Perseid Watching in Dublin West

[CrimsonGhost]

Looking for suggestions of places in Dublin West (D15 ideally) which will have minimal light polution for some perseid watching. Don't want to travel too far as I have a 7yo who absolutely wants to be woken to watch them for a bit, and don't want spending too long travelling. We did it last year, but were on holidays in the remotes of Co. Carlow so it was pitch dark and great for viewing.

jfSDAS

Hi CrimsonGhost,

I've stumbled across a few pull-in places driving west of that part of the City before.

One is centred on https://www.google.ie/maps/@53.4408815,-6.4336771,14z?hl=en where you go out the M3 to Junction 5 and then turn off, crossing over the motorway and slightly doubling back to the Logistics Park. Turn down Belgree Lane and you should find a couple of spots where a car or two will fit. We spoke to a homeowner along that road before about occasionally using their field to do a bit of observing. That was a couple of years ago though and we never did actually use the site.

I've also gone down back roads in the Naul, Walshestown areas to find spots to check for noctilucent cloud or aurora. Again, they were just places I could pull in the car with space for maybe one more. I couldn't identify them again as they were stumbled upon by chancing going down narrow roads!

Apologies for the vague directions above.

Southside I've gone to the back of Slievethoul, accessed by driving up McDonagh's Lane from Brittas on the N81 to Blessington. If not familiar with the area then a landmark for the turnoff is the (now closed) Blue Jardina pub. The back of the hill has a few spots for cars to pull in and a short walk into the forest will lead to a wide open space. I've used that location before to get a clear western horizon to spot Mercury when low. It's also got great views to the south and east at the car park area itself. Despite the lights of the towns in Kildare it's actually a very good location for a quick spot of stargazing and close to the city.

Clear skies and good luck with the observing!

John

Some links:
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-blogs/capturing-the-perseids-how-to-photograph-a-meteor-shower/
http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-perseid-meteor-shower
http://www.universetoday.com/130085/get-ready-2016-perseids/
http://www.astronomy.com/news/observing/2016/08/perseid-meteor-shower-set-for-its-best-show-in-nearly-20-years
http://www.popastro.com/meteor/activity/activity.php?id_pag=228

A Perseid watch is being organised by Midlands Astronomy Club on Friday, August 12th at 8pm at their observing site in Clonminch near Tullamore. More details by emailing them at midlandsastronomy@gmail.com

Meath Astronomy Club have the event below (which I'll be at too)

[CrimsonGhost]

Cheers for all that info, really appreciated. Looking at the weather Thursday or Sunday are likely to be the clearest nights from what I can see. I reckon the first option of heading out the N3 is probably what we will go for. I'd stay up for hours, but with younger ones it needs to be a relatively short time. 1 hour (including travel) that late will be enough for them.