South-West England Chesil beach - Milky Way

[woody12]

Hi, not sure if this is the best place to ask but off to Weymouth with the wife and hoping for some Milky Way shots and a clear night.
I've read some where that chesil beach is good for Milky Way and star photography and would be good as am a short walk away.
Obviously there are better places but the beach would be ideal to practise on. Thanks for any help

 

[Tringa]

Download the free Stellarium. It can be set up to show the sky from anywhere on the Earth.

At present the best part of the Milky Way that can be seen from the UK is more or less due south around about 9pm. However, that is only a little over an hour after sunset so there might be some residual light. Waiting until around 11pm would give you a better chance.

Dave

 

[LongLensPhotography]

There is a fair bit of light pollution and from memory MW is hardly visible with naked eye although it will register on the camera.

You need to get up to Scotland or deep into Wales for proper night skies.

 

[AndWhyNot]

The coast from Swanage to Portland has become somewhat of an attraction for night sky photographers. Sure, the quality of the darkness is better through much of Wales or Scotland but Dorset is an accessible alternative. That said, Chesil Beach is largely featureless and *may* be affected by local ambient light (the foreground more than the sky views). Probably worth heading a few miles from the beach to a more photogenic landmark, unless all you're after is a reference photo of some stars. Good advice above re using an app to navigate the sky- I use PhotoPills (iOS only)- not so much astronomy detail but lots of info to assist photographing the night sky.

 

[damianmkv]

In theory, Chesil should be fine as the MW is visible south east to south west. Might be worth a 10 minute drive up to Portland Bill as it'll be dark there and you can get a good view point

Chesil isn't a short walk from Weymouth ( unless you're the western side ) - it's around 10 mins drive from Weymouth beach