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Looking for darker locations near home.

Discussion in 'General Astronomy Chat' started by aeajr, Mar 12, 2016.

Looking for darker locations near home.

Started by aeajr on Mar 12, 2016 at 8:55 AM

9 Replies 1257 Views 2 Likes

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  1. aeajr

    aeajr Well-Known Member

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    aeajr, Mar 12, 2016
    #1
    I was more hunting and surveying observation locations last night than actually observing.


    Based on this light pollution chart I live in the dark white area next to the bright red zone. Pretty bad light pollution combined with being surrounded by street and house light. Usually I don't need my red flashlight as I can see fine without it.

    http://darksitefinder.com/maps/world.html


    So last night I decided to do a little driving and try out some possible darker areas along the North Shore of Long Island. These are beach park areas that are in the dark red zone, two shades darker than where I live.

    The first had been fairly dark in the past but no more. They installed two enclosed soccer fields with stadium lighting. Oh well.

    I tried a second beach area near a small strip of stores that face the beach. Skies are definitely darker than home but there was enough light that I decided not to set-up. But I could come back to this. The view to the North is clear and the sky is darker than home where the North is blocked by trees. The lights and buildings are to the South so this could be workable when I want to focus to the North and Northeast. And there is enough light behind me and activity that I would be comfortable setting up here alone.

    I found another beach parking lot to the West with very little in the way of lights. I turned off the interior light of the car so I and had to use my red flashlight as I set-up, which is good. I also just purchased a back stage red clip light which was perfect for this. I clipped it on the hatch gasket of my Ford Escape and it provided enough red light to work with my things as I set-up. $12.

    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0075DNRUA?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

    The location was fairly dark and the sky was dark. Some streams of clouds came through so I could not get a lot of good observation time but I could see that here the clouds looked dark on the underside where at home they are bright on the bottom. This is a good indicator of the lack of ground glow and the darker nature of the skies.

    I surveyed the sky with my 10X50 binoculars. Binoculars showed a good view of Jupiter The Orion nebulae looked better than it does at home and the Pleiades was like looking at jewels in the sky. This site had real possibilities. There were significantly more stars in the sky than what I can see at home. Megrez, the dim star that joins the handle to the bowl of the big dipper was much more visible than at home. No averted vision needed here. I would guess visible stars may have reached Mag 5 both from darker skies and because it was dark enough for my eyes to become dark adjusted, something that I am sure never happens at home.

    I had the ETX 80 with me as well as a new eyepiece, a Meade Instruments Series 5000 HD-60 4.5 mm. This thing is huge compared to my Plossl eyepieces. This will give me 88X in the ETX 80 without a barlow and 178 with a 2X barlow which should work for Jupiter, the moon and other planets but will likely be too high for anything else. In the XT8i it will give me 266 power without a barlow. I want to compare this to 250 with a barlowed 10 mm plossl.

    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004W0DUOW?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

    I put the scope on the Orion Nebulae with the new eyepiece and it looked good except that I could not get it real sharp due to the wispy clouds. I had it on Jupiter and saw the moons in this configuration. . . . O . Again I was looking through a thin cloud mist.

    I looked around a bit but the clouds where getting thicker so I packed up. I find these dark beach areas a bit spooky. As I was driving away a car passed me heading for that spot. I don't know if it was fishermen, lovers or vampires looking for blood but was glad that I had left. I fear the 2 legged bests more than the 4 legged. Too many crime shows I guess. II will return to this spot with some friends next time.

    I checked out a turn around along another beach road. Two dim street lamps were not too bothersome giving me a feeling that his might be worth revisiting. This had a clear view in all directions but North and South were completely unobstructed while East and West were clear about 20 degrees. Binoculars showed good views. I did not set-up. The temperature was dropping and the open water had a growing breeze coming through. I moved on to another parking area.

    This, my last stop, was in a beach parking area that had lights but a corner area was far away from the last light. If I set up my scope on the side of my car away from the light I could be blocked from it. The sky was fairly dark and there was a good view South, West and East. North was good above about 30 degrees. Again, clouds were rolling through and it was breezy with a nip in the air so I decided not so set-up.

    The goal of the night was to find some darker areas near my home. In that respect it was a success. I only got in about 15 minutes of observation time but that was OK. I found some possible new observation sites when I am in the mood to pack up and head out for a 20 minute drive.
     
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  2. Diogenes

    Diogenes Active Member

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    Diogenes, Mar 12, 2016
    #2
    If you're in LI, there's Custer Observatory. The only thing I dislike about observing on the beach is that you're inevitably going to get some salt on your optics, and that stuff will do some damage if you aren't thorough about cleaning it out ASAP.

    Not quite sure where you are in LI, but the Jamaica Bay area is pretty dark for NY - Floyd Bennett Field isn't bad, and at Rockaway Beach you can see the Milky Way at the zenith. The nice thing about Rockaway is that because there's nothing but ocean in the south, yet can view some of the lower hanging Messier objects. Also, there's nothing there, so its dark as sin! Seeing the light domes of Jersey and JFK airport end is kind of surreal.

    I think LI has its own astronomy club, but I know the Amateur Astronomers Assocation of NY (AAA.org) does dark site trips as well.
     
  3. george

    george Developer

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    george, Mar 14, 2016
    #3
    I recently did a similar exercise a few weeks ago when I was up north in Lake Tahoe. I was up there for 2 nights and the only clear night I had was the drive into Tahoe through Miden off the Hwy 395. The sky was so clear I enjoyed just looking through the sun roof of the car. If I didn't have my mother with me I would have stopped and setup the scope right there on the spot. Sadly when I did end up getting to Tahoe it was cloudy and for the next few nights and evened rained the day I left. I always seem to have the worst luck when I have the opportunity to travel to very dark sites :) On my way down from Northern California I had planned to make a few planned stops to various dark sites I had marked on a map but the weather was still very questionable and I decided against it.

    In terms of closer to home I usually go up the Angeles Crest Highway into the nearby San Gabriel Mountains. This is like a 15 min drive to get to the base of the mountain then maybe another 20-30 min to get somewhere dark enough off the road. If I'm willing to go for a bit long of a drive I would drive out east towards the desert maybe even as far as Joshua Tree, this is more like a 2 hour drive.
     
  4. Dave In Vermont

    Dave In Vermont Well-Known Member

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    Dave In Vermont, Mar 15, 2016
    #4
    I've noted a good way to find dark-skies is through a local astronomy-group - if you're lucky enough to find one local to you. Of course joining same be also appeal to you too. I have one here in Podunk. A friend of mine has joined them and sends me reports. Travelling the distance there would require an auto - which I won't do. Vermont is a very 'green' state. Pollution of any description isn't done. Period. And this includes light. I am in the city with the largest population - Montpelier is the capital though, pop. 8,604 - and Burlington has 40,000 or so. Even though, we do keep streetlighting to the minimum. When LED's come at us, I'll be on top of that with my city council.

    For the best dark skies nearby, there is an abandoned railroad track-bed that extends 4 miles out into the middle of Lake Champlain. Reachable by foot and bicycle. Night there is black - the Milky Way glowing freely. And no problem with spending a night. Bring a sleeping-bag and you'll be set. Presumably it doesn't rain that night.

    May you find your way TO the dark!

    Dave
     
  5. Diogenes

    Diogenes Active Member

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    Diogenes, Mar 16, 2016
    #5
    One thing (that I'm sure you're already aware of) to keep in mind, especially in regards to dark sites in a big city, is that sometimes safety becomes a factor. There are a couple of darker sites around the NYC area that I've had to abandon due to safety and/or legal concerns.
     
  6. kevan hubbard

    kevan hubbard Well-Known Member

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    kevan hubbard, Jun 27, 2016
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    Bit of a late reply but one of the best ways to discover how dark a place is is strangely to go when it's cloudy and see how much light is hitting the cloud base!if the cloud glows white it's probably not much good.also things like sports stadiums can make light pollution vary night to night when they're in use.also although winter has more hours of darkness the lack of leaves on trees means light pollution can strike from more angles.
     
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  7. View2

    View2 Active Member

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    View2, Jun 27, 2016
    #7
    Have you tried using a light pollution filter or UHC filter? I just got the orion Ultrablock and it is great for most nebula. From light polluted skies they can help find the fuzziness. From a fairly dark site and was kinda blown away by the Ultrablock: I pointed the scope at the Veil nebula...nothing but disappointment (5" refractor). I put the Ultrablock on and...whoop there it is. Popped right out. First time I'd ever seen it.
     
  8. Dave In Vermont

    Dave In Vermont Well-Known Member

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    Dave In Vermont, Jun 28, 2016
    #8
    Yes the Orion 'Ultrablock' is an excellent filter of the UHC variety. As such it will work wonders on many different nebulae. An OIII is another that can do such, with an Hydrogen-Beta being useful on a few difficult entities - such as the 'Horsehead-Nebula' (B33) in Orion.

    David Knisely, of the Prairie Astronomy Club, has written us some very good papers on this, and other good papers. He doesn't mind being referenced and linked - as long as he gets mentioned as the source. So here's two of his:

    http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org...formance-comparisons-for-some-common-nebulae/

    http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org.../useful-filters-for-viewing-deep-sky-objects/

    Both are most worthy of bookmarking and/or copying.

    Some folks buy these sorts of filters as being for light-pollution. But that's only a small part of what they can do!

    Enjoy -

    Dave
     
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  9. View2

    View2 Active Member

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    View2, Jun 28, 2016
    #9
    Great articles Dave. From reading, I think that I will hold the filter to my eye and look at cygnus area answer see if anything pops out. I may even try holding it over the 1.25" eyepieces instead of removing the 2" diagonal and putting it there. Have you done this? The north American nebula completely fills my 40mm EP view (according to skysafari), so naked eye or binoculars holding the ultrablock filter?
     
  10. Dave In Vermont

    Dave In Vermont Well-Known Member

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    Dave In Vermont, Jun 28, 2016
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    The North American Nebula is notorious for being a difficult target. It's been awhile since I went after it, and I don't remember what all I tried. But as with most 'fuzzies' up there, your mileage may vary. Factor into this the fact that eyesight and the perception of color is the last major sense to develop in the human-being.

    If you ever read Homer's Odyssey, you may recall that the ocean is referred to as being burgundy-colored. Red seems to be the first color people commonly recognized. Same with cats & dogs & who-knows-what-else? I know quite a few people who see red as being orange or yellow. So I always insert a caveat and explanation when anyone asks my advice on what filter would work on what.

    Two filters I do recommend is the Baader Moon & Skyglow Neodymium-Filter. Sometimes called the Swiss Army Knife of filters due to how many entities it works well on. Mars & Jupiter among these. The other filter being a No. 80A Blue-Filter for the same reasons. If one only buys one color filter, that is your best candidate.

    And I always do carry a Swiss Army Knife -

    Dave
     

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