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Post by Su on Jun 13, 2023 0:10:30 GMT
Staying here in Menorca, the back of the holiday home is very very dark at night
Consequently the stars look fabulous
It makes you realise how bad the UK and especially Brum is for light pollution, which is sad as the sky at night is stunning
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Post by mulv on Jun 13, 2023 3:32:21 GMT
You'll doubtless remember walking back from the pub at Terry & Janet's on the far West coast of Ireland. The sky was so clear it was difficult to recognise any constellations because there were SO MANY stars. Then that shouting star curved across what seemed to be the entire sky - every single one of us gasped at the same time.
Up our hill we're above a lot of the light pollution and actual pollution, and seeing the Milky Way is reasonable common, but that sky in Ireland was stunning.
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Post by tom on Jun 13, 2023 5:24:19 GMT
I'VE NEVER HEARD A SHOUTING STAR.
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Post by anglais on Jun 13, 2023 5:30:39 GMT
Our first night down here we arrived very late, about 11.00pm. We drove across the Rougiers from St Affrique to St Sernin and apart from the occasional dim light from a distant farmhouse it seemed pitch black. It shocked me a bit as I had never witnessed darkness like it. We soon got used to it and often lean out of the window look at the stars. Unfortunately being in the valley we do not have that much sky to look at.
When I was testing tank gearboxes for the Chinese Military about 15 years ago in the Gobi Desert the darkness was unreal. We were surrounded by nothing but hundreds of miles of sand dunes. We sat around a log fire at night spit roasting a lamb and baking potato's and getting sozzled on warm beer and Moutai and we would just lie back and mutter to ourselves "Just look at them f###ing stars".
I can remember the nights getting down to -40C too. That was blooming cold.
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Post by mulv on Jun 13, 2023 18:40:43 GMT
That IS cold.
On the morning I got early bus duty on my teaching practice in Wisconsin it was -25°C with another -15°C windchill.
And in the staffroom (sorry, Teachers' Lounge) they kept telling me it was a mild winter. 😬
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Post by anglais on Jun 14, 2023 7:33:18 GMT
That IS cold. On the morning I got early bus duty on my teaching practice in Wisconsin it was -25°C with another -15°C windchill. And in the staffroom (sorry, Teachers' Lounge) they kept telling me it was a mild winter. 😬 I know that around the Great Lakes, Green Bay area, -25C would be considered quite balmy. In Mongolia I worked there on and off for around a year and experienced the Summer, very, very hot and horrendously cold in the winter. The Chinese Military all had thick felt overcoats that reached the ground and "Davy Crockett" hats with the ear flats. To keep warm we had braziers made out of old oil drums. The good thing about the winter is that there was no frost the air was that dry. We did have a huge dump of snow one day though. It was great fun in summer sliding down the sand dunes on metal "trays". I rarely did a stroke of work while I was there and got paid for the privilege. |
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Post by tom on Jun 14, 2023 15:36:30 GMT
Whats heavy polution like.
When we went to Sharm El Shiek a few years back, we went on a night star watching excursion into the Sinai...the guide had set up several telescopes on planets and other astral notables. He then went on to describe shooting stars, as he said it, a cluster of about 50 (so he said) flashed into view, it was quite spectacular and perfect timing.
Yes, with the clear skies, it was totally different to what we see over Brum.
Although to be fair, the skies over Porthmadog can be pretty spectacular. When we holidayed up there, I would take the kids on the beach at night and pretend I knew where the pole star was and the plough etc.
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Post by Su on Jun 14, 2023 17:27:58 GMT
We did a sunset and stats trip in tenerife a few years ago. The night sky was spectacular. JB looked up at the Milky Way and asked me if that was the clouds. I explained that the clouds were below us. Mind blown 🤯
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