Traeth Porth Ceiriad
With May being the last month the Milky Way core is visible until it returns in August, I and a friend decided to head to Porth Ceiriad Beach on the Llyn Peninsula. I have become very fond of the dark skies of the Llyn Peninsula, this location in particular was a bortle 2. The bortle scale is a scale of varying light pollution, with 9 being the highest and 1 the darkest of skies. From the photos I had seen online I was pretty excited to visit this pretty beach!
When researching this location online, I could see only one car park close by. The post code is LL53 7BY if you are fancy a visit, and more info about the location can be found here. I had also ordered the Move Shoot Move laser adapter for my iOptron SkyGuider Pro and was stoked to give it a go- I had excellent feedback about how it made polar aligning a dream!
We arrived in plenty of time, and parked up and started to get sorted. No toilet at this car park, or any other facilities. The car park was open- you could get in, and I noted ANPR cameras dotted around. Examining the signs it does state no overnight parking allowed when the car park is closed, and attempting to pay by the only pay and display machine (coin only by the way) didn’t end in success. There was no way to pay for parking. I had looked at maps previously and hadn’t noted anywhere else to park that wouldn’t be an inconvenience, and I wasn’t sure driving around narrow country lanes in the dark to try and find somewhere else was the best of ideas, so we decided to chance it. No parking ticket in the post as of yet- will come back and update you if one arrives!
We unloaded the car and made our way down the short trail to the steps to the beach. There is something wonderfully peaceful about beaches at night. The sky was dark and clear, and we set our camping chairs up on the beach, being careful as to where we sat as the tide was on the way in. I set up my tripod, and we sat and chatted as we waited for the core to be visible.
I attached my laser to my tracker as directed in the online videos I had watched, and checked for planes before switching it on. I was able to point the laser directly at Polaris, at which point I switched it off, disconnected and viewed the polar scope. Hurray! There was Polaris- just a few minor adjustments and my tracker was perfectly aligned. Using this laser made alignment a TONNE easier and quicker, and I would highly recommend.
I set my camera up to take some shots- you can see a quick edit of one of the images from this shoot. We sat and ate plenty of good snacks, gazing at the stars. We saw the ISS pass over- first time I have seen it rather than picked it up accidentally on my camera. I even got a shot of it again. We saw plenty of shooting stars too. All in all a successful night under the stars. It really is soothing- and as we call it ‘star therapy’.
Looking back at my shots from this night, it’s great to see the difference using a tracker and how I have improved using it every night shooting. The core may not be visible until August, so I plan to spend the summer scouting locations and planning shoots for the late Milky Way season. I have spent a lot more time shooting astro this year, and I even though the core won’t be visible I am still going to get out and shoot at night to further improve by ability to use the tracker ready for the late season to start!
I may even add some more astro related blog posts over the summer- with informational blogs on topics such as gear, shooting, apps, planning. What would you like to see? Let me know in the comments!