A new study of light pollution in the UK has named Bristol, Sheffield and Glasgow as the top 3 British cities for stargazing. Following closely behind in the top 5 are Cardiff and Bradford.
The survey - conducted by the Park Dean Resorts holiday group - used the light pollution levels of each major city in the UK with a population over 300,000 to determine which were best for stargazing.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, London came bottom of the list.
Light pollution is the name given to the glare from artificial lighting - such as from streetlights, office buildings or car headlights - that has a detrimental effect on our view of the night sky.
The best solution for avoiding light pollution is to leave towns and cities behind and head to more rural areas, such as National Parks or one of the UK's best stargazing dark-sky sites.
This, however, has become less of an option over the past year given the lockdown restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
According to this latest survey, the top 16 UK cities for stargazing are:
- Bristol
- Sheffield
- Glasgow
- Cardiff
- Bradford
- Belfast
- Leicester
- Coventry
- Edinburgh
- Nottingham
- Newcastle upon Tyne
- Manchester
- Liverpool
- Birmingham
- Leeds
- London
For more information read the original survey, or our guides on capture astrophotos from a light-polluted city and the best lighting to minimise light pollution.
For beginner's tips, read our guide on how to stargaze.
