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A Shot in the Arm .... (visit to Salisbury SP site)

Tim

By Tim
in The Astro Lounge

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Tim

Tim

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Last sunday at 13:00, we had a moment of madness and decided to go away for a couple of days. At 14:30 we were off, caravan in tow, headed off to the site that has been booked for the Salisbury star party next month.

The weather looked good, and the night clear, but I decided not to take any astro gear, apart from a couple of cameras and binoculars. Really just wanted to check out the site for suitability for my family and dogs, and to see how dark the skies are from there.

The site itself is easy to get to, taking me 3 hours from Coventry, with a caravan in tow, at 60mph most of the way, a car would be quicker. The main field is at around 100m above sea level, and there was a gusty breeze that would affect most of the site, so I'll be taking an extra windbreak in August. The field itself is simple, mostly level or gently sloping, and the church, which dominates the scene, is helpfully positioned East to West as normal, making it easy to get your bearings. Depending on the pitch, there are good low horizons in all directions, although there are some trees and tall hedges around the perimeter of the site.

It wasn't cheap to stay there, costing more than the Caravan club, however the hygeine facilites are second to none. There is a brand new toilet building, with great disabled and baby changing facilities, and free showers. Clean and well maintained. From a caravanners point of view the waste disposal and elsan point was a bit of a hike, and there are few hardstandings, but everything else is fine.

In Sixpenny Handley itself you'll find a pub, a grocer, a butcher, and that's about it. At the back of the local infant school, and directly adjoining the campsite, there is a nice playground for children aged 6-14, but that didn't stop me having a go or two on the zip wire :)

Kids, take your skateboards, there is a bit just for them!

You get the feeling that the kids are of a different class. Where I live this playground would've been destroyed by vandals, and the rest covered in grafiti. There was some grafiti, it said "Poo! heheheheheh" which made me smile.

Just up the road on the way to Shaftesbury, where there is a Tesco, Indian take away, chip shop, about 10 miles from the site, there is an awesome stretch of road, with four or five REALLY tight hairpin bends, I thoroughly enjoyed negotiating those a few times :D (not with the caravan on though!)

But what were the skies like? That's the all important question. Here is where the shot in the arm comes in. I haven't seen the Milky Way since last September at Kelling. It's pretty much invisible in the Midlands. Stepping out of the caravan, there it was in all its glory, and for the first time in my life I could see it from horizon to horizon. From below Antares in the South, and right over to and through Cassiopeia in the North.

Man that was good! I didn't even get the binos out, just stood there drinking in the view. The dust lanes and Cygnus rift stood out very well, and the double cluster and Andromeda galaxies were also naked eye visible, even though they were pretty low at 12am.

Light pollution wise, it goes like this. The South is best, although there is a heavy glow from the SSE, which would probably encroach on any shots taken to the south. WSW there is a limited whiter glow, maybe a local village, less likely to impact on subs. To the N, there was an overall diffuse glow from the horizon, which would give quite a gradient to long exposure subs. All things considered, i'll be using a CLS filter when we return in August.

However I may very well remove it to get some of those Southern targets which are impossible from home. I know tht many others lack a decent S horizon, so I think there will be plenty of imaging being done in that direction.

I am very keen to get at least something of the triffid nebula, and this should be possible, see pics below. Jupiter should be a breeze by August too. Let's just hope the skies are clear.

Darren, there are a few lights that will need dealing with, including one that comes on when anybody approaches the toilet block, and a couple around the site. But they are dead easy to red out using lane marker tape from Maplins, and red cellophane.

We even get an update on the time, as the church clock rings out the hour all through the night :evil4:

For the pics below I just plonked the camera on its case and took remote 30 secs exposures to get a feel for the sky. You can see from the stars how low the southern horizon is. The chuch tower reveals the orientation in conjunction with the Milky way. Pics taken before midnight.

The Cassiopeia one is stacked, but thats pretty much how it appeared to the naked eye, maybe Andromeda not so bright :p

Cheers

TJ

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ashenlight

ashenlight

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Brilliant report Tim, I actually feel quite moved at the mere thought of the views you had whilst there! It sounds amazing, might have to go down there myself one day soon - particularly as you say the hygiene facilities are good - very important to a 'lady' new to camping :evil4:

In the last image, the fuzzy patch near the horizon, bang in the middle... is that M31? :):D:p

Really pleased it was a worthwhile trip for you :evil: I have caravan envy.... :)

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James

James

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I remember the first Salisbury star party in Coombe Bisset (much closer to Salisbury). Whilst Southampton looked like a perpetual nuclear explosion to the SE the skies were surprisingly good considering we were only 4 miles from Salisbury. I'm expecting Sixpenny Handley to be darker...

James

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Tim

Tim

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Yep, the nuke is visible in the top pic, although that pic was taken before it got really dark. The few clouds over Southampton were permanently lit from below.

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Tim

Tim

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Yes Mick, I think thurs to Sunday, might be wrong, the devil's in the detail :)

As long as the forecast isnt for torential rain at least, it'd be a bit bleak up there in that case.

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drummerp

drummerp

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Great report TJ nice to see you'll be coming along to the star party as the last time we met you were unsure. The Flextube is going strong and you can check it out at the party next month.

cheers mate

Neil

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Tim

Tim

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Ahh, good, wouldn't mind a look through the big ol' chap, just for old times sake :)

From what I know now, I dont think I ever used it when it was properly collimated!

See you there Neil.

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Mel

Mel

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Thanks for this TJ, it's envouraging to say the least.

I will also bring som e red cello, it's great for making a visor for the lappy, as Richie will agree!

See you in a few weeks.

Iain

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