Imaging the Milky-Way in Suffolk

[collangm]

Newbie Advice really. I'm just starting out with an interest in both astronomy (pending scope purchase) and astro-photography. I live in Suffolk which affords some beautiful unhindered skylines, but was wondering on suitable locations from which to take wide-field shots of our own Milky-Way. Is there any real prospects of capturing the types of images seem on the Internet or am I only likely to see this kind of thing if on a remote island somehwhere in the South Pacific?!! Are there any Anglians out there that have had a decent success with this type of imaging?

Any advice will be very welcome.

[laser_jock99]

For widefield, milkyway shots a dark sky site is fairly important since it's not easy to filter out light pollution over a wide area shot. I've never been down your way but looking at the light pollution UK map from the Avex website:

UK Light pollution Map

I'd suggest heading for the coast and imaging the Milky Way when it's rising in the South East

[collangm]

Thanks for the link. This is far superior to the previous LP map I'd been looking at.

Gary

[stan26]

Hi collangm,

I'm in suffolk and like you just starting out in astronomy in general, but I'm now well and truly heading down the astro-photography route.

I have tried a few milkyway shots from my nearest local dark location (out wetheringsett/thorndon way) but long exposures still pick up a bit of light pollution on the horizon. I guess this is from ipswich/needham/stowmarket. I haven't attempted much faceing east yet, but what I have done result in less LP than other directions....

Im yet to suss out all the dark site around here. As suggested above the coast may be your best bet. I do a lot of sea fishing and often find the place's I go, i.e orford island, shingle st, east lane, some of the best dark skies I've come across. Its fishing at these locations that got me into astronomy, I spent more time looking up at the heavens than at my rod tips, lol....

Stan.

[collangm]

Hi Stan, I'm surprised you don't see the light pollution kicked out by the worst offender when at Shingle Street, i.e. Felixstowe Docks?

Gary

[stan26]

You would be surprised. A lot of the dock pollution is shielded by the lay of the land. I remember one night before Christmas at shingle St being able to make out the faint smudge of Andromeda!

[collangm]

Hmm, that's useful to know. I may have to pop over there when the weather improves to have a gander myself.

I was actually aw-struck at how clear the night sky can look in this country, when you're in the right location. I was sorting out my parents electrics last November and worked late into the night. I had to turn off their mains before goining outside to gain access to their loft space. I was dumb-struck by how clear the sky was and my jaw literally dropped to the floor with the sheer number of stars that could be seen with the naked eye - Wow!

That night basically rekindled my interest in astronomy

My parents live a few miles from Shingle Street and the local woodlands/heathlands seem to do a good job of blocking out much of the horizonal light pollution.

Gary

[rocketandroll]

Hey Gary

Probably can't help with finding a suitable dark site (I'm looking for one myself) but wanted to say hi from another Suffolk would-be imager :-)

I'm just on the outskirts of Ipswich so no hope for me observing from my house... but I am trying to find anywhere nearby that might be a suitable spot to start trying out my imaging set up which I'll hopefully be getting next week.

Let me know if you find somewhere suitable... there have been a few Suffolk based would-be imagers on here recently, we should all meet up on a clear night if we find a spot... or meet up on a not clear night and drown our sorrows in a suitable pub :-)

Ben

[Beyond_Vision]

It's perfectly feasible to get some decent shots but you will need a good dark sky location. Here is a couple of images from the Kelling Heath Star Party in Norfolk and the Salisbury Star Part in Six Penny Handley. Both images are multi pane mosaic's of long exposure stacked RAW files. Using a Canon 400D with a wide angle lens and on a portable tracking mount (Astrotrac). The total exposure time for each pane is approximately an hour. You will most likely need to use a light pollution filter too

Regards

Kevin

[collangm]

Do we have any OASI (Orwell Astronomical Society - Ipswich) members here? I'm considering joining the group as a precursor to my scope purchase, but wondering if any members had any recommendations of Dark Sky sites in and around the Ipswich/Suffolk area for other forum members?

I may stick this out as a sperate posting if no replies seem within this thread...

Gary

[collangm]

Incidentally Kevin, those images of the Milky-Way are absolutley stunning. Do you have any further details or advise on how to capture such images?

Gary