It’s a little more simple than that Simon, in mid/late winter from UK it not there to see.
Looking south you are looking out of the Galaxy’s plane into empty space so late winter/early spring are the not the best time to see the Milky Way.
In the opposite direction it’s looking into the centre of the galaxy. but it’s not along the disc plane that gives a better impression of the band of light. Autumn is the best time to view from UK, but nothing like the views you get from the southern hemisphere.
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I seem to be unusual in finding nothing of interest in star clusters. The things I find of interest are planets, galaxies and nebulae, but I so wish wish nebulae were brighter, likewiseI wish planets were bigger as it is such a strain to see detail, Hence my desire for a larger ‘scope! But I think the largest that would be manageable would be 10” - I fancy the Meade LX 90, which while heavy I think is still manageable being lighter than some, and with a wedge is also apparently very capable with a camera and long exposure which I think I need to get to “see” more.
Incidentally, I struggle to see constellations, only really picking out The Plough and Orion, the stars forming others mostly not standing out enough relative to background stars. Maybe its my eyes, because I also struggle to see shooting stars - one memorable holiday in rural Spain, very dark being miles from any towns or lit roads, we lay outside (floating in the swimming pool!) watching for the Pleiades meteor shower. All others in the group saw multiple ones, but I didn’t see a single one! (Yet I can read the second to bottom line of an optician’s chart, which is better than “20/20”vision!)
Ah ok… I still see the Milky Way band sometimes in winter - it’s just not as vivid…
Cheers
Simon
For star gazers in the northern hemisphere, here’s a breakdown of when you can see the core of the Milky Way by month.
| Month | Visible | Visible Time |
|---|---|---|
| January | No | n/a |
| February | Yes | From ~3-4am |
| March | Yes | From ~1-2am |
| April | Yes | From ~12am |
| May | Yes | From ~10-11pm |
| June | Yes | All night |
| July | Yes | All night |
| August | Yes | All night, Setting by ~3-4am |
| September | Yes | All night, Setting by ~1-2am |
| October | Yes | All night, Setting by ~12am |
| November | No | n/a |
| December | No | n/a |
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Thanks - that explains why I can only see sometimes in Winter
Also worth noting is that viewing in mid summer from UK is restricted because of light, I’m talking sunlight illuminating the upper atmosphere & not forgetting your local background light pollution.
The UK is not truly dark between mid May & mid July. It’s better in the south, but north England has violet blue-sky at darkest night, north Scotland is real blue-sky.
Best Milky Way viewing, assuming you want to do this before midnight rather than early mornings, is Sept/Oct
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No telescope as yet but, progress of sorts, I have bought a book to do some research, ‘Viewing and Imaging the Solar System’ authored by a member of the local club.
and a ‘Glow in the dark’ Planisphere!
Hopfully these will be useful.
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Yes, useful to get some background research in and the planisphere should help for familiarisation. I use Celestron’s Sky Portal app which I can use on my iPad.
I subscribe to The Sky At Night magazine. Some of its content is available for free online too.
When choosing a scope, think ahead what you are really likely to do with it and where you will be observing. That will determine the type of scope that will best suit your needs.
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thank you @Ravvie if this thread is still here I will be back to discuss purchase options. I will check out Celestron’s Sky Portal app
We have had so many clear nights recently it hurts not to have an instrument.
cheers
I think that most people would be astonished were they to experience a truly ‘dark’ sky.
I haven’t experienced one for quite some time now. The most amazing dark sky I have ever witnessed was some 25 years or so ago whilst holidaying on the Isle of Lewis/Harris in the month of September (I think). The Milky Way on display was almost directly above us and absolutely astonishing - almost unbelievably bright and defined. We were extremely lucky in that the weather was warm and completely cloudless for quite a few nights in succession. I used to lie on my back on the grass at night in the dark for maybe an hour or so on end and just gaze upwards.
As well as the Milky Way, which to the naked eye bore comparison with any long exposure photos I have seen of it, it was possible to see many orbiting satellites. In particular, with a pair of good binoculars it was possible to clearly make out the profile of a space station (with solar array) orbiting above. I’m pretty sure that this would have been pre the launch of the ISS so I’m not sure which space station it might have been.
You really can’t match the jaw-dropping impact of your first experience of a truly ‘Dark’ sky!
I have seen darkish skies more recently, but they are nothing compared to the genuine real thing.
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Absolutely, the best I’ve seen is in Southern Africa, a lot of excellent dark sky places in SA, Botswana, Kalahari, Namibia. And if you want the best ever views of Milky Way, only the southern skies have it.
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I was in Nepal in 2016, amazing views there too from the high Himalayas. The photo below was quite long exposed, but it gives an idea of the experience.
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I was driving through a remote area of northern Scotland a few years ago, early October, very early around 5 am. There was some road works with traffic control. When I was stopped at a red light I glanced out the window and what I saw was jaw dropping. The sky was utterly ablaze. You can take all your iPads, X Boxes, 555 PS’s and 552’s, nothing beats that as an experience and it’s a great shame that so many people are deprived of it due to light pollution.
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Camping trips give us the best skys that we see, but even then the ubiquitous street light is still never that far away.
Some recommendations…
Check your bortle and dark sky locations …
Stellarium online version and also app and Windows versions is excellent…
As for clear skies…
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Thanks for the links, funny enough I stumbled upon the clear sky one myself a sort while ago, it made me smile, in that everyone has a different angle on what constitutes good weather!
I wandered past my bosses desk and he was checking out another weather site, one which focused on wind speed and direction, he’s a keen dingy racer.
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Has anyone with a telescope made any deep space images, or images of the planets? Can they share… this part really interests me…
Check out Stargazers Lounge Simon…some members there produce lovely images.
PS
In terms of eyepieces, I adore TeleVue and have a small but nice selection. They’re very moreish like Naim, and their colours are black and green! Superb optics, natch.
Thanks… also be great to see the photos from star gazers here, and understand what telescope and camera they used.
Hi Simon, I had a go at astrophotography a few years ago, but although I’m very interested in both photography & astronomy, & I have say I gave it a good go, I ended up frustrated. Yes I captured some interesting pics, but nothing that satisfied my interest in astronomy when far far better pics on exactly what I was attempting to capture are available on www. I concluded my real interest in astronomy is in the science rather than looking through our light polluted atmosphere.
A friend in South Africa is deep into it, last time I communicated he was enthusing over his new Canon R6 mirrorless camera, but that was more about pics in the nearby Kruger N.P…
The rest of his astro equipment is extensive & have no idea about details, he has at least 2 'scopes that I know of, a sky tracker & some super stable tripod type mounts. He also views & tracks via indoor electronics (computer).
But star gazing on a dark night in SA !!! who needs a 'scope, a comfy chair & Mk-II eyeballs does it for me.