Edinburgh Places To See

[Greedyfly]

Am going to Edinburgh for a couple of days and this may seem like an odd question and possible a long shot but would like to know where the best place would be to see shooting star. I.E with little light interruption. As my other half has never seen one in 33 years - so it has to be remedied and where we live its very bright. I know obviously you cant predict weather and clear skies etc... But I was wondering if there was somewhere specific that might be worth a try. We will be staying in the city centre which I cant imagine being ideal, but somewhere we could walk to would be cool.

[vehelpfulguy]

Rather unusually for a large town or city there is a huge hill right on the edge of Edinburgh.

It is called Arthur's seat. There is a picture of it here, with the buildings of Edinburgh in the foreground showin you how close it is

http://www.ph.ed.ac.uk/particle/Exp/img/arthur sseat.jpg

No idea if you can see a shooting star from there.

More here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur's_Seat,_Ed inburgh

[vehelpfulguy]

I should say it is a fairly easy walk to the top.

More here

http://www.geowalks.demon.co.uk/iarthurwalks.h tml

[vehelpfulguy]

If you have never been to Edinburgh before (and you sound as though you haven't) then a walk down the Royal mile is a wonderful way to spend half a day (or more).

There is a picture of it here

http://www.architecture.ed.ac.uk/assets/Ed1/ca stle_royalmile.jpg

It starts at Edinburgh castle in the foreground (in the picture) and then continues past some amazing buildings full of history, till you get to Hollyrood house that you can see in the distance (in the picture).

This has to be one of the most amazing and interestng stretches of road in the world.

Although you cannot see it in the picture, Arthur's seat is to the right of Hollyrood house, you can just see the start of Hollyrood park in the top right of the picture.

Web site for royal mile:

http://www.edinburgh-royalmile.com/

[jno]

there are lots of shooting stars (it's actually small stuff burning up as it enters the atmosphere) but you'll be very lucky indeed to see any in a city as there's too much light pollution all around you. If you could get up into the highlands on a clear night your chances would be greatly improved. I remember camping out in a desert once and seeing several before I fell asleep. When you're away from city lights it's amazing just how many stars there are and you realise how little you can see in urban areas.

[KARL]

The advice already given is correct, you are very unlikely to see a shooting star from anywhere within a distance from several streetlights, probably measured in kilometres. Also, the best time to see shooting stars occurs in November (I think I remember correctly) when the earth passes through a belt of space debris. But some fall and are potentially visible most nights, cloud cover and light pollution permitting.