Dark Sky Area England

[I.C.D (Ian)]

G'Day All,
The other day I caught the last bit of news item about a area in England that has been set aside as a dark sky area and that their were two or three other placer’s in the world that has same .Can anyone fill me with any more info
Ian C

[barx1963 (Malcolm)]

I know the island of Sark (technically not part of England) is a dark sky site, has official recognition as such.
If you check the IDA website or follow this link http://www.darksky.org/assets/docume...ss_Release.pdf there is a press release about the new ones!

Cheers

Malcolm

[Wavytone]

There's also Northumberland national park http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/ar...-Sky-Park.html

But having been there last August it's not all that dark, comparable to say lower blue mountains around Linden. Pretty much anywhere in the Cairngorms was darker, and as good as say Hargraves lookout.

But go further away from Sydney and we have skies better than anything in the UK or Europe.

They have another problem too - a fair bit of smog makes it across the Atlantic from the US, meaning the sky is always slightly hazy by our standards. What the poms think is a nice blue day is nowhere near as clear as a piercing blue Australian country sky.

[JB80 (Jarrod)]

A patch of Northumberland's night sky has become the largest area of protected sky in Europe.
Northumberland National Park and Kielder Water and Forest Park have been granted dark-sky status by The International Dark Skies Association.

The status means the night sky is protected and lighting controls are in place to prevent light pollution.
In honour of the award the area will be renamed Northumberland Dark Sky Park later on Monday.
'Cosmic panorama'
The two-year campaign to protect the 579 square mile (1,500 sq km) area was jointly led by Northumberland National Park Authority, Kielder Water and Forest Park Development Trust and Kielder Observatory Astronomical Society.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-25260186

The BBC article is fairly informative.

[Camelopardalis (Dunk)]

There's also a dark sky park in the south west of England, see http://www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.u...ape/dark-skies

@Wavytone - with the lack of astronomical darkness at that time of year and latitude, it's no surprise it wasn't all that dark.

They do have the occasional crystal clear day, it's just they're few and far between compared to the Australian desert but with the climate there astronomy is a frustrating hobby most of the time.

Not to mention the light pollution. 60+ million people in an area not even approaching the state of Victoria dominates...the dark sky parks are consequently in remote areas and not readily accessible to most of the inhabitants.

[FlashDrive (Poppy)]

Pity no officials have done that for Aussie Astronomers here in AU

Flash.....

[Camelopardalis (Dunk)]

Originally Posted by FlashDrive

Pity no officials have done that for Aussie Astronomers here in AU

Flash.....

Pretty pointless designating a dark sky "park" when it would encompass most of the country

[I.C.D (Ian)]

Thanks all as I said I just cought last of that item

Ian C

[raymo]

You guys are lucky. I am lucky to get 40-45 imaging nights per year; the
only place in Australia that is worse is the west coast of Tassie. We used to average about 3 useable nights per month. I have to frantically snap
every object I can lay my camera on, and then spend forever at the comp
trying to get the best results I can.
raymo

[Blue Skies (Jacquie)]

Originally Posted by barx1963

I know the island of Sark (technically not part of England) is a dark sky site, has official recognition as such.
If you check the IDA website or follow this link http://www.darksky.org/assets/docume...ss_Release.pdf there is a press release about the new ones!

Cheers

Malcolm

After a bit of fishing about the home page seems to be here: I didn't realise there were different levels, I just thought there were a handful of reserves.