astronomy

[karen327]

Is there any one interested in astronomy as a hobby who could give advice as to the best ship and intenery for obtaining a great view of the night sky from a ship at sea?

[cb at sea]

There's no "best"--- but, the "dry" season is best, as clouds will totally ruin your night sky view!

So far, we've had very few clear nights for stargazing. We tend to cruise in the spring--don't really know if time of year has much to do with it!

The sky will pretty much look the same from anywhere in the northern hemisphere--ditto, for the southern!

[AstroCruiser]

Timing is far more important than location. Book it for when there is a new moon. A full moon is like a big street light in the sky and will reduce the visible stars by more than half.

[Grandpaul]

Just by coincidence the first two times we sailed on the Norwegian Dawn there was a full lunar eclipse. Pretty cool.

[mr green]

Years ago the Windward, now the Norwegian Wind, had one small deck, near the bow, with all lights out for star gazing, or whatever? We have found that most the sky is very clear, most of the time, when away from industrial smoke, even Mexico is clear.

 

john

[Aunty Pat]

Check out the QM2 itineraries. They have a planetarium on board with multiple shows for all cruises and an astronomer for some of the cruises.

 

Cruises with lots of sea days will give you the best opportunities to have more nights at sea without interference from the lights of nearby land. Also pick a ship with open deck space up in front on the highest deck where you will find less interference from the ships lights. Cruises closer to the equater will also give you more hours of darkness. I've been on Alsaka and Baltic cruises where it never got dark enough at night to see the stars.

 

 

Aunty Pat

 

 

Barefoot Windjammer - Phantom ‘81

K&D German Rhine Line ‘84

NCL - Norway ’85, Pride of America ’05, Southward ’87, Star ’97 & ‘05, Starward ’92, Sun ’02 & Windward ’93

RCC - Song of America ‘89

American Hawaiian - Independence ‘98

HAL - Volendam ’99, Noordam ’06, Oosterdam ’07 & ‘09, Statendam ’02 & ‘08, Prinsendam ’03 & ’06, Westerdam ’09 & Zuiderdam ’04, ’06 & ‘07

Carnival - Spirit ‘05

Celebrity – Summit ‘05

Cruise West - Yorktown Clipper ‘06

Princess - Golden Princess ‘07

A & K - East Queen ‘07

Cunard - QM2 ’08

[The Other Tom]

One of the problems with stargazing on a cruise is the ship's lights (which I assume are required to be on at night). The light "pollution" from those lights is not conducive for good stargazing. I did read a post where the captain turned off the lights on a deck so people could star gaze, but IMO this is unusual.

[Grandpaul]

Just an aside to this thread, there will be a meteor shower on Saturday morning I believe it is. Very visible on the West coast. SOme here on the East coast but we're going to have cloud cover. And tonight there are three planets lined up with the Moon in a straight line. Again, we have clouds.

[mapsmith]

I remember one cruise where the CD asked if anyone was interested in stargazing to let him know and he would try to arrange an evening in a dark part of the deck.

 

Didn't go.