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General Astronomy >> General Observing and Astronomy

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KWB
Postmaster

Reged: 09/30/06

Loc: Westminster,Co Elev.5400 feet

Re: Darkest sky/site you've been to... new

[Re: csa/montana]
#4114199 - 10/14/10 12:17 AM

In my travels across the western US I couldn't answer the question with a single place. Colorado,West Kansas,Wyoming,New Mexico,Utah,Arizona,Montana,Idaho and in the middle of Oregon,I've been out under skies darker than 3 feet down a cow's throat. I do know the higher up in elevation the more tranparent the sky is and the more I like it.

It is indeed hard for a novice to determine which constellation is which. Naked eye and extremely obvious M31,anyone? My kind of location.

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Mike E.
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 01/26/10

Loc: Moonstone Observatory

Re: Darkest sky/site you've been to... new

[Re: KWB]
#4114517 - 10/14/10 07:27 AM

"Pruit Ridge" - off the Nacimiento/Fergussin road.
Monterey County, California. At about 3300' elev.

35* 58' 16.50"N
121* 27' 05.00"W

.

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Symui
member

Reged: 03/29/08

Loc: 37.9,-121.9 - Northern Califor...

Re: Darkest sky/site you've been to... new

[Re: Mike E.]
#4115235 - 10/14/10 12:58 PM

1. Sailing from Cayman to Belize
2. Mauna Kea
3. White Mountain
4. Oregon Star Party
5. Texas Star Party

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skybsd
Post Laureate

Reged: 02/01/08

Re: Darkest sky/site you've been to... new

[Re: sleepy]
#4115372 - 10/14/10 02:03 PM

Hi,
Here's my list: -

W Ontario / Manitoba, Canada
Arizona, US
N Mexico, US
Belize, C America
Manaus, Brazil
Barbados
Anguilla
St Maarten

Here's the funny part - I'm in the UK!

Regards,

skybsd

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Al Canarelli
Post Laureate

Reged: 12/06/07

Loc: Central New Jersey

Re: Darkest sky/site you've been to... new

[Re: northernontario]
#4115510 - 10/14/10 03:03 PM

As a native of the Northeast, I'm far from spoiled with dark skies. The only time I've seen truly dark skies in the Northeast was during a major blackout...a rare occasion indeed. About twice a year (during late summer/early fall) I usually take a few friends in my boat for tuna fishing. We go to the same area (Hudson Canyon), which is about 90 miles off shore of NJ. I have never seen darker skies in my life! Unfortunately, I personally can't look at the sky too long from a rocking boat. If I do, I will get very sick!

Other than that, the darkest skies for me with a telescope was in north/central Pa. Potter county, where the Black Forest Star party is usually held.

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BluewaterObserva
Postmaster

Reged: 05/18/04

Re: Darkest sky/site you've been to... new

[Re: Al Canarelli]
#4116023 - 10/14/10 06:26 PM

I have seen it Mag 7.5 at my own Bluewater Observatory. So it ranks.

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bherv
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 03/10/06

Loc: WMass

Re: Darkest sky/site you've been to... new

[Re: sleepy]
#4116125 - 10/14/10 07:06 PM

Cherry Springs State Park

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EdTheEdge
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 04/10/09

Loc: Lomita, CA

Re: Darkest sky/site you've been to... new

[Re: BluewaterObserva]
#4118932 - 10/15/10 09:44 PM

Quote:

I have seen it Mag 7.5 at my own Bluewater Observatory. So it ranks.

And you'll see a whole lot more with that scope of yours!

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dane lambson
sage

Reged: 09/18/07

Loc: Western New Mexico (dark sky h...

Re: Darkest sky/site you've been to... new

[Re: northernontario]
#4122778 - 10/17/10 07:40 PM Attachment (68 downloads)

Gila Wilderness in western New Mexico, looking for a lost sister-in-law during a hunting trip. I used the very clear night sky to chart a line while following her shots in the dark and reversed the line back to camp. It was really a neat experience. That was before I got into astronomy, (and GPS's.) I don't know which stars I used now but they were clear and plentiful.
Second site is a piece of land I own a mile from my house. I can see a little sky glow from albuquerque and Gallup NM, partly because the sky overhead is so dark and clear. Gallup is 35 miles away and Albuquerque is 100. Here is a daytime shot from the property at 7650 ft elevation.
Dane

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John Fitzgerald
In Focus

Reged: 01/04/04

Loc: AR

Re: Darkest sky/site you've been to... new

[Re: dane lambson]
#4122844 - 10/17/10 08:07 PM

1. Okie-Tex SP
2. Texas SP
3. SW S Dakota
4. my own dark site in N AR

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mikewirths
Vendor-Baja Dark Skies

Reged: 06/16/08

Loc: San Pedro Martir Mexico

Re: Darkest sky/site you've been to... new

[Re: John Fitzgerald]
#4124327 - 10/18/10 01:04 PM

The darkest skies for me are right in my back yard! They are at least as dark as those of TSP, but since my seeing is better most of the time I can see fainter stars. Plus the average number of clear skies are around 325!! A LOT better than my skies back in Ontario! But then thats why we moved here!
http://cleardarksky.com/c/EqlsSObMXkey.html?1

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galaxyman
Vendor - Have a Stellar Birthday

Reged: 04/04/05

Loc: Limerick, Pa

Re: Darkest sky/site you've been to... new

[Re: John Fitzgerald]
#4124345 - 10/18/10 01:12 PM

For me by far Spruce Knob in West Virginia.

A little over a week ago, the Knob served up some awesome 7th plus mag skies. Both transparency and seeing were terrific that night.

It always mesmerizes me, though I been up there numerous times over the last 20 years or so.

Karl
E.O.H.

Chesmont Astronomical Society - www.chesmontastro.org
Telekit (Swayze optics) 22" F/4.5 Dob
Homemade (Parks Optics) 12.5" F/4.8 Dob
TMB/APM 8" F/9 Refractor”The Beast”. One great DEEP SKY achro
ES 6" F/6.5 achro - Good one
Orion 4" f/6 Refractor. Also not bad for an achro
Celestron 10x60 binos

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tatarjj
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 04/20/04

Loc: Austin, TX

Re: Darkest sky/site you've been to... new

[Re: galaxyman]
#4124408 - 10/18/10 01:42 PM

I've been to Big Bend National Park, back before all this Mexican drug violence started, and I still didn't feel safe, and I felt I had to leave. Border patrol was out in force, scanning the mountains with spotlights. The skies down there and the drive there were tremendous and beautiful. In the end, I felt the dark site sky site I use 10 miles WSW of Fort Davis was just as good and much safer.

So darkest sites for me,

1) Big Bend NP (techinally darker, but lower in altitude)
2) West of Fort Davis (technically more light polluted, but 3000 feet higher in altitude than BBNP)
3) Various "grey zone" sites

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Tom Polakis
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 12/20/04

Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Re: Darkest sky/site you've been to... new

[Re: mikewirths]
#4124638 - 10/18/10 03:17 PM

Quote:

Plus the average number of clear skies are around 325!! A LOT better than my skies back in Ontario! But then thats why we moved here!
http://cleardarksky.com/c/EqlsSObMXkey.html?1

325 clear nights? Better than Paranal? Then the next five nights are going to make a significant dent in the 40 cloudy nights in the entire year.

Up here in southern Arizona, less than 200 miles of latitude to your north, we see effectively the same weather as you do at San Pedro Martir. In a good year, the number of photometric nights is 140. You won't see much monsoon that far west, so you can add as many as 60 to that total. You might get 200 photometric nights per year. That 300+ figure we keep hearing is reserved for Chile.

I'm not trying to pick on you personally; just correcting the very common rosy exaggeration of weather. It looks like you have a terrific site for your inn, and it should be as dark as they come. I'd put San Pedro Martir Observatory on my short list of really cool places to visit.

Tom

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mikewirths
Vendor-Baja Dark Skies

Reged: 06/16/08

Loc: San Pedro Martir Mexico

Re: Darkest sky/site you've been to... new

[Re: Tom Polakis]
#4124727 - 10/18/10 03:59 PM

Its ok Tom I don't feel picked on! Actually SPM is one of the least known astronomical sites from the standpoint of the amatuer world. Although it was one of the candidate sites for the thirty meter scope project.Its seeing is on par with Paranal and Hawaii. It lost out probably due to the Chilean site being drier on average.
You can read about the site characteristics here:
http://haro.astrossp.unam.mx/indexspm.html

My statement about 325 was for sure on the high side but in good years it IS 300+. Some years average around 270, with the better ones up to 310.
I would love some experienced observers to come visit! I think the biggest stumbling block will be for people to overcome their fear of visiting Mexico!

Mike

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tatarjj
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 04/20/04

Loc: Austin, TX

Re: Darkest sky/site you've been to... new

[Re: Tom Polakis]
#4124737 - 10/18/10 04:02 PM

Quote:

I'm not trying to pick on you personally; just correcting the very common rosy exaggeration of weather.

Well, to have 140 to 200 clear nights a year with transparent desert skies and boondocks desert darkness is extremely rosy compared to the rest of the country. Considering how "cloudy" it can get in the southwest during the "monsoon" though, yea, I have a hard time believing 325.

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Tony Flanders
Postmaster

Reged: 05/18/06

Loc: Cambridge, MA, USA

Re: Darkest sky/site you've been to... new

[Re: mikewirths]
#4124826 - 10/18/10 04:36 PM

Quote:

Its ok Tom I don't feel picked on! Actually SPM is one of the least known astronomical sites from the standpoint of the amatuer world. Although it was one of the candidate sites for the thirty meter scope project.

Quite so. In terms of latitude, climate, and topography, Baja California is the Northern Hemisphere's mirror image of Chile's Atacama. I definitely plan to visit some time!

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mikewirths
Vendor-Baja Dark Skies

Reged: 06/16/08

Loc: San Pedro Martir Mexico

Re: Darkest sky/site you've been to... new

[Re: tatarjj]
#4124830 - 10/18/10 04:37 PM

John I know it sounds hard to believe but its true. Ok 325 is on the high side but for sure around the 290-300 mark.
Even though we are a 7 hour drive south of San Diego Baja misses a lot of bad weather that often hits SD and tracks north and inland. Baja is extemely dry and arid even compared to the US SW. The San Pedro Martir is a sky island which often is totally clear even when coastal areas are socked in. We are at 5000 feet which puts us above the marine layer most of the time in winter.

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Tom Polakis
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 12/20/04

Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Re: Darkest sky/site you've been to... new

[Re: tatarjj]
#4125848 - 10/19/10 12:17 AM

Quote:

Considering how "cloudy" it can get in the southwest during the "monsoon" though, yea, I have a hard time believing 325.

Actually, this site is far enough west to be completely free of the monsoon. What I was talking about is high cirrus, which is very common in the Winter and Spring. No amount of elevation escapes those clouds.

Sorry to pull the topic away from sky darkness. I'm certain this site is dark. Fortunately, my wife and I are less fearful of Mexico than most, so we'll likely pay the place a visit.

Tom

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ensign
professor emeritus

Reged: 12/16/08

Loc: Southwestern Ontario

Re: Darkest sky/site you've been to... new

[Re: Tom Polakis]
#4126724 - 10/19/10 11:58 AM

The site of the Algonquin Radio Observatory in Algonquin Provincial Park in south-central Ontario.

The skies are Bortle 2 ("grey zone"). My 4" refractor has never performed better.

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