Hubble image of Galaxy UGC 2885, which may be the largest one in the local universe. It is 2.5 times wider than our Milky Way and contains 10 times as many stars. This galaxy is 232 million light-years away, located in the northern constellation of Perseus.

The Cambrian Mountains offer some of the darkest of Dark Skies in the United Kingdom. Gazing into a starry sky is one of the most awe-inspiring experiences on offer here, and something humans have been doing for thousands of years. We may have lost much of the mythology early civilisations created around the night sky, but we’ve added the fascination of greater knowledge as to what it is we actually see when we look up on a clear night.

Unfortunately, light pollution is increasing all over the world; this has significant implications not only for human star-gazers but also for the insect population, nocturnal birds and animals and even normally daytime species which, for the avoidance of predators, frequently breed and give birth (or hatch, as the case may be) at night. And with global temperatures increasing, the amount of water vapour in the atmosphere is also growing which further impedes the visibility of faint objects in the night sky.

Even within Wales, true darkness can be hard to find: though Bannau Brycheiniog has Dark Sky Park status, light pollution from South Wales (on the southern slopes) and Brecon itself (on the northern side) are encroaching. Snowdonia, due to its deep valleys, does have good darkness for observing, as does Bardsey Island for those able to visit at night. But onshore and south of Eryri, the western side of the Cambrians are, for now, the darkest places Wales has to offer.

In this webinar, Owen Brazell talks about the importance of darkness, the history of reading meaning in the skies, the ways in which darkness is assessed and (somewhat) protected, and how to go about seeing for yourself the marvels of our local cluster of galaxies. Owen has been interested in astronomy for almost 60 years and has been one of the leading visual observers in that time with various sizes of telescopes. He has been lucky enough to have observed from several pristine dark sky sites (Bortle scale 1-3) throughout the world. He writes a monthly column for Astronomy Now and is the President of the Webb Society.

You can watch the video here