Stargazing on the Marina

The astronomical—not Hollywood—variety.

My DH and I will be on the Marina for a Baltics cruise in mid-August. Since the moon is new on our first night we’re hoping we’ll have a few clear nights to do some star gazing even though the sunset is still pretty late that far north (just before 9pm). So, I’m hoping some of you may have done this, and can give us some tips. I’ve looked at the deck plans and pictures of the ship, and I’m thinking the putting green area might be the best spot for this—unless of course it’s brightly lighted at night. Any thoughts? We’re going to pack some small travel binoculars, but they’re not very strong. Does anyone know if there are binoculars on board that we can use? All advice welcome! Thanks.

The astronomical—not Hollywood—variety.

 

 

My DH and I will be on the Marina for a Baltics cruise in mid-August. Since the moon is new on our first night we’re hoping we’ll have a few clear nights to do some star gazing even though the sunset is still pretty late that far north (just before 9pm). So, I’m hoping some of you may have done this, and can give us some tips. I’ve looked at the deck plans and pictures of the ship, and I’m thinking the putting green area might be the best spot for this—unless of course it’s brightly lighted at night. Any thoughts? We’re going to pack some small travel binoculars, but they’re not very strong. Does anyone know if there are binoculars on board that we can use? All advice welcome! Thanks.

All of the upper outdoor decks are fairly well illuminated at night.

Cabins above the Penthouse level are furnished with binoculars, otherwise bring your own.

The astronomer on Marina 4/4/15-4/21/15 used deck 16 so you are correct in thinking that is the darkest area on the ship.

Just a late thought, just how much darkness will you have in the Baltic in August?

thanks for the prompt responses!

Sitraveler, you're right that the summertime Baltic skies aren't dark for long, but I'm hoping that even thought it will be astronomical twilight for most of the night, that we'll be far enough away from land-based light pollution to at least see some remnants of the Perseids shower. (Every year, wherever I am, I try to see it-- and almost every year I'm unsuccessful because the sky is overcast, or there's too much ambient light, or both.)

StanandJim, even though you don't know me, you've got me pegged! My ultimate escape fantasy when life becomes stressful is too float in a heated pool and gaze up at a star-laden sky. (I kid you not!) We're only in a concierge veranda, so I'll pack the binocs.

QueenofDaNile, please tell me more about the astronomer on the April Cruise! Was this an enrichment lecturer? Or a fellow passenger? Where were you, and what were you able to see. Wish I had been on that cruise!

Skyrose, not trying to rain on your parade ...

But we've done two Nordic cruises. One in July 1975, one in August 2010. (Maybe I've switched the months.) My recollection is that it was MORE than twilight throughout the evening.

I hope my memory is wrong for your sake! We had maybe an hour of darkness, but not much twilight ...

When we were on the 2010 cruise, we were at North Cape around midnight and it was still pretty light ...

Let us know what you find on your cruise!

Now if you were to cruise there in February ...

Mura

Sky - Sorry that I can't be of too much help other than he was an enrichment lecturer but so "dry" that I barely made it through the first presentation (he did 3 lectures during the cruise) in the lounge. When I went up on deck for viewing on another night there were several guests asking him questions. There was cloud cover so I never saw or heard what he was trying to point out. We were in the south Pacific and sunset was rather early. Sunset in the Baltics last August on Marina was between 7:30 and 9:30ish, according to my copies of Currents from last year. Enjoy your cruise.

 

All of the upper outdoor decks are fairly well illuminated at night.

Cabins above the Penthouse level are furnished with binoculars, otherwise bring your own.

You may want to try the aft deck just above the barista. It was used strictly as a walking area and may be less lit. If memory serves, it is the same level as the putting green on the forward part of the ship

You may want to try the aft deck just above the barista. It was used strictly as a walking area and may be less lit. If memory serves, it is the same level as the putting green on the forward part of the ship

That's a negative, the back of the ship is always better lit than the front, for the same reasons that it is illegal to have a light on in the cabin of your car whilst you are driving at night.

This photo illustrates that fact rather well, but anyone who has ever booked a forward facing Suite can confirm it.

Skyrose, not trying to rain on your parade ...

 

But we've done two Nordic cruises. One in July 1975, one in August 2010. (Maybe I've switched the months.) My recollection is that it was MORE than twilight throughout the evening.

 

I hope my memory is wrong for your sake! We had maybe an hour of darkness, but not much twilight ...

 

When we were on the 2010 cruise, we were at North Cape around midnight and it was still pretty light ...

 

Let us know what you find on your cruise!

 

Now if you were to cruise there in February ...

 

Mura

Mura, I know we're bucking the odds, but I'm ever the optimist. The Baltics in February-- that would make for one heck of an adventure cruise ;-)

Wouldn't it!! Of course you're probably safe since I don't think anyone is sailing up there around that time!

Good luck on your quest! The Norway itinerary is beyond fabulous. If you find a small ship (as we did with the old Bergen Lines mail boat), ask the captain to go into the Troll Fjord. We convinced our captain to go back in on our return back to Bergen, so you never know! But it does require a small ship ...

Mura

Mura

One would think "Stargazing" would be something great out at sea with the dark sky's--but I always look and never has it been great.........we also are in the back of the ship.

Rick

We did the Baltic in June and I took photographs of the ship and neighborhood where we were docked at midnight and later on the day we boarded in Stockholm. It never got truly dark and I was uptop for about an hour and a half.

Mura, I know we're bucking the odds, but I'm ever the optimist. The Baltics in February-- that would make for one heck of an adventure cruise ;-)

Hurtigruten does their cruises all year round. I did one last December. Sure was nothing like my Riviera cruise in April last year! Our reason for going was to see the northern lights, and we did! It was dark over 18 hours a day.

In addition to the light you cant escape less on the navigation bridge inside.. there is too much light.

Second is the humidity and water vapor that forms an inversion at avout 500 to 1000 ft MSL... looking thorough a haze any where even if you turned out everything.... You can see the moon and some planets.... but that going to be it. To humid on the veranda too.... I was asked to give a class on board several years ago.... had to confine it to the moon leave the big binos home there no good...

We got to stargaze, partially, on one evening during our crossing from Tasmanian to New Zealand. We all wanted a clear night to see the Southern cross, and many of the stars. Most nights to too hazy to see anything, and on the one clear night we did have, you are battling a lot off light pollution from the ship. It is very lit up. Yes, we got to see the various stars and constellations, but it was nowhere as dramatic as we had hoped.

We did the Baltic cruise on the Marina in July 2014, with wonderful weather. With the late twilight and early sunrise, combined with the natural ocean hazes, we never had a night that was good for stargazing. You'll love the cruise, but don't get excited about the possibilities of this excerise.

Thanks to all of you for weighing in on this thread. It sound like our shipboard Perseids stargazing endeavor will be similar to what we experience in our Boston suburb.:( None the less, we are packing travel binocs (will probably find them handy for land-gazing) and our sky map. Will let you know how it goes.

...All I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by...

I’ve been quite dilatory in reporting back on my 2015 Perseid shower experience. The “show”’ actually peaked a few days before we boarded our cruise, but luck was on my side: Our hotel room in Copenhagen had a skylight, and much to my amazement, it was situated such that I had a prime view--even through the ambient city light! So my incentive to look for shooting stars while at sea was lessened by this and the fact that the shower was past peak, and I was too tired to stay up till/get up at 2 a.m. and venture to the top deck. However, the skies were dark enough and clear enough for us to see stars even earlier in the night from our veranda. So, my bottom line is this: if you are at-sea (or anywhere away from bright light) on a clear night in the northern hemisphere around mid-August (10th -13th is usually peak), it’s worth taking a few minutes to look up and to see what you can. Some years the Perseid shower doesn’t have that many shooting stars, but some years, it puts on a pretty spectacular show. If you’re interested in learning more, this article is pretty good.

http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-perseid-meteor-shower

BTY-- that was our first cruise on Marina and we loved it! We have booked one for the Mediterranean.

When we were onboard we couldnt find any unlit area which was disappointing as we have not had such a problem on some other lines. I asked the front desk if any area could be darkened for a short while at night. The answer was that the lights didnt have switches which i found to be a stretch.

On our four (4) day crossing of the Tasman sea we had one night that was perfectly clear and able to see the stars. Our guest speaker was out trying to point out the different stars and constellations, but the light pollution from the ship made it very difficult. She said the ship's officers refuse to cut the lights down anywhere on the ship. We're in the middle of nowhere, if there had been other ships we would have seen their lights, and radar would have picked them up, no no danger, but the Marina officers won't dim the lights to help the show. It is what it is. They turned something that could have been extremely special, on such a night, into a mediocre affair because of the ship's lights.

Seems like the professional was no more successful than I was on a TA. The lights have nothing to do with navigation. These are the red and green on tge sides and a white at the stern. The rest are a distraction as far as navigation is concerned. Maybe their liability insurance but that was not te reason given to me.

We were on the Star Princess in the southern hemisphere and it was wonderful.

Clearly not something that is important to Oceania.

On our four (4) day crossing of the Tasman sea we had one night that was perfectly clear and able to see the stars. Our guest speaker was out trying to point out the different stars and constellations, but the light pollution from the ship made it very difficult. She said the ship's officers refuse to cut the lights down anywhere on the ship. We're in the middle of nowhere, if there had been other ships we would have seen their lights, and radar would have picked them up, no no danger, but the Marina officers won't dim the lights to help the show. It is what it is. They turned something that could have been extremely special, on such a night, into a mediocre affair because of the ship's lights.

You still have to look through a lot of water vapor 1000 ft thick above the ship....Your best view is from a balcony aft on deck 7. NOT on deck

I did a series of talks on regent on a a trans-pacific cruise and other than Orion, and the moon you wont see anything special. No nebula, you can see the southern cross, the dippers and the milky way but no better than at home....

I did have access to the navigation bridge on Regent, courtesy of the Captain and that is a totally dark place lit with red/battle lights and it was fairly good but getting there is a rare privilege seldom granted.

ANY attempt to use any power magnification binos or the like is a total failure due to the motion of the ship.

Nice idea but reality and nature are working against you, even if the ship stopped, turned off her lights you still will be looking through a lot of atmospheric soup that the ocean creates ...even on a cloudless night. viewing from sea level is considered very poor by professionals and amateur astronomers alike ....

A good place for reference is the web site "cloudy nights" an astronomy site that has all sorts of related articles and tips/

Interesting info hadn't thought about water vapour being that significant. That said the sky on our Star Princess cruise was pretty amazing. At home we have a reasonable night sky north of Victoria but Vancouver still creates a glow from the northeast.

Thanks for the response.

Second Pinotlover's post. SWMbI and I tried many nights on Marina between Australia & New Zealand and never did get a clear look at the southern Cross. Light pollution on board Marina was always a problem. Attempts in Sydney & Auckland were impossible.

JMBobB

there are 4 things that inhibit looking at stars... 1 light from any source including the moon. 2. atmospheric moisture which at night combines with convection currents ( like a mirage) to distort light 3. wind .... like moisture windy atmosphere also distorts light passing through it 4 Motion of the person or the instrument one is looking from or through

Take Mauna Kea Keck telescope in Hawaii, as an example its 400 inch scope is at 13000 ft on a mountain top.... positioned above the tropical inversion for dry stable air, at a position almost on the equator ( celestial equator) for minimal motion and max view, and in a fairly dark sky.. Thats why Hubble works so well...

Oh, by the way, whe you see all those pretty pictures in the magazines you will not see any color except blue-green with your eyes. The pictures in the magazines and museums are the result of taking hundreds of pictures of the same object with different filters that collect the different wavelengths you eye can not detect. Indeed, the human eye will shut down much of its color vision to facilitate night vision..

I used 16x70 fujinon astro binos with an oxygen3 filter and flourite lenses and they work well on land. not on a ship....nothing does

* flourite is the choice of lens because it dosen't scatter the light rays as does regular optical glass. ( Ever look as a star and see the little halo around it? Well with fluorite that halo is gone...)

Want to see stars....go t the center of Australia, eastern Nevada and so New Mexico and Texas so Utah, the national parks offer star parties these days in some the darkest sky in the world........check them out.....they are free. tell em Ranger Dan sent ya'