Matthew, Dark Sky Ranger

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Dark Sky Tours in Galloway Forest Dark Sky Park and wider Dumfries & Galloway, learning about space and star gazing, with the option of high quality photos of your experience.

Glimpses of creation between the rain clouds.Opportunities to view the stars have been few and far between, with the for...
22/02/2026

Glimpses of creation between the rain clouds.

Opportunities to view the stars have been few and far between, with the forecasts giving no chance to plan Dark Sky Tours. Occasionally, a window has appeared and I have been able to spend soome time looking upon my favourite constellation: Orion/Mabon.

The three stars of Orion's Belt are some of the most recognisable and famous of stars (more about them later) but it is the area around and beyond them which truly fascinates me. Known as the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex, it is home to the star-forming Orion Nebula and Flame Nebula, which have been which have been giving birth to new stars for about 3 and 1 million years, and to the Horsehead Nebula.

When I was little, I was given a book about Astronomy and it was the image of the Horsehead Nebula which stood out from all the others. Located below (from the nothern hemisphere) the leftmost star in Orion's Belt, it is a dark cloud of dust and gas, imposed on a brighter emission nebula and looks far too much like a horse's head for the resemblance to be ignored.

Seeing that the skies were defying the forecast of more rain, I took the opportunity to set up my camera and capture a few photos. The Orion Nebula (bottom middle of second pic) is badly over-exposed but this accident has allowed me to photograph the Flame Nebula (top left and very bright) and a faint glimpse of the Horsehead Nebula (directly below the Flame Nebula).

This was the first time I have photographed the Horsehead Nebula and it was entirely by accident. I normally use a much lower exposure to photograph the Orion Nebula and it was an error brought about by rushing to take photos in a short space of time with my 135mm lens, which takes in so much more light than the 150-600mm lens I would normally use, that has opened a whole new window of astro-opportunity for me to explore. Now, I have to exercise my patience and wait for another gap in the clouds. Looking out of my window to see heavy rain/sleet, I wonder when that will come...

Back to Orion's Belt: The three brightest stars in the first pic are, from left, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka, which gained their names during the great, Arabic study of space during the Islamic Golden Age, a 600 year period of scientific exploration. The names sound exotic to a Scottish ear but they are actually quite prosaic, translating as The Girdle, A Belt Of Pearls and The Belt! Still, much better than some of the names given to stars discovered in the 19th and 20th centuries (UY Scuti, anyone?).

With this cloudiest of winters that I have experienced as a Dark Sky Ranger, more than ever, I wish you Clear Skies!

Northern Lights back with a (silent) bang!On Monday night, it quickly became apparent that we were experiencing a really...
20/01/2026

Northern Lights back with a (silent) bang!

On Monday night, it quickly became apparent that we were experiencing a really powerful display of the aurora borealis. Large parts of Dumfries and Galloway were covered with thick cloud and it looked as if we might miss it. As I headed out with my camera, the clouds parted and a thick band of red was clearly visible above a bright green blanket to the north.

The gap in the cloud lasted for about 15 minutes and then it was over. I tried chasing clearer skies to the north but only caught a brief gap in the clouds to the north of Dalmellington. Orion and Jupiter were tinged with red to the south, purple was above me and the north was bright green.

Every display of the northern lights is different. This was clearly a powerful one and it was great to see colours with the naked eye again, even if only for brief moments. We may have passed the solar maximum but last night shows that the show goes on!


Wishing you clear skies!

P.S. On the subject of clear skies, the forecasts have been predicting almost complete cloud cover but there have been moments when the clouds have parted, like last night. I am going to arrange a public Dark Sky Tour for Sunday 25th, as that has the best forecast for the next two weeks. If you want to come along, let me know.

International Space Station flyover: 27.11.25The ISS is always a special sight to see, as it swiftly and silently sweeps...
08/12/2025

International Space Station flyover: 27.11.25

The ISS is always a special sight to see, as it swiftly and silently sweeps across the sky. I took a couple of photos of it from Sandyhills on the Solway coast and, for the first time that I have seen, a light appeared to be travelling alongside it. Was it coincidental, with the space station briefly joining a satellite and then moving on? Or, as the ISS received visitors on the 27th, did I capture the Soyuz MS-28 during its visit to drop off Chris Williams from NASA and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev?

Now, let's talk about lights of a different kind: human light pollution, here on earth. When I look up at the stars from inside the Galloway Forest International Dark Sky Park and wider afield in Dumfries and Galloway, I see very little light pollution. Look at the lights in this photo, glowing from across the Solway in Cumbria. The towns bleach out the stars quite ssignificantly. Every time I see them, I am reminded of how lucky we are to live in Dumfries & Galloway, with a local council that was inspired by the Dark Sky Park to do so much to lower light pollution.

Now, look again at the lights on the horizon. These include the bright red navigation lights from wind turbines, most prominent about a quarter way in from the left and reflected in the water. If plans are approved, we will soon have multiple new wind farms in Dumfries and Galloway, some up to 250m tall, and these navigation lights will be a feature of our skies, replacing some of the natural beauty of the stars and risking the future of our Dark Sky Park status. Enjoy it while you can....

Wishing you clear skies!

When will the rain stop and the skies clear?Clear skies have been few and far between over the last couple of months. I ...
08/12/2025

When will the rain stop and the skies clear?

Clear skies have been few and far between over the last couple of months. I was able to get out and run a couple of events in late November but December has started soggy and is forecast to continue so for a while.

Here is a photo from around 4.30am, late November, showing a deepspace view of what we can look forward to seeing in the evening, southern skies from February.

In this photo, Jupiter is the bright light in the top right, with the Beehive Star Cluster below and to the left.

I am sorry that so many of you are waiting for a Dark Sky Tour. I'll keep doing the stardance and watching the forecasts.

Wishing you clear skies!

Join me for a Dark Sky Tour on Wednesday night and we will start the evening by finding Comet Lemmon. We will look at th...
26/10/2025

Join me for a Dark Sky Tour on Wednesday night and we will start the evening by finding Comet Lemmon. We will look at this green comet through the astro-binoculars, then you will have the opportunity to have your picture taken with our visitor from the outer solar system.

Contact me on 07548 668737 if you want to come along.

Wishing you clear skies.

Comet Lemmon (C/2026 A6)October has brought clouds and rain, making it a frustrating wait to see the stars. Knowing ther...
26/10/2025

Comet Lemmon (C/2026 A6)

October has brought clouds and rain, making it a frustrating wait to see the stars. Knowing there is a bright comet to see only adds to that. Finally, last night brought clear skies and I was able to go looking for it.

As the 2025 part of its name suggests, we only discovered earlier this year that this comet exists, when it was spotted by the Mt. Lemmon Observatory, although it has been here before, back in the 9th century CE, and probably will next come by in well over 1000 years from now. It came closest to us on 21st October and is now rapidly heading back towards the outer solar system.

I was impressed by how bright and large it appeared in the binoculars last night, before I took this photo with a 135mm lens on a Canon EOS 90D.

Wednesday 29th looks like being the next opportunity we will get in Dumfries & Galloway, with clear skies in the early evening. I know it is short notice but I will run a public Dark Sky Tour on Wednesday if enough people show an interest in joining me. Send me a message on 07548 668737 if you do. If you want to look for it yourself, look to the north west after dark, in the constellation of Serpens.

Wishing you clear skies!

I haven't seen much of the stars for the last week but the forecast is for improving conditions into next week, so I'll ...
08/10/2025

I haven't seen much of the stars for the last week but the forecast is for improving conditions into next week, so I'll be announcing some new tours soon.

While waiting for the skies to clear, I have been playing about with a phjoto stack I took at Clatteringshaws on 21.09.25. Staking is a method of reducing noise in images by taking multiple shots, then combining them to remove digital noise distortion. This allows you to then "stretch" the image to draw out more of the detail you have captured. In this case, it shows how much colour there is in and around the Milky Way Core. Sadly, out night vision just isn't set up to register this level of detail. Our eyes see the night sky in monochrome.

If you are interested in learning how to use your camera for astro-photography, please let me know.

Wishing you clear skies!

Honestly, that light sabre needs a trim!
27/09/2025

Honestly, that light sabre needs a trim!

Milky Way above Clatteringshaws: 25.09.25When we moved back to Dumfries & Galloway in September2000, after 14 years in E...
26/09/2025

Milky Way above Clatteringshaws: 25.09.25

When we moved back to Dumfries & Galloway in September2000, after 14 years in Edinburgh, it was the arc of the Milky Way that just blew me away. If you live in a city, you never see more than a hint of what's up there in the sky and we are so priviledged to have such clear skies to look up into.

Wishing you clear skies!

Milky Way at Mabon: 22.09.25These two photographs are the same shot, edited differently. Which do you prefer?The challen...
23/09/2025

Milky Way at Mabon: 22.09.25

These two photographs are the same shot, edited differently. Which do you prefer?

The challenge for me, when taking photographs and editing them is; How far do I go? When the clouds clear from above Galloway Forest Dark Sky Park, the stars really pop out and the second photo is a fair representation of what you actually see with your own eyes. The first photo is the result of teasing out more of what the camera actually picked up.

Canon EOS 5D Mk iv, Sigma 14mm ART lens, F1.8, ISO 1600, 20 secs. 10 images, stacked to reduce digital noise.

I try to make the photos I take as close to what we actually see because a sky full of stars is awe inspiring. A camera shutter which is open for 20+ seconds is going to draw in so much more light than the human eye can, so a carefully edited photo could leave a visitor to the Dark Sky Park disappointed with the reality, having expected to see colourful nebulas. The sky is beautiful enough as it is and I think it is far more impressive when you experience it for real than any of my photographs could ever convey.

Wishing you clear skies.

Looking north east across the Milky Way: 21.09.25Although our eyes are easily drawn towards the Milky Way Core at this t...
22/09/2025

Looking north east across the Milky Way: 21.09.25

Although our eyes are easily drawn towards the Milky Way Core at this time of year, turning our backs to the Core and looking outwards across our galaxy is possibly even more impressive. The Perseus Arm stretches across this photo, with the Pleaides Star Cluster at the bottom and, beyond the boundaries of our galaxy, Andromeda Galaxy to the right of centre both prominent. If you zoom in further, you will see even more details; the Whirlpool Galaxy is a faint smudge below and to the right of Andromeda. Below and to the left of centre, there are several star clusters on show, the most prominent being the Double Cluster in Perseus, two star clusters which are approximately 7,500 light years away from us (which is a long way but nothing compared to the 2.5 million years the light from Andromeda Galaxy has taken to get here!!!).

The autumn skies are really showing up a treat.

Wishing you clear skies.

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Dumfries & Galloway
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