Forest park given Dark Sky honour

[Mike]

Galloway Forest Park has been officially unveiled as the first Dark Sky Park in the UK.

The award, announced by the International Dark Sky Association, confirmed Galloway as one of the best places for stargazing in the world.

Lighting experts were brought in to ensure the skies above the forest park were pitch black at night.

The organisers of Galloway's bid said they hoped the award would boost tourism in south west Scotland.

The final decision on the award was taken at the International Dark Sky Association (IDA) AGM in Phoenix, Arizona, over the weekend.

Part of the selection process involved giving a rating via a sky quality meter, which measures the darkness of the sky overhead.

More......   http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/8361244.stm

[MarkS]

The award ... confirmed Galloway as one of the best places for stargazing in the world.

Except for the clouds ...

Good news, all the same, to achieve that status.

[Mike]

Exactly. They said the same for Kielder Forest, which on a dark sky map you can see is probably the blackest part of the whole of England except when i went there for 2 weeks it was rain and cloud every day without fail.

DOH!! 

[Rick]

Aye, I wonder where the best site in the UK for actual practical astronomy is? I guess you'd have to incorporate light pollution and cloud cover into the calculation.

[JohnP]

Except for the clouds ...

It's Scotland so don't forget the midges......

John

[Carole]

I don't think midges are a problem in the winter (but of course the weather is!!)
You can't really star gaze in the summer in Scotland anyway because of the short nights.

Found this on the internet:

Throughout the summer the Scottish economy suffers because of the midge. Tourism is worth around £2.5 billion per annum to the country, yet a survey carried out by a team led by University of Edinburgh scientists indicated that the majority of tourists visiting Scotland for the first time, during the height of the midge season, were discouraged from returning to the country at that particular time of year. Furthermore the study suggested that 86% would warn their friends not to visit Scotland during the key summer months of July and August.

carole

[JohnP]

Well I can't remember exactly when I went but I know I was playing golf up there one evening & I was driven absolutely potty by them... I was like a mad man swinging the golf club all around & running up & down the course... It was almost like something out of a cartoon.. It was enough to drive a man insane....

[Mike]

I think our best options in the UK, without driving TOO far would be mid-wales or down in Devon. The best skies i've ever experienced were camping on the Devon coastline but it also happened to be the camping trip I didn't take my kit (bar a pair of binoculars) as I had no room left.

[MarkS]

Aye, I wonder where the best site in the UK for actual practical astronomy is? I guess you'd have to incorporate light pollution and cloud cover into the calculation.

It's already been done for you:
http://www.britastro.org/dark-skies/bestukastrolocationmap1.html

And this one includes aircraft corridors as well:
http://www.britastro.org/dark-skies/bestukastrolocationmap2.html

[Mike]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8363321.stm

[Rick]

Aye, getting them to turn off street lighting would be good. They're just getting round to swapping out the old low-pressure lights down my road. One or two of the new ones are now working, and they're bleeping bright. I havn't yet been able to figure out whether they are better shielded, though...

[Carole]

Re: Mark's links.  I went to mid Wales a few years ago and took my telescope with me, but was disappointed with the skies, I guess I must have stayed on one of the pink blobs!

Looking at Mark's second map Devon and Dartmoor looks good. I have just been down to Devon and have sussed out a camp site on Dartmoor and am waiting for the contact details.  I didn't actually see it but while I was there I met up with an old friend who has a farm in (or on the edge of Dartmoor), and she said there is a camp near her and the skies are very dark. 

I thought I would find out about it for a possible future excursion. 

Carole

[MarkS]

I've added Kielder and Galloway Forest Park to my light pollution map. 
Riberac and Les Granges have also been added at the same scale for comparison:
http://www.markshelley.co.uk/webdisk/EnglandLightPollution.jpg

My other one, just covering the South East is here:
http://www.markshelley.co.uk/webdisk/SELightPollution2.jpg