Dark Skies in North Yorkshire

This February why not spend some time looking at the night sky? The night sky is awe-inspiring and yet we often ignore it despite the wonders it contains. To get started the only thing you need to do is get outside and go for a walk. Look out for any street lights that might be on and avoid them. Also, make sure you can see all the way up to the stars.

The winter nights are the best time of year to get outside and look up at the stars. With the skies around North Yorkshire having less light pollution than other areas you are to enjoy dark skies without glare. For example, a recent study shows that light pollution from nearby towns and cities is causing a reduction in visibility of the stars and planets however sites in rural locations are special due to their high quality darkness. North Yorkshire is officially one with three places in the North York Moors National Park in particular are noted as being spectacular. Sutton Bank and Dalby Forest both close to Pickering and Danby near Whitby are well worth a visit.

If you decide to take a look the Milky Way is often visible from our area. You can observe Jupiter at a very low altitude at the end of winter and the Perseid meteor showers will be peaking. There is far more visibility in low moonlight so pick a star gazing night without a full moon.

If you would like to know what you are looking at then head over to https://stellarium.org/. There is also a handy paid app for both Android and iPhone to help you identify any celestial body that you are looking at.

So if you want to make the most of your star gazing trips this year, here’s a checklist to get started:

The night sky is amazing and if we can take a moment out to admire it then it’s something that should be done at least once a year. If you go outside with your family or friends then you will appreciate the beauty of the night and you may just become addicted to it. We are always being told to look up but it is easy to miss out because of light pollution in our towns and cities. It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day tasks of life so taking a moment to look up at the sky will make you appreciate what we have on this planet.