Brecon Beacons Dark Sky Area

[Derelict-UK]

Recently the Brecon Beacons has been given a Dark Sky award and is one of only 5 areas in the world to have one (the next closest is the Galloway National Park in Scotland.

I was there last night and got a few pictures, definitely going back when the moon is new as I didn't get much chance for loads of pictures as I had to contend with cloud cover at the start. I also saw a good sized shooting star whilst taking the first 2 images but it was behind the cameras and one smaller (or far far away as Father Ted would say) shooting star towards the end which I have included...

I had a Nikon D7000 at 10mm (Fisheye) and a D300 at 12mm

First image is photographing the D7000 and me getting in the way to cover the lens when some farmers walked past in the opposite field with torches...

[The following images were 30 second ISO500 F3.5 images and stacked on each other using StarStaX]

The following 2 images were taken over a 40 minute period

And this is the image from the D7000...

Then I moved the D300 back into another area but looking into the Priory lights.

The following image was taken over 25 minutes...

And the image below was taken over a 30 minute period...

And to finish it off, from the image above I saw what looked to be a faint shooting star...

:approve:

 

[chrisazzy]

Love the last picture.

I was reading about the 2 parks you've mentioned this morning about viewing the stars at night.

 

[Naith]

that last pic, my days...

 

[Ay Ay Ron]

Nice
They done something on the one show about it a month or so ago (when it was given the classification)

Looks a great place for star gazing. I'm sure Scott has had a few decent images from there too recently (or at least close by)

I've got to travel a good hour to get decent skies by me but its going to be worth it. Just let your eyes adjust to the darkness and its amazing what you can see.

 

[Derelict-UK]

Nice
They done something on the one show about it a month or so ago (when it was given the classification)

Looks a great place for star gazing. I'm sure Scott has had a few decent images from there too recently (or at least close by)

I've got to travel a good hour to get decent skies by me but its going to be worth it. Just let your eyes adjust to the darkness and its amazing what you can see.

It's the same place where the One Show went. There is a pub in the Priory so you need to hang around until after 23:40 and then (most) of the lights go out.

 

[Brazo]

Saw this park and that ruin on countryfile recently, looks good for a photo meet!

Lol at the torches, great shots

 

[Derelict-UK]

Went back last night with a mate, got some more pics, messed around with higher ISO's too up to 3200 which isn't something I usually work with...

Contacting the Aliens...

 

[Niall]

They look quite surreal those shots, quite eery, I like them.

 

[Habitual]

Very nice shots man, good work! I really like the second set.

 

[Eddie.]

The last pic on the OP

Awesome, really really love that.

 

[chrisazzy]

Awesome pictures.

Does the night sky look fantastic to the eye being away from city lights?

 

[Philip.]

They're fantastic!

Need to get out into Wales to do some proper trails soon.

 

[Chip-mk1]

last pic is really awesome

 

[Wick]

Awesome awesome photos.

 

[Ay Ay Ron]

Really like the second set too. Great shots.

They're fantastic!

Need to get out into Wales to do some proper trails soon.

Should try to sort something out for a few of us to meet up. Know some decent dark sky areas round North Wales. Tricky though as the forecast doesn't ever seem to be right.

 

[Derelict-UK]

Awesome pictures.

Does the night sky look fantastic to the eye being away from city lights?

Yeah, we had camping chairs to watch the world go by once the cameras were doing their thing. I would say the 9-11pm is the best time, it's weird, the longer you are there, the more your eyes get used to it and you see less intense stars.

It is so dark, you can see tiny satellites moving across the sky! There is still light pollution there though, if you face north, you will see the orange glow in your images, if you face south, you barely get any.

As we were right on the border of the Brecon Beacons, there is definitely more fun to have deeper in the park!!

 

[chrisazzy]

Yeah, we had camping chairs to watch the world go by once the cameras were doing their thing. I would say the 9-11pm is the best time, it's weird, the longer you are there, the more your eyes get used to it and you see less intense stars.

It is so dark, you can see tiny satellites moving across the sky! There is still light pollution there though, if you face north, you will see the orange glow in your images, if you face south, you barely get any.

As we were right on the border of the Brecon Beacons, there is definitely more fun to have deeper in the park!!

Brilliant. I'm off to Scotland at the end of the month and staying near Loch Ness so hopefully it will be dark & clear skies for some star gazing.