We live in the North York Moors, a Dark Skies Area where we’ve seen amazing events like the Perseid meteor shower and Northern Lights.
In this blog post, we’ll share our experiences and give you tips on where to go,. What apps to use, and how to enjoy stargazing in this beautiful place.
We’ve blogged about the wonderful dark skies here before, but over the last couple of nights, we’ve come to appreciate them even more.
This week, there’s been lots in the news about the Perseid meteor shower making an appearance. On Monday we ventured out into our garden to the stars overhead, and whilst the sky was stunning, we didn’t see any meteors.
We then began getting alerts from our AuroraWatch UK app on Tuesday evening. As the alerts went from yellow to amber to red, we decided that we’d head out to see what we could see on the moors.
There are lots of locations locally recommended here but we decided to try out one of our own. We wanted to have a clear view north with as little light pollution as possible. Luckily as you can see from the map, there are plenty of places to choose from.
We headed for the top of Chimney Bank, the steep hill that leads down into Rosedale Abbey. It’s just a 10 minute drive from Appleton Le Moors. We didn’t have particularly high hopes as we headed over the moors as the sky wasn’t as clear as we’d hoped.
But we decided to take a long anyway, and we are so glad we did. About 5 minutes walk from the car, we set up to look down over Rosedale Abbey and across to Westerdale. Well, when we say set up, Ian had his tripod, snazzy camera and gadgets. Jackie had her iphone.
We were not expecting to see the aurora borealis, but within minutes of setting up, we could see a shimmering of white lights in the sky. And through both phone and camera lens, the full colours were wonderful. We just saw a few meteors; Ian managed to capture one low on his camera. You can see the lights below the horizon which are car headlights.
Further north, we could see amazing flashes of an electric storm lighting up the sky.
We felt very privileged and lucky to live in such an amazing place.
The Long Barn is recognized by the North York Moors a dark skies friendly business; you can read more about what we offer in our guide. You’ll also find lots of useful links to check out everything. From the best place for dark skies photography to dark skies activities taking place locally. We’d also recommend following Astro Dog. They are a local team who organise all sorts of events and know the best places to go for the best views.
If you have an interest in Dark Skies, please let us know when you stay. We’ve texted guests before now, to let them know that the Milky Way is out.
All they need to do is step outside into the courtyard and wonder at the skies above.
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