After being in the hobby a year or so, I decided to determine the quality of my backyard skies. I used a magnitude chart of the stars in Ursa Minor and Lyra to determine that my limiting mag is just under 6.0. Then, I compared my results to the map at Dark Sky Finder. It turns out that I too view from an orange zone.
I have to agree with all of the comments that suggest that one can enjoy the hobby regardless of the amount of light polluting their skies. While I do occasionally visit a Blue site about 30 minutes from where I live (Devil's Den State Park), I have almost as good a time in my own backyard. Even under Orange skies, there's plenty of objects to view, be they clusters, nebulae, or galaxies.
I can't understand those who confine their viewing only to optimal sky conditions. While I've always subscribed to the maxim "quality over quantity," I can't imagine applying it to my viewing habits. If I did, I'd only get out under the stars once a month and not two or three times a week like I do now. Besides, my backyard viewing sessions actually enhance my trips to a dark site, as I love seeing the difference in detail the dark skies make to objects I'm already familiar with.
-------------------- Orion XT8 Dob w/ Moonlite 2-speed Crayford focuser, Vixen A80MF w/ GSO 2-speed Crayford and Porta Mount
32mm Televue Plossl, 31mm Hyperion Aspheric, 24mm Meade SWA, 17,13,8mm Hyperions, 6,5,4mm TMB Planetary, 5mm Baader Genuine Ortho
Garrett Optical 20x80 UL Binoculars, Nikon Action Extreme 10x50 Binoculars
Previous
Index
Next
Flat
Re: Is orange Zone 5 bad???
Edit
Reply
Quote
