Best region to build an observatory ?

Hi all,

I have a rather bizarre request (possibly the first of a kind asked in
this ng). I hope you do not consider it OT.

Some of you may remember me from my posts some time back in 2003, after
having stumbeld accross this ng - and it rekindling my interest in
astronomy etc. I am looking to purchase some land (about 10 acres), to
build an observatory (as well as a new home). I thought I may be able to
get some ideas from this ng, as to where we would be a good place (i.e
will not suffer from too much light pollution - but at the same time, is
not in the middle of nowhere). Basically, anywhere within 90 miles of
London will be a potential candidate. I don't like kent because of the
flooding risk, but other than that, anything falling within the 90 mile
radius should be fair game.

Since we (my wife and I) will also be building our new home there,
hopefully, it should have a rural/village feel to it. Any
suggestions/feedback at all will be very much appreciated. Naturally,
the house will be built first (my wife won't have it any other way!).
but once the main house is completed, I will most likely be returning
here with queries about suggestions on the best telescope/ or if I need
to build my own. Maybe some "crazy" optical physicist/engineer out there
may even help me build the "multiple lens" telescope I was banging on
about last time. I have already downloaded an architectural design for
the observatory and am pretty ready to go.

I would be very interested in hearing from someone who has attempted
this kind of thing (i.e. building a private observatory), w.r.t planning
permision required etc. But first things first, which areas of England
(within 90 miles of London), are the most picturesque/rural - and also
have the least light pollution?

Look forward to your responses.

Takeshi wrote:
Hi all,

I have a rather bizarre request (possibly the first of a kind asked in
this ng). I hope you do not consider it OT.

Some of you may remember me from my posts some time back in 2003, after
having stumbeld accross this ng - and it rekindling my interest in
astronomy etc. I am looking to purchase some land (about 10 acres), to
build an observatory (as well as a new home). I thought I may be able to
get some ideas from this ng, as to where we would be a good place (i.e
will not suffer from too much light pollution - but at the same time, is
not in the middle of nowhere). Basically, anywhere within 90 miles of
London will be a potential candidate. I don't like kent because of the
flooding risk, but other than that, anything falling within the 90 mile
radius should be fair game.

Since we (my wife and I) will also be building our new home there,
hopefully, it should have a rural/village feel to it. Any
suggestions/feedback at all will be very much appreciated. Naturally,
the house will be built first (my wife won't have it any other way!).
but once the main house is completed, I will most likely be returning
here with queries about suggestions on the best telescope/ or if I need
to build my own. Maybe some "crazy" optical physicist/engineer out there
may even help me build the "multiple lens" telescope I was banging on
about last time. I have already downloaded an architectural design for
the observatory and am pretty ready to go.

I would be very interested in hearing from someone who has attempted
this kind of thing (i.e. building a private observatory), w.r.t planning
permision required etc. But first things first, which areas of England
(within 90 miles of London), are the most picturesque/rural - and also
have the least light pollution?

Since light pollution is likely to be correlated with population density
I'd start by looking at the population density maps from the last census
(forget the URL...)

On Mon, 27 Dec 2004 23:30:23 +0000 (UTC), Takeshi
wrote:

. I am looking to purchase some land (about 10 acres), to
build an observatory (as well as a new home).

Kent does have some hills ! However a light pollution map [from
newpaper article] is at

http://home.freeuk.com/m.gavin/uknite.htm

and is not very comforting within 90 miles of Londong. Northern
France is darker - the French assume cars have headlights and so don't
need excessive street lighting the main cause of light pollution in
UK.

It's pointless building an observatory just to look through a
telescope - you need to record the sky through a camera from a fixed
location and then light pollution can be electronically removed in
most cases so widening choice of location.

Worcester Park Ob - Surrey UK

"Takeshi" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

I have a rather bizarre request (possibly the first of a kind asked in
this ng). I hope you do not consider it OT.

Some of you may remember me from my posts some time back in 2003, after
having stumbeld accross this ng - and it rekindling my interest in
astronomy etc. I am looking to purchase some land (about 10 acres), to
build an observatory (as well as a new home). I thought I may be able to
get some ideas from this ng, as to where we would be a good place (i.e
will not suffer from too much light pollution - but at the same time, is
not in the middle of nowhere). Basically, anywhere within 90 miles of
London will be a potential candidate. I don't like kent because of the
flooding risk, but other than that, anything falling within the 90 mile
radius should be fair game.

Philips www.philips-maps.co.uk have just published the UK "Dark Skies
Map" . It's quite an eye-opener, and as others have said, the London area
is heavily polluted, with very few dark pockets shown. Certainly explains
why, when I went from Milton Keynes to what I thought was a "dark site" a
few miles away (visually , it was much darker), my exposures showed only a
darkening of about 2 stops (~4x) wrt light pollution.
Build a holiday cottage in Wales!
--
M Stewart
Milton Keynes, UK
http://www.megalith.freeserve.co.uk/oddimage.htm

In ,
Malcolm Stewart typed:
Build a holiday cottage in Wales!


Yes, I live in Powys and light pollution is minimal. The Milky Way is easily
visible on any cloudless night. We do have some local streetlights that
spoil my night vision but the sky itself is usually velvety black. From the
top of a local hill I can see a dome of orange light over the adjacent towns
of Shrewsbury (30 miles away) and Oswestry (20 miles).

Jo

"Takeshi" wrote in message
...
I would be very interested in hearing from someone who has attempted this
kind of thing (i.e. building a private observatory), w.r.t planning
permision required etc. But first things first, which areas of England
(within 90 miles of London), are the most picturesque/rural - and also
have the least light pollution?

Not sure about light pollution, but for unclouded skies you might want to
check how far Selsey is from London!
Grim

in astronomy etc. I am looking to purchase some land (about 10
acres), to build an observatory (as well as a new home). I thought I
may be able to get some ideas from this nag, as to where we would be a
good place (i.e will not suffer from too much light pollution - but
at the same time, is not in the middle of nowhere). Basically,
anywhere within 90 miles of London will be a potential candidate. I
don't like kent because of the flooding risk, but other than that,
anything falling within the 90 mile radius should be fair game.

Since we (my wife and I) will also be building our new home there,
hopefully, it should have a rural/village feel to it. Any
suggestions/feedback at all will be very much appreciated.

A 90mile radius gets you from the centre of London to roughly, Bournemouth,
Warminster, Gloucester/Cheltemham, Birmingham, Kings Lynn, Norwich, Dunwich.

as to where we would be a
good place (i.e will not suffer from too much light pollution - but
at the same time, is not in the middle of nowhere).

No. you can have either of these but not both. Your choice.

I don't like kent because of the flooding risk, but other than that,

OK, If you're iffy about being flooded, that pretty much rules out the Essex
and Suffolk coast as well - maybe anywhere near Kings Lynn, too.

On balance I'd go for Warminster. True, its a total turd of a town, but you
might be able to find your 10 acres up near Salisbury Plain, somewhere -
it's still pretty dark up there. Though probably for not much longer.

Regards
Chef!

Selsey is from London!

Never seems to be any cloud there!!

Damian

--
Damian Burrin
UKRA 1159 Level 2 RSO
EARS 1115
http://www.ukrocketry.com
http://www.larf-rocketry.co.uk

email
email
email
"Grimble Gromble" wrote in message
...
"Takeshi" wrote in message
...
I would be very interested in hearing from someone who has attempted this
kind of thing (i.e. building a private observatory), w.r.t planning
permision required etc. But first things first, which areas of England
(within 90 miles of London), are the most picturesque/rural - and also
have the least light pollution?

Not sure about light pollution, but for unclouded skies you might want to
check how far Selsey is from London!
Grim

Takeshi wrote:
I don't like kent because of the flooding risk

Not much danger of that here on the North Downs (I'm about 10 miles
south of Canterbury). Pretty dark here as well.

Best,
Stephen

Remove footfrommouth to reply

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It is a difficult one. I have a light pollution map and the largest swathes
of dark are either west of Telford or north of York - a long way from
London - although there are small pockets of darkness elsewhere. I know from
experience and research that flooding risks occur around London in a wide
range of directions. Selsey is popular for observation, but as it once lost
a cathedral to the sea it hardly bodes well on the flooding front! As the
location of the replacement cathedral, inland at Chichester, is 112 km (70
miles) from London Selsey must be a similar distance.

"Takeshi" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

I have a rather bizarre request (possibly the first of a kind asked in
this ng). I hope you do not consider it OT.

Some of you may remember me from my posts some time back in 2003, after
having stumbled across this ng - and it rekindling my interest in
astronomy etc. I am looking to purchase some land (about 10 acres), to
build an observatory (as well as a new home). I thought I may be able to
get some ideas from this ng, as to where we would be a good place (i.e
will not suffer from too much light pollution - but at the same time, is
not in the middle of nowhere). Basically, anywhere within 90 miles of
London will be a potential candidate. I don't like Kent because of the
flooding risk, but other than that, anything falling within the 90 mile
radius should be fair game.

Since we (my wife and I) will also be building our new home there,
hopefully, it should have a rural/village feel to it. Any
suggestions/feedback at all will be very much appreciated. Naturally,
the house will be built first (my wife won't have it any other way!).
but once the main house is completed, I will most likely be returning
here with queries about suggestions on the best telescope/ or if I need
to build my own. Maybe some "crazy" optical physicist/engineer out there
may even help me build the "multiple lens" telescope I was banging on
about last time. I have already downloaded an architectural design for
the observatory and am pretty ready to go.

I would be very interested in hearing from someone who has attempted
this kind of thing (i.e. building a private observatory), w.r.t planning
permission required etc. But first things first, which areas of England
(within 90 miles of London), are the most picturesque/rural - and also
have the least light pollution?

Look forward to your responses.