What a difference dark skies make

[WayBig]

Wow...I'm on holiday in a small village on the isle of wight - A few street lights, but nothing lile the urban glow of my usual location.

I've just spent almost an hour gazing up at the milky way with a small pair of bins, completely forgot that I had a scope set up by my side.

Yesterday I picked out a few globs, m81 and 82 and several open clusters and saw m57 as a ring all without averted vision

So instead of convincing the wife that I need a bigger scope, I've now got to convince her that we need to move!!

[Budding Star Gazer]

Wow...I'm on holiday in a small village on the isle of wight - A few street lights, but nothing lile the urban glow of my usual location.

I've just spent almost an hour gazing up at the milky way with a small pair of bins, completely forgot that I had a scope set up by my side.

Yesterday I picked out a few globs, m81 and 82 and several open clusters and saw m57 as a ring all without averted vision

So instead of convincing the wife that I need a bigger scope, I've now got to convince her that we need to move!!

i was staying in brushford on exmoore early july, very dark place indeed.

one evening after a hard day fishing me and a friend sat in the garden with the country house manager drinking a few local ales.

once the skies cleared in the late evening i could not believe my eyes you didn't even need bins, i sat there until about 3am laying on a deck chair just looking up.

the last time i remember seeing a sky like that i was sleeping on top of a land cruiser 6000km into the sahara tracking the atlas mountains between algeria, tunisia.

[WayBig]

I wasn't thinking of moving quite that far, but now you mention it.......

[Gadget]

I was there few weeks ago on holiday WayBig skies are fantastic

so good infact I drove all round the island looking for a place to buy some bins much to the disgust of the wife and kids

Kevin

[Damien]

Same for me last week on the Isle or Purbeck, On top of Old Harry!! amazing skies with the milky way stretching overhead. Can't beat dark skies especially for those fuzzies!

[pritc]

The in-laws live in Callington,Cornwall.

We visit and stop for a few days every 4 months or so.

I always take my bins or 130pm with me.

The skies are fantastic,compared to the light polluted Birmingham skies I am used too....

The milky way and faint fuzzies are truly breathtaking and I always get disappointed on our return to brum and look up

Wayne

[John]

Dark skies do make a huge difference on DSO's - trouble is maintaining the motivation to observe them once you are back home under "normal" skies

There was a great post on "Cloudynights" forum a while back - the question was something along the lines of "what can I spend $100 on to improve my views of deep sky objects ?". The first reply was "a tank full of gas (petrol) so you can get your scope to dark skies". There's a lot of truth in that !