the Greenwich Observatory has monthly evenings on Blackheath which is surprisingly good for London. They will have the info on their website, though I suspect with shorter nights they won’t be doing them over the summer. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, London_David said:

Not necessarily a great solution since it’s going east not west... but the Flamsteed society attached to the Greenwich Observatory has monthly evenings on Blackheath which is surprisingly good for London. They will have the info on their website, though I suspect with shorter nights they won’t be doing them over the summer. 

Sounds worth a visit!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 03/06/2019 at 19:29, PeterW said:

Rkas is defunct. Ewell go out when they can, also observe from nonsuch school. Guildford are also quite active, check their webpages for info. Also there is Walton AS as well who meet in Esher. http://www.waltonastrogroup.co.uk/

The skies out in north surrey aren’t amazing, but a definite step up from urban London. The South Downs can really quite dark.

Peter

 

Thanks, Esher sounds good.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.