Etiquette Guide

Please only use red light torches at night. If you use a laptop, please cover the screen with a sheet of red acetate. Toilet block lights will be switched off or covered in red acetate during the dark hours. We discourage the use of laser pointers as they'll interfere with astroimaging and can be dangerous. Also, cigarette lighters produce light as well as heat. Please screen your lighter flame from astronomers. Please be aware that lights inside tents and caravans are also visible to people outside of them - red lights or no lights please.

This is the one piece of etiquette that will make offenders very unpopular - dark adaption takes up to half an hour to achieve but only a second of normal light will take you back to square one.

People will be happy to let you look through the eyepiece at their scopes but please do ask the owner before taking a look. Be aware that telescopes are carefully aligned and assembled and as little contact to see through them is best.

Be mindful of astroimagers. Astrophotography requires very steady and unobscured exposures, so please don't touch or walk in front of a scope being used for imaging. We will try and set aside an area for astroimagers for this very purpose. I'm told they're still a very friendly bunch despite their obsession with long exposures!

No car movements are permitted after dark, so please arrange to arrive before this time. Remember that opening car doors or the boot always turns an interior light on so disable them if you can, or remove the fuse before sunset. Alternatively, cover them with opaque tape, including those in the boot. If a bright light is unavoidable call out: “LIGHTS IN 3 SECONDS” to give everyone time to turn the other way.

The best advice here is to remove everything you'll need from cars before nightfall and don't return to them.

Children are welcome to the event, but please remember the field is dark, there are lots of very valuable bits of equipment and many people will have carefully aligned their telescopes. Also, tired astronomers are often glad of a lay in the following morning. Please keep your children and their volume under control.

We want this to be an astronomy party, but please be considerate of others and refrain from any raucous behaviour or loud talking. Some people will want to catch up on some sleep for a few hours during the night and others will be sleeping during the day. Please be considerate of others trying to sleep when it is cloudy by not playing music late at night.

The site is rich in wildlife and a very pleasant place to stay. We would like to keep it that way. Please keep your rubbish in a suitable container and dispose of it in the bins provided. Dark sites and loose trash do not mix well.

Well behaved dogs are welcome to the event, but please remember the field is dark, there are lots of very valuable bits of equipment and many people will have carefully aligned their telescopes. Also, tired astronomers are often glad of a lay in the following morning. Please keep your dogs on a lead if they are anywhere near other people’s equipment and their volume under control.

Please also be mindful of others who might have a fear of dogs.

CAMPSITE RESIDENTS

A very few people on the campsite will be holidaying in their own caravans. They're aware of our need for total darkness at night and respect it. If however, you do see a stray white light on a pathway, please ask them to turn it off politely or speak to one of the organisers.