Stray Light...

Panorama from the Rosette, through Barnards Loop to Orion Nebula

One of the minor annoyances of living in Britain is the amount of council tax paid for stray light there is.  I'm sure that there are a quite substantial quantity of the street lights in this country that automatically switch on at the predetermined time and illuminate the ground 30 foot below, but actually benefit no one and nothing.  The purpose they serve is for the council to be able to say - we have done our job.  The streets are safe.  Would the streets be any less safe though, if unnecessary lighting in less travelled areas was turned off, or sensor operated?  Aylesbury Vale were I live is a corridor of relative dark surrounded by the light bubbles of Bicester, Buckingham, Milton Keynes, Oxford, High Wycombe, and of course Aylesbury itself.  It seems inconceivable that a true dark spot could be found in such a place, but copious research and a few telephone conversations with local farmers have secured me two good spots (I am sworn to secrecy about the locations).  Sites with few or no street lights and little passing traffic are rarities to be appreciated if you enjoy looking up at an unpolluted sky.  These two images were taken at my favorite dark site.  The local farmer knows me  so he does not call the police when I arrive in the middle of the night!

Panorama from the Pliedes to the California Nebula