On Fri., Apr. 2, 2021, 09:08 Adam Bell, <adambell714@...> wrote:
I¡¯m new to observing and I¡¯m trying to find a convenient site for ~3 hours of observing. I live downtown Ottawa. Looking at the light pollution map, going north along Gatineau Park gets me the best mileage for getting away from the city light pollution.
I have tried observing at P15 and P16 (and in between) in Gatineau Park. I was happy with the sky and the seclusion, but on my first night at P16 a Gatineau Police Officer came through on patrol and stopped to chat. He asked if I was doing astrophotography (I wasn¡¯t). The fact that the police feel the need to patrol an empty parking lot in a park at 10 pm doesn¡¯t fill me with an abundance of confidence.
As a rookie, I don¡¯t really know what to think about this. Does anyone have any experience with observing in this area? Any safety concerns?
I was thinking of trying P17 tonight, just trying to find the best spot. I suspect it won¡¯t be as good as P16 since it¡¯s beside a road, but you don¡¯t really know until you try...