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Anyone else that's only ever seen the night sky from populated areas?

phucheneh

phucheneh

Diamond Member
A friend of mine didn't understand when I said something like 'until like two years ago, I didn't know there were stars.'

Obviously that's a BIT hyperbolic, but until a trip out to a farm like two hours outside the city, where I pretty much just laid on my back on a hilltop during a cloudless night (by sheer coincidence, there was also a meteor shower)...holy shit, I just had no idea. I pretty much witnessed the bottom picture here for my whole life, then got a sudden reveal of the top.

08c05df2_o.jpeg


I was reading about light pollution (which I knew existed; just always lived in it) and just thought that pic was something neat to share and see if anyone else has had the same experience...or perhaps needs to go have it...seriously, it is pretty damned awesome, fellow lifetime-metropolitan-area-dwellers.
 
The first time I ever really saw the night sky was after hurricane Katrina when there were no lights for miles. Very pretty.
 
I've pretty much only seen the night sky from populated areas. The bottom picture is exactly how it looks. The top picture is completely foreign.
 
The family used to own property in southern Indiana we camped at a lot in the summers on the edge of the Hoosier National Forest, way in the sticks away from everything.

I remember one night while we were camping there we walked down to the lake at midnight with a full moon, and it was almost like daylight in the moonlight.

Was cool as hell, was before digital or would have filmed that. And many years ago. Looked like something out of a fairy tale, everything was illuminated by star light, and it looked almost like daytime.

Had a pretty hot girlfriend that was a former cheerleader with me at the time in one of my old unmarried times, it was a great night on many, many levels.

Have a big story about that one, but won't go into boring details, was one of those once in a lifetime weekend type of things though.
 
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Oh, and I know there was just a telescope thread recently, but there wasn't much there and I figure this fits with the topic at hand...

Wanting to pick up my first real telescope. Debating on where to put my money, given maybe, say, a $400 budget. This will have to be transportable in an average sedan.

On sheer ability, I think this is unmatched for $350. (A $350 'traditional' refractor telescope (versus reflector) is a joke in comparison, so far as what you can actually see):

http://www.telescope.com/Telescopes...sonian-Telescope/pc/1/c/12/sc/13/p/102005.uts

But beyond being big, it just seems so awkward to observe with. It pretty much needs to sit on a floor where you can have a height-adjustable rolling chair, it would seem.

To get something a bit shorter with a traditional tripod, you lose a lot of aperture:

http://www.telescope.com/Orion-Spac...1/c/-1/sc/-1/p/9007.uts?skipItemBrowsing=true

And then I can't figure out why you wouldn't just go ahead and buy something with a GoTo (motorized/computerized) mount:

http://www.telescope.com/Telescopes...ntValueIds=4691&sortByColumnName=SortByRating

It's a quandary.
 
I grew up away from big city lights in central Washington, then moved to the Puget Sound area and the stars lost quite a bit of luster.
I camp in the cascades every year and get a dose of the good stuff. The best I have seen was at 10,000 feet over North Dakota one night, in a small plane. The atmosphere does filter out a great deal of the light, and that night it was bright enough to read in the cabin.
 
I suck at shopping.

I think I'm just gonna order one of these:
http://www.telescope.com/Orion-ShortTube-80-A-Refractor-Telescope/p/9947.uts?keyword=orion refractor

Affordable, competent for a novice, portable. I realized I had a busted telescope in the garage on a good equatorial tripod, so I may as well capitalize on that with a cheap beginner scope that can also double as a spare spotting scope if I decide to invest in a large reflector.

I am excited about this because, basically, the first time I use the scope, will be the second experience I've ever had seeing stars in a clear, unpolluted sky. Trying to decide where I should go. I could get some DECENT views at conveniently-located parts to the south (further from downdown and airport), but I don't want to blow my load on a 'meh' sky. I gotta get between cities- west from Nashville is the best way to escape civilization, I think, but if I go south, I get elevation. It's a shame Monteagle is so close to Chattanooga or that would surely be neat.
 
Yeah, only seen the stars once in my entire life, as a child on a camping trip into some remote rural area. Never again since, Apparently the 'real' sky looks a bit like the backdrop in an Elder Scrolls game! Who knew? 🙂
 
I used to be a Boyscout so that's when I would see the real stars while camping. I haven't seen the stars like that in like 10 years. Definitely something I want to experience again.
 
pmv said:
Yeah, only seen the stars once in my entire life, as a child on a camping trip into some remote rural area. Never again since, Apparently the 'real' sky looks a bit like the backdrop in an Elder Scrolls game! Who knew? 🙂
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I think you may have that reversed. :whiste:
 
when i was a kid (growing up in north wales) i'd go out at night and you could clearly see the stars. was awesome. still is actually, not much light pollution over there.

now in liverpool though, no stars at all. just darkness
 
I grew up in a small town with little light pollution. Tons of stars in the sky were visible every night. Now I live in NYC. I'm still debating whether a light pollution filter is worth the money.
 
Yep. In real darkness the night sky is beautiful.

In a similar fashion I, for the first time, really saw the night sky when I camped out in the desert in Utah. I mostly grew up in North FL in a pretty heavily forested area. When you look up you're peering through a small hole in the tree canopy. In the desert you're seeing +180 degrees of sky (with a bazillion stars etc) unless you look down at your feet. The difference was amazing.

Fern
 
Saw the "real" sky about a decade ago for the first time for a school camp. Amazing. More stars than you can count.

Back in the city, I can count maybe 5 stars +/- 2 that may be airplanes on a cold winter night.
 
From ages 14-22 I lived in the Sierra Nevada about seven miles from the nearest town (which was only 1,000 people). After that I worked in Yosemite National Park for several years. A very starry sky was the norm for me to see. I remember driving up to Glacier Point on a moonless night and the stars were just thick.
 
Even in town here we get a decent view, though not like that first pic where you can see the colors and all that. Or is that just a really long exposure with low F stop? Have not played all that much with my camera outside yet.

I snapped this in front of my house, lot of light pollution though but can still see plenty of stars.



The best view is out at camp. My parent's back yard also has less direct light pollution as there is houses all around so it blocks the street lights at least. Can see decently.


If I owned cottage property I'd want to build a tower with a room on top that is all glass and has a deck surrounding it. Make it taller than the trees and it would be awesome for star gazing.

I need to find a spot off the highway so I can star gaze and take pics. Can probably just park near a hydro line then follow it in a km or so as they clear all the trees. Would pretty much be pitch black if the moon is not out.
 
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So I decided to start small and bought one of these off of craigslist, pretty much NIB for a hundred bucks.

http://www.celestron.com/browse-shop/astronomy/telescopes/powerseeker-127eq-telescope

Trying to get the basics down (like collimation and proper use of an altiazimuth mount) and waiting on a clear night to take it out and see what I can see.

I think the scope itself should be fine for a beginner. Mostly just need to invest in better eyepieces.

I'm definitely seeing why dobsonion gets recommended to much. A 'point and shoot' approach would sure simplify things.
 
milky way isn't usually quite that apparent, that's a longish exposure I guess.

You can kinda see it though. looks like a really shitty northern light to me.
 
yeah. i just go out back and i can see great. one of the advantages of living in the middle of nowhere. heh
 
monkeydelmagico said:
Head out into the desert. Stop car. Turn off lights. Look up. Awe and wonder.

Then hurry up and get to digging cause time is money.
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dead bodies don't bury themselves?

My wife grew up in OC, I grew up in LA.

She saw the milky way for the first time when she was 31. It was glorious. Ojai is relatively close and the valley walls are good for blocking out the sky glow from LA & Santa Barbara.
 
Nope, have seen the sky from the pyramids of egypt and the Amazon. Have seen them near both poles and have seen the Aurora Borealis.


We dont get to travel as much now that we have kids. Sky is awesome at our lake house.
 
I grew up in the city. Was in BCT at Ft Leonard Wood one night. We were on a field exercise deep in the woods and I had guard duty. Was about zero degrees. I had been out there about 15 minutes when it occurred to me to look up.

Just incredible...you could see so much and it was so beautiful. I still remember the moment I looked up that night. Awesome is an inadequate word for it.
 
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