Just back from hols...

[Llamanaut]

Just back from a weeks break in Fuerteventura in the Canaries and thought id let you know how i got on. I decided to take my 15x70 bins with me to get in some extra-curricular observing whilst out there. The Canaries are renowned for their fantastic observing and dark skies. First issue i had was my tripod i use for bins viewing was way over weight (its a heavy mannfroto, great stability but a real heavyweight) Try as i might i couldnt discard enough essentials to carry the tripod in my baggage. So first lesson learnt, dont fly budget if you want to observe; id left it too late to get a monopod.

First night there looked promising, if a little disconcerting... ursa major was upside down! But the moon looked amazingly clear from our apartment, it'd been hazy during the day but i was hoping it had cleared with the by now windy conditions. I decided to walk to a bit of wasteland where theyre building yet more apartments...

I was witness to probably the worst light pollution ive ever encountered. The whole sky was bleached a wishy washy light orange. To give you an idea how bad it was i identified orion low down (M42 was visible to naked eye and amazing in 15x70's) then found the twins... leo i could just make out but virgo was totally washed out as was the sky horizon to zenith pretty much right round to auriga. Didnt help that we had the airport 4 miles to our north!

The next 6 nights followed a dissapointingly similar pattern of hazy evenings, wind picking up, 8/8 cloud cover for rest of night followed by cloud till midday. Great for holiday, not so great for observing.

Id resigned myself to being a tourist for the rest of the holiday i still had a peek outside at various times of the night but my view was mainly cloud.

On our second to last night, i peeked out at around 4am and was met with a brilliantly clear night sky and no wind. I nipped out and enjoyed some lovely sights, although not quite sure what i was looking at as i hadnt packed my red torch so couldnt get my bearings. It didnt help that everything appeared upside down!

Id hatched a contingency plan of what to do should the cloud disapear. Id even found a suitable deep sky site about 30 mins inland. Fuerte has an amazing volcanic heritage so is a combination of flat plains and huge now extinct volcanos. The site id chosen was on a plain between two ridges giving lovely lp protection from the nearest towns.

I was like an excited schoolboy again all through the last day, it was lovely and clear and hot and windy. The evening came and the wind dropped, still clear... i think it was a planet that i saw first very low on the horizon but very bright just to the right of where id seen orion a few nights previously.

I left it till around 2230 (still clear) got into the hire-car and drove to the site id found (still clear and very very dark) Getting out of the car was like leaving an airlock and walking in space. No wind, no sounds and more importantly wall to wall stars!

I spent about 10 minutes just looking up before i remembered my bins were on the front seat! The view was spectacular! It really was like being up amongst the stars. As i had no tripod i had to use the car roof for support and found by holding the ends of the bins i could manage to lock my arms into quite a firm support. The view was just astounding and a few times i actually found i had held my breath, it was that awe inspiring.

I had about an hour and half there before my neck and shoulders refused to hold the weight of my 15 x 70's any longer. I saw a ball of fuzz around where the whirlpool galaxy should be so im hoping thats what i saw. The amount of stars was overwhelming just like looking at a huge beehive cluster but all over the sky!

Im embarrassed to admit i just couldnt get my bearings. Ursa Major was upside down at around 70 degrees with polaris quite low down so im guessing i was looking northish but i just couldnt make out what i was looking at to be honest. Saw a few more faint fuzzies as i panned around but everything looked just amazing...

Not sure if it was the fact i couldnt hold my bins anymore or the noise of rustling footsteps and heavy breathing just behind me (i so hope it was a goat) but i decided i just had to stop. Quite something to still be wearing a teeshirt and shorts after midnight! I reluctantly got in the car and drove away... The session more than made up for the rest of the weeks poor observing and im relaxed and tanned to boot. Bargain!

[david o]

Congrats!

You lucky devil.

Had nowt but cloud here for two weeks now.

[skybadger]

Glad to hear it

I was out there last August for a fortnight. What struck me was how a good third of the shoips were shut or shutting for good. As a result of hte economy I was told.

as another result of the economy, all hire car agencies had reduced their fleets so getting a hire car whilst there was nigh on impossible.

The weather for me was kinder but I couldn't get out of fuerta ventura town itself to make the best use of my 80mm refractor and camera on a tripod I'd convinced the wife was an easy carry.

The skies were clear most nights, with some haze but the haze clears late on mostly. Jupiter and the moon were high most nights, as too the core of the Milky way which made picking out the sights even from teh centre of town fairly easy.

I would like to go back with a hire car if I get my weather and not yours!

cheers

Mike

[CaptPaul]

your hol sounds great! its a great sight seeing a dark sky.

i was in tokyo a few weeks ago that was the worst light pollution ever! i took my girlfriend to a bar on the 45th floor of a hotel and all i could see in a 360 view was 2 stars and it was clear!

[richbyers]

sounds like a good time

lucky [removed word]!

rich