International Dark Sky Week is upon us with stargazers around the globe looking forward to inspirational celestial experiences.
Initially designed to raise awareness of light pollution and celebrate the night sky’s beauty, the annual event runs from April 22-30.
With that in mind, PsychicWorld.com wanted to discover the UK’s must-visit spots for stargazing, naming three Scotland locations among them.
READ MORE: 2022 travel predictions: The most in-demand UK staycation spots
READ MORE: Top 40 family-friendly walks in Great Britain
Celestial events happening in 2022
UK's top spots for stargazing
The research used scientific data such as the Bortle scale - a classification system which uses astronomical observations to measure light pollution. The scale runs from 1 (best) to 9 (worst).
They also checked out an instrument used to give a reading on the luminance of the night sky called a Sky Quality Meter. A rating of 16.00 indicates the brightest sky and 22.00 the darkest.
Finally, to come up with an overall score, they referred to ‘Artificial Brightness’ which measures sky brightness against natural brightness. It is set at 174 µcd/m2. A rating higher than 3,000 µcd/m2 is known as ‘Very high light intensity’ and at this level the human eye does not need to adapt to the dark to see.
UK locations with highest Stargazing Quality Scores
- Tresco, Scilly Isles – 99.38
- Glen Brittle, Isle of Skye – 99.33
- Loch Lomond – 95.26
- Lindisfarne Castle, Northumberland – 95.26
- Llanddwyn Island – 93.17
- Tintagel Castle, Tintagel – 93.13
- Portmeirion – 91.09
- Stratford-upon-Avon – 89.05
- Giant's Causeway – 89.05
- Fort William – 89.05
- East Sussex – 89.05
- Durdle Door, Dorset – 89.05
- Bowness-on-Windermere, Lake District England 89.05
- Bourton-on-the-Water, Cotswolds – 89.05
Coming in top is Tresco on the Scilly Isles. The remote island location is ideal for stargazing as it has a Bortle Scale classification of 1. This rating allows stargazers to see the Triangulum Galaxy, 2.73 million light-years from Earth, with the naked eye.
Second on the list is Glen Brittle on the Isle of Skye, well known for its natural beauty. Glen Brittle has a SQM reading of 22.00, the highest possible score for this metric, meaning the area has no light pollution at all.
However, visit any of the locations in this list during International Dark Sky Week and you will be sure of some remarkable night time sights.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel