[Chosun Juan]

One for the astrophotographers or the dedicated night sky binocular viewers ......

"The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) has officially named the new River Murray International Dark Sky Reserve, in South Australia's Mid Murray district, as one of the most magnificent places on Earth to see the night sky."

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?sto...cus_composer=0
https://www.9news.com.au/national/so...d=Social-9News





Chosun

[Binastro]

Hi Chosun,

Unfortunately some of these dark sky parks, although very dark, still have distant light glow.

Hopefully, in this Australian reserve, there really are no visible light glows in the distance.

With the latitude of Australia it might be free of auroral light.

I wonder if there is anywhere left on Earth with absolutely no human caused light glow.
Also no aircraft lights and no artificial satellites.

Regards,
B.

[etudiant]

Originally Posted by Binastro

Hi Chosun,


I wonder if there is anywhere left on Earth with absolutely no human caused light glow.
Also no aircraft lights and no artificial satellites.

Regards,
B.

the answer is clearly no even today. There are some 5000 satellites currently in orbit. Firms are already planning to add several tens of thousands more to provide global internet links, so astronomers will be forced into space to find uncluttered skies.

[[email protected]]

Originally Posted by Chosun Juan

One for the astrophotographers or the dedicated night sky binocular viewers ......

"The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) has officially named the new River Murray International Dark Sky Reserve, in South Australia's Mid Murray district, as one of the most magnificent places on Earth to see the night sky."

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?sto...cus_composer=0
https://www.9news.com.au/national/so...d=Social-9News





Chosun

The best southern night sky I have ever seen in my life is Milford Sound in New Zealand once the the bar closes. Absolutely no distant light glow because you are in a sound. I spent half the night observing with my binoculars wishing I had a big light bucket Dobsonian telescope.

[wllmspd]

Excellent news!! All IDA recognised sites engage with the surrounding councils and residents and report on their activities and (quite often) repeat the SQM sky brightness readings to monitor how the sites are changing. Great news to see more recognised. They might not all be perfect, but they show wider engagement and commitment to recognising the impact of light pollution and ways to keep it under control. Nice to know how dark these places actually are.. helps to plan where I might want to go on holiday!

Peter

[NDhunter]

The foremost place for observatories is on the Big Island of Hawaii. The Moana Kea Observatories are at the summit, over 13,000 ft. There are 13 telescopes funded by 11 different countries.
The reasons are simple, very dark skies from the lack of light pollution, high elevation and the low humidity at this area.
It is easy to get to Hawaii and also to get a tour at the summit, sorry no chance to view at an observatory unless you have made very special arrangements.
Very cold up there, with snow year around, our tour provided heavy parkas.
I was there last year, we stopped for an observation viewing at the visitor center down at mid mountain.
The star show is incredible.

Jerry

[etudiant]

Originally Posted by NDhunter

The foremost place for observatories is on the Big Island of Hawaii. The Moana Kea Observatories are at the summit, over 13,000 ft. There are 13 telescopes funded by 11 different countries.
The reasons are simple, very dark skies from the lack of light pollution, high elevation and the low humidity at this area.
It is easy to get to Hawaii and also to get a tour at the summit, sorry no chance to view at an observatory unless you have made very special arrangements.
Very cold up there, with snow year around, our tour provided heavy parkas.
I was there last year, we stopped for an observation viewing at the visitor center down at mid mountain.
The star show is incredible.

Jerry

The Moana Kea skies are just amazing, a rare place where is is easy to see the zodiacal light after watching for the green flash at sunset (the latter is harder, clouds on the horizon are a killer).
The visitor center is near the astronomer residence, a very friendly bunch in my limited experience. With luck some of them will be there to point out interesting stars.
PS: bring spare batteries, the scenery is spectacular and batteries lose power when it is cold.

[Kevin Conville]

Originally Posted by NDhunter

The foremost place for observatories is on the Big Island of Hawaii. The Moana Kea Observatories are at the summit, over 13,000 ft. There are 13 telescopes funded by 11 different countries.
The reasons are simple, very dark skies from the lack of light pollution, high elevation and the low humidity at this area.
It is easy to get to Hawaii and also to get a tour at the summit, sorry no chance to view at an observatory unless you have made very special arrangements.
Very cold up there, with snow year around, our tour provided heavy parkas.
I was there last year, we stopped for an observation viewing at the visitor center down at mid mountain.
The star show is incredible.

Jerry

You forget to mention stable air (low shimmer) because it's in the middle of the Pacific.

[Kevin Conville]

Originally Posted by [email protected]

The best southern night sky I have ever seen in my life is Milford Sound in New Zealand once the the bar closes. Absolutely no distant light glow because you are in a sound. I spent half the night observing with my binoculars wishing I had a big light bucket Dobsonian telescope.

I think the best night sky I ever saw also was in New Zealand. Just up the road from Milford Sound on the east side of Mt Cook. I can envision Milford Sound being pretty awesome, but I wasn't there at night.

[Chosun Juan]

Originally Posted by [email protected]

The best southern night sky I have ever seen in my life is Milford Sound in New Zealand once the the bar closes. Absolutely no distant light glow because you are in a sound. I spent half the night observing with my binoculars wishing I had a big light bucket Dobsonian telescope.

Beautiful beautiful place

but ........ the sandflies! Jaysuz !! It's like a living h*ll on earth !!!

Yeeeeeeee-ouch !!!!





Chosun

[[email protected]]

Originally Posted by Chosun Juan

Beautiful beautiful place

but ........ the sandflies! Jaysuz !! It's like a living h*ll on earth !!!

Yeeeeeeee-ouch !!!!





Chosun

I didn't notice those. I try too keep enough alcohol in my blood so if a fly bites me it drops dead.

[Chosun Juan]

Originally Posted by Chosun Juan

Beautiful beautiful place

but ........ the sandflies! Jaysuz !! It's like a living h*ll on earth !!!

Yeeeeeeee-ouch !!!!

Originally Posted by [email protected]

I didn't notice those. I try too keep enough alcohol in my blood so if a fly bites me it drops dead.

They seem to be less active at night - though a citronella candle or three helps.

Come sunrise though - Holy Hector !

I'm a Celebrity - Get me Outta Here !!




Chosun

[Gijs van Ginkel]

Binastro, post 11,
In the South African and Namibian deserts we were not disturbed by interfering light from human light sources yielding magnificent star nights.
Gijs van Ginkel

[Troubador]

Originally Posted by Gijs van Ginkel

Binastro, post 11,
In the South African and Namibian deserts we were not disturbed by interfering light from human light sources yielding magnificent star nights.
Gijs van Ginkel

Its the same on some of the Scottish islands too.

Lee

[Gijs van Ginkel]

Lee, post 14,
That does not surprise me........
Gijs van Ginkel

[Binastro]

Gijs and Lee.

That is good to know.

Regards,
B.

[Kevin Conville]

For the darkest skies it's fairly apparent one will have to leave Europe or the US, and quite a few other places in the Northern Hemisphere especially.

The Outback of Australia and Namibia indeed do look very dark. Too bad this image doesn't show NZ

[Kevin Conville]

This shows NZ. I pointed (approximately) where Milford Sound is

[Binastro]

Thanks Kevin,

I tried to see the Mercury transit today with a filtered Canon 10x30IS Mk II, but cloud won and I didn't see it.
Others saw it with filtered binoculars.

Regards,
B.

[Tringa45]

Originally Posted by Binastro

I tried to see the Mercury transit today with a filtered Canon 10x30IS Mk II, but cloud won and I didn't see it.

Same here, a futile wait for a gap in the clouds - very disappointing.

John

[Patudo]

I'm not an astro guy at all but keep telling myself next time there is a clear night in the Canary Islands I ought to point the binoculars upwards and have a look around. But the famous observatories there are much higher than most of the places I've visited - above the cloud layer.

In Cape Verde the skies are clearer, and with little light pollution in that neck of the woods, I have on a number of occasions looked up and enjoyed some nice views, albeit with only the Mk I eyeball. This was before binoculars became an everyday part of my life. But the one time that the beauty and immensity of the night sky truly struck me was travelling back to an island in the north of the Maldives after an unsuccessful attempt at finding a fish buoy to the north. The north-bound current took us a good way further out than I had thought, so by nightfall we were still quite a way from landfall. It was a clear night and as I looked up I could see what seemed like countless clusters of stars across the sky, but unfortunately I was in little mood to enjoy what I did realize was an awe-inspiring view, being more concerned about toting up how much water we had and so on... Only after the transmission tower we were using as a landmark finally appeared did I begin to appreciate what I was seeing - by far the best view of the stars I have ever seen or will probably ever see.

I swore that night I'd learn the rudiments of celestial navigation, but haven't yet - something I really ought to put right.

[SteveTS]

Originally Posted by Troubador

Its the same on some of the Scottish islands too.

Lee

Pleased that someone is flying the flag

Ten years ago the International Dark-Sky Association designated Galloway Forest Park in Scotland as only the fourth Dark Sky Park in the world and the first in the UK.

Galloway's International Dark Sky Park.

Regards, Steve