Winter solstice observation tips—best practises for dark nights

As we're heading into the darkest part of the year, I thought I'd share what I've learned from five winters of serious skywatching. The winter solstice period (especially 20-23 December) tends to see increased anomalous activity - whether that's coincidence or genuine pattern, I'll leave to you - but it's peak observing season.

Preparation: Thermal gear is essential. I use a good quality sleeping bag rated to -10°C, thermal layers, and a balaclava. Your eyes need 20 minutes to fully adjust to darkness, so no torches with white light - red torches only. I use a £12 red LED from Amazon, lasts all night.

Location: Get away from light pollution. The further north you go, the better. Scottish Highlands are exceptional. Dark Sky Sites are listed on the CPRE website. Safety: Never go alone, tell someone where you are, carry a mobile with full battery, and bring hot drinks. I use a flask of tea and a thermos of coffee.

What's your winter solstice setup? Any particular locations or gear you swear by?

Excellent post. I'd add: bring binoculars as well as doing naked-eye observation. 10x50s are the gold standard for UAP work - good light gathering, stable enough without a tripod. Yes they're pricey (£150-300) but worth every penny. I use Celestron SkyMaster and they've picked up things the naked eye missed.

Red torch recommendation is spot on. Also worth noting: your phone's flashlight will destroy your night vision for 10+ minutes. I learned that the hard way at 2am on Cairngorms. Not fun when you're trying to track something in the sky.

Has anyone actually documented increased activity during solstices though? I've been watching for three years and my logs show no correlation. Could be confirmation bias - people expect weird stuff so they see weird stuff. Happy to be proved wrong though!

Dark Sky Sites are listed on the CPRE website.