Stargazing in the UK

The Royal Observatory Greenwich has revealed the top locations Brits should visit for a clear view of the heavens.

The Brecon Beacons, Snowdonia and Elan Valley were also identified as great places for Brits to gain a view of the stars.

The news follows research that found 44% of adults wish they knew more about the night sky, with two in five saying they would like to learn the names of stars.

The study was commissioned by the Google Pixel 4, in partnership with Royal Observatory Greenwich (ROG), to mark the start of the darkest season – the perfect time for astrophotography.

Key constellations

For those unable to travel to these locations to see the night sky for themselves, the ROG has highlighted some of the key constellations Brits will be able to observe.

Among Andromeda, constellations such as Aries, Cassiopeia and Pegasus can be seen with the naked eye under very dark skies.

To prove this, ROG astronomers captured their first ever smartphone image of the Andromeda Galaxy from Greenwich in London using Google Pixel 4 – despite the city’s light polluted conditions.

The camera was also able to capture Camelopardalis, Cassiopeia, Lacerta, Perseus, Pegasus, Triangulum, Aries and Pisces.

‘This is the first time we’ve ever captured a galaxy like Andromeda using just a mobile phone, and it’s exciting to think how today’s technology can open the door to anyone to further explore London’s skyline.’

BRENDAN OWENS
Astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich

To mark the first smartphone photo of the Andromeda galaxy, Google Pixel 4 hosted an event at ROG for an evening of stargazing and astrophotography, where British astronaut Major Tim Peake spoke about his love of astrophotography and what it was like to capture the cosmos during his recent space mission.

With stargazing season well underway, ROG and Google are calling on Google Pixel 4 users to share their best urban and dark sky astrophotography by tagging images @GoogleUK on Twitter.

‘It’s easy to forget to look up when we are going about our day-to-day lives so it’s great to see Google encouraging more and more people to get outdoors, look up and appreciate our incredible universe.’

MAJOR TIM PEAKE
Astronaut