Need some help/Advice

[Craig.]

no no no, this isnt one of my long tirades on the opposite sex.

now onto the actual question.
can anyone here give me some advice on the best way to view stars(in the sky, i am not a stalker):) i have a telescope, a tasco, but living here in bristol its almost impossible to get a good view of anything but the moon, is there anyway at all to get past the city lights problem(without going out into the country) its just i have a huge fascination with the wonders of the galaxy and i would like to be able to see them with my own eyes, nebulas, and so on. also whats the best time of the night to get good views of these things.
Thanks guys any help is much appreciated:)

[Hagar]

Craig. I don't think there's much you can do except go out in the country. This problem was highlighted only recently by the Royal Astronomical Society. It's caused mainly by unshrouded high powered street lighting which is also very inefficent & a complete waste of resources. Unfortunately, nobody in authority seems to take it seriously. This famous composite photo shows just how bad the situation is. http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap001127.html

[Craig.]

thanks hagar.
it really is a big problem here, theres one part in the center of bristol where the whole sky looks as bright as day, luckily it isnt above my house so at least some gazing is still possible, but i was just amazed at how much i am missing out on when i went to the states, the sky where i was, was full of stars. and i really hope they sort something out soon

[Fozzer]

Blimey Craig...!
According to Hagars picture wev'e got to go to Alaska or Outer Mongolier to see the stars...!
I've got an 8X-25X Zoom telescope, so looking at the Moon (250,000 miles away), zoomed in at 25X magnification, it's only 10,000 miles away, like at the bottom of my garden...!!
As to the planets, most of them are too far away to see much detail, Saturn's rings can be seen only when facing us, and Venus, (which you can see in the sky every night), just looks bigger...LOL...!
..and what about the International Space Station, the brightest object in the sky, (apart from the Moon and Venus), every night!
The lights from Hereford wash out the sky to the East, but if I look Westwards towards Wales the sky is dark, (the Welsh only use candles)...LOL...!

Cheers mate..
Keep looking skywards, it's amazing what is "Out There"...LOL...!
Paul.
(Hereford).

[Hagar]

I just looked outside & the street is lit almost as bright as day. This is a normal residential area & all that light is completely unnecessary. IMHO
If I look east towards the main town or north towards the main road all I see is a flippin' great orange glow in the sky. The people in the village less than 1/2 mile to the west have the right idea. All the roads are unadopted & the residents are too tight-fisted to cough up for even a candle or a gas lamp for street lighting. If I had a telescope I could take a wander down there & set it up on the beach. I would probably be arrested on suspicion of lurking with intent. One look at my telescope would be all they need to confirm it. LOL

[Craig.]

thanks guys:)
i might go out and gaze a little later on tonight, its good clear sky but the sky is still a little to bright to have any luck,  the thing is winter is the best time for early light but the worst time for weather, as i discovered very few nights of clear skies and then its bloody freezing out there:)
the other thing is i am not going to pay out

[Tequila Sunrise]

up here in the summer theres no point trying due to the fact that we have 4.5 hours of twilight between sunset and sunrise, looks real nice though

[Iroquois]

up here in the summer theres no point trying due to the fact that we have 4.5 hours of twilight between sunset and sunrise, looks real nice though

My grandma told me about that. The "Midnight Sun" of the far north. I bought a telescope a while ago but the bright lights from the city obscure the view. I'm not sure where a good place to go in Europe or the British Isles for star gazing because it is so heavily populated. Perhaps if you're serious, you may want to travel to North America or someplace eles that's fairly lightly populated. You may want to visit Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, or the US plain states. The flat level terrain is good for viewing because no trees or mountains block your line of site. Wish I could offer you some advice closer to home. Oh, try Switzerland, high in the mountains maybe, away from the lights of the big cities.

[Craig.]

thanks orenda:)
i have just been out, its just not possible, almost full moon, then some SOB turned on their security light and that was it, i am hoping in a week or two the skies will be a little darker, and clear, maybe better luck then, i am definatly going to have to go to a clear area some day, def worth the effort

[Wing Nut]

Craig, I have a 4 1/2" and an 8" telescope and am quite into the hobby, although I haven't had the oppurtunity for a while.  The key to viewing in the city is to be away from DIRECT lighting.  Go to a park or something where there are no street lights shining directly on you, no headlights, or store lights.  Ideally you should be about 1/4 mile from any direct lighting.  By getting a good star atlas, and learning polar alignment, you can find anything in the heavens whether you can see it or not.  I won't go into details about how, it's a long story.  Also, get a good set of light pollution filters.  They will actually cut down on the light and let you see at a higher resolution than without.

Also, look at your telescope.  I don't want to offend you, but Tasco is of a type known in astronomy circles as Trash Scopes.  That's not an insult to your intelligence for buying it; companies like that flood the market, especially around Christmas and well-meaning but uninformed family members will often buy these things based on the fact that they boast of great viewing power.  That is not how telescopes are judged.  They are judged by their light gathering capacity, not by how much they magnify.    Unfortunately, these people often buy these scopes, then failing to 'see' anything, they are relegated to the garage or an attic.  For instance, a good 90mm refractor from a company called TeleVue will can give more detail than my 8" Celestron.  Also, you should consider the TYPE of scope you are using.  A refractor (almost certainly what you have if you have a Tasco scope) is more suited for viewing planets than deep sky objects like nebulae or galaxies .   As for pricing, expect to spend about $400-600 for a decent beginners scope.

Most astronomy can actually be done with a quality viewing instrument most people already own; Binoculars.  A decent 7 X 50 set of Binos and a star map are all anyone needs to get started viewing.  You can resolve most of the Messier objects, planets and moons and even several galaxies.

If you desire to get a broader view of the hobby, visit a site like Astronomy.com and people will be just as willing to help there as they are here.

[ozzy72]

Gees! Look how 'energy conscious' an efficient we Australians are. Even on the eastern seaboard, where about half the population lives.

Aren't we good little fella's. Shame on you all, for wasting all that energy and resources.  ::)    

[BFMF]

How can that picture have the entire planet at night???

Must not all have been taken at once

And i'm sure quite a few of those lights are because of all us flightsim nuts who are up at ungodly hours of the night either on the forums or flying

[ozzy72]

How can that picture have the entire planet at night???

Must not all have been taken at once

And i'm sure quite a few of those lights are because of all us flightsim nuts who are up at ungodly hours of the night either on the forums or flying

If you go to the site, you'll see the caption explains that the picture is a 'composite' made up from a series of many shots from a satellite.  ;D

[Craig.]

thanks guys, and thanks dread
the choice of telescope was very limited, my dad bought it for me for my birthday, and tascos were the only make avaliable in the area, the only choices were this one a

[ozzy72]

Hi Craig, well I used to do a bit of astronomy when I was at school (a few billion years ago). And all I can say is that if you want the ultimate star gazing experience, you need to be in the desert at night. It is simply incredible. No pollution, no lights, just you and the sky (oh and the odd scorpion).

Ozzy