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Great UK locations with very low light pollution?

gobes

By gobes
in The Astro Lounge

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gobes

gobes

Posted
Posted

Hi all,

Can anybody recommend some good holiday locations in the UK which offer very low light pollution, and therefore great views of the night sky?

Really want to take my kids somewhere where they can see the Milky Way, and get a glimpse of the real night sky, but still within the UK. Best place I recall going was St Davids in Wales... but it wasn't a particularly child friendly holiday as it was all cliffs (no beaches and other stuff that kids can enjoy in the day).

Any tips much appreciated.

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PeterW

PeterW

Posted
Posted

Norfolk should be good, Chunks of Devon. Look at the Philips UK dark skies map, give you some inspiration... or shock at the distance you'll have to go. I have lived in London all my life, only really seem the milky way once.... got to make that number bigger!

All the best

PEterW

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Tim

Tim

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Why not try the sites where the star parties are held. Kelling heath in norfolk is pretty good, but its darker up north (northumberland) or mid wales.

Pretty much anywhere west of hereford is going to give you darker skies than you will be used to.

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laser_jock99

laser_jock99

Posted
Posted
Why not try the sites where the star parties are held. Kelling heath in norfolk is pretty good, but its darker up north (northumberland) or mid wales.

Pretty much anywhere west of hereford is going to give you darker skies than you will be used to.

Another vote for Mid Wales- the Cambrian Mountains have vast tracts of uninhabited moorland.

Look at this Google Earth Light Pollution overlay map for other possible dark sky sites:

ttp://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/ubbthreads.php?ubb=download&Number=129936&filename=269432-ArtificialNightSkyBrightnessforEurope.kmz

There is a more detailed 'village resolution' overlay. I'll see if I can find the link.

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Whippy

Whippy

Posted
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Anywhere away from large towns or cities would do for the Milky Way. I've been to the highlands of Scotland a few times over the years and the skies get about dark as they get up there.

Tony..

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dobserver

dobserver

Posted
Posted

We just came back from a fab week at AstroAdventures near Bude, in Devon.

Great location, pool (we went in Feb, so the kids had to break the ice on top!!) and swings etc for kids, and loads to do locally. Plus dark skies and the use of a 20"dob and imaging set up for the duration. Not badly priced either. I'd thoroughly recommend it.

AstroAdventures - Self Catering Astronomy Holiday in Devon UK

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Hypernova

Hypernova

Posted
Posted

Google earth has a built in LP map feature.

You'll find it in the left-hand side panel under--- Gallery/Nasa then just click "earth city lights"

Better than a lot of LP maps because you get a road map visible beneath it, useful for finding your way to a dark site. It's quite shocking about the amount of wasted light that appears.

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russ

russ

Posted
Posted

You don't have to go as far as you think to get a much better view. On the light pollution map that was posted my garden is firmly in the red zone (real mega bad) but bordering purple (ultra mega super massive bad). But a 20min drive to the New Forest (sounds good but the Forest is flanked by Southampton, Bournemouth and Fawley Oil refinery, not to mention two airports) and i can see the Milkyway in all its glory. Yes there is orange glow on certain horizons but otherwise the view is amazing. I'm sure most people can take a similar drive and find themselves under much better skies that have some sort of wow factor.

That said, truly dark skies are in another league of wow! Kelling was good, Sennen (tip of Cornwall) was better still and parts of Devon are seriously dark. Haven't ventured north but i can imagine the skies are breathtaking.

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skye at night

skye at night

Posted
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Where I live in the NW Highlands is about as dark a place as I have seen and gives incredible views of the milky way and makes a lot of objects easily naked eye visible...assuming the sky is cloudless...

I have visited some Northwest Pacific areas and Islands near Alaska that were an even match...

The problem here is that being close to the sea, affected by the jetstream etc...

the seeing can be ropey lot of the time...

PS..

I think the dark sky park thing is a goodish idea.... but a bit of a 'misleading' term as it implies that it is darker than places without that status..

I can assure you that this is not the case as pretty much 90 percent of the highlands is about as dark as it gets in the UK anyway...

Dark sky parks should be thought more as 'islands' of lower/low light pollution within an area with broader regional light pollution

Steve

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Jake Bullit

Jake Bullit

Posted
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Google earth has a built in LP map feature.

You'll find it in the left-hand side panel under--- Gallery/Nasa then just click "earth city lights"

Better than a lot of LP maps because you get a road map visible beneath it, useful for finding your way to a dark site. It's quite shocking about the amount of wasted light that appears.

Cool thanks.

I might have to move house though now.

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gary1968

gary1968

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Depends on the time of year your thinking of, but bear in mind that the further north you go the later it gets dark and night time gets shorter, might influence your decision. But if you do want the north then the Cairgorms in really nice and dark at this time of year.

Gary

Gary

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Iris

Iris

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I'm in Scotland near Oban in July .

In late Spring/Summer does it still get really dark ?

Only if you consider being able to read the newspaper without artificial light at midnight as being dark! :headbang:

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gary1968

gary1968

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Well, I am in a village 15 miles or so from Edinburgh and last night it was not dark enough to align the mount until well after 7, not imaging until after 8.

It 'might' get dark enough for visual in the wee small hours in Oban at that time of year, but never having been there a that time of year I cant say for sure.

Gary

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