Northern Ireland Outdoors Forum - Hiking, camping and more
General => General Chat => Topic started by: RedLeader on October 05, 2010
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Spotted this pic of a Rural and Suburban night sky. The difference is dramatic and although this is probably an American photo, we had a nice clear night in Meelmore over the summer and we could clearly spot the Milky Way too (which is the white band from top to bottom / left to right of the photo). It is fair to say though that you wouldn't necessarily see the colours that are in the photo below, it's likely a long exposure that may have been enhanced.
(http://i.imgur.com/yOZHO.jpg)
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That night at Meelmore was the clearest I've seen in a long time. Its funny because part of the appeal to me of the bivvy bag is lying staring at the stars... but anytime I've slept in my bivvy bag there is always cloud cover! Typical :)
I remember reading this article (http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/nov/16/galloway-forest-dark-skies-stargazing) last year about an area in Scotland that was awarded special status for star gazing. Scottish wild camp anyone?
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Definitely gonna go with a rural sky. I was camping in the Jämtland mountains in Sweden a few weeks ago, around 100km to the nearest town, 200km to the nearest city (and by town I mean maybe a couple of houses and a bus stop). It had been cloudy the whole weekend but on my last night there I woke up in the middle of the night and the number of stars was unbelievable, I've never seen anything like it. Unfortunately no sign of seeing the milky way, but nonetheless an incredible sight. I always find with urban environments there is too much light pollution both for your eyes to be able to adjust properly and for the sheer volume of stars to become apparent.
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Suprising you couldn't see the Milky Way. Would definitely have been visible.
Definitely gonna go with a rural sky. I was camping in the Jämtland mountains in Sweden a few weeks ago, around 100km to the nearest town, 200km to the nearest city (and by town I mean maybe a couple of houses and a bus stop). It had been cloudy the whole weekend but on my last night there I woke up in the middle of the night and the number of stars was unbelievable, I've never seen anything like it. Unfortunately no sign of seeing the milky way, but nonetheless an incredible sight. I always find with urban environments there is too much light pollution both for your eyes to be able to adjust properly and for the sheer volume of stars to become apparent.
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It most likely was, but being 4am in the morning and about -2°c I wasn't for getting out of my sleeping bag to have a proper look. I was quite cosy under my tarp looking out the front, so it was only a small portion of the sky that I could see.
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Sounds awesome Tim, I take it you're having a good time in Sweden then? Kudos for tarping in sub-zero conditions :)
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Yep it's fantastic. University is pretty boring, but theres 1000km worth of hiking trails that start from one of the subway stations in Stockholm, so I'm slowly working my through them. Although camping solo this time of year is pretty boring, as it's pitch black by about 6pm, so theres not a whole lot to do if your on your own. Temperatures started to drop now in the city just touching freezing during the night, so there will be plenty more sub-zero tarping from me. And at least now the mosquitos have all gone :D
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Yep it's fantastic. University is pretty boring, but theres 1000km worth of hiking trails that start from one of the subway stations in Stockholm, so I'm slowly working my through them. Although camping solo this time of year is pretty boring, as it's pitch black by about 6pm, so theres not a whole lot to do if your on your own. Temperatures started to drop now in the city just touching freezing during the night, so there will be plenty more sub-zero tarping from me. And at least now the mosquitos have all gone :D
Sounds awesome! Hows the gear holding out?
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The gear's all holding out well. The sleeping bag and mat are great, still too warm for them really as I'm finding anytime I wake up during the night when I'm out I have to unzip the bag and let some cold air in to cool off a bit. Everyone else on the hiking trip up in the mountains didn't sleep because they were too cold. Definitely cannot complain about the terra trousers, I love them and no idea how I did without them.
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rural definitely better.
you dont have houses and buildings in the way.
all that artificial light etc.