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

[vi edit]

Wow. This thread is sort of enlightening. Never occurred to me that many city dwellers have never *really* seen stars before.

Crazy. I mean it makes sense...but still. Not something you'd think about.

 

[Linflas]

Most incredible sight I have seen is the night sky from the flight deck of an aircraft carrier in the middle of the Atlantic under blackout conditions. The difference between that and the typical night sky in the suburbs is unbelievable.

 

[IronWing]

This thread reminds me of folks who grew up in Mexico City and never saw the mountains that surround the city due to air pollution.

Driving across the west at night, one sees the little mounds of light that mark distant towns and cities.

 

[cubby1223]

It always amazed me to look up at the sky when I traveled out to Arizona, versus living in a Chicago suburb.

 

[destrekor]

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.

In the right area, that's not hard to see at all without long exposure.

To make your camera pick it up, however, that long exposure is necessary. Your eyes, once adjusted, drink in the faint light more easily.

I've looked up in secluded areas and seen something quite close to that, and here in the Midwest, the overall light pollution and the general atmospheric haze still severely restricts night sky viewing.

If you get into the middle of nowhere in the Western landlocked states, the quality of night sky viewing is supposed to be leaps and bounds better. I've seen photos from such places but of course, you can never tell just how well the photo translates to what the eyes can see, and what they did to improve the photo.

Even out here, I was out trying to watch the recent meteor shower and hoping to capture a few meteors with my camera, but alas, I never caught one though I saw a few. I did see the ISS or some satellite, never investigated what was visible at that time and angle/direction.

Regardless, even with the lesser quality of light, I still saw the galactic arm with my naked eye. I've seen it better while camping further away from civilization in the other direction.

In other words, Rural Ohio night sky viewing will absolutely pale in comparison to the most rural locations in Wyoming, where you can probably find a spot with absolutely no visible light pollution anywhere on the horizon.
The amount of light that reaches you from the stars in those areas, without a moon, can actually provide enough light to see what your doing.
I don't think we can get THAT much light from even the most rural location in much of the Mid-west (East of the Mississippi).

 

[LTC8K6]

This thread reminds me of folks who grew up in Mexico City and never saw the mountains that surround the city due to air pollution.

Driving across the west at night, one sees the little mounds of light that mark distant towns and cities.

I was stationed at Lowry AFB for PMEL training as part of my Army 35Hotel MOS. I had been there about a month. It was usually pretty hazy, and you couldn't see very far.

One day the atmosphere cleared out and I saw the Rocky Mountains...they were suddenly right there! It was beautiful and amazing...

Had no idea I should be able to see them...

One other amazing sight was Mt. Hood. I had been in Korea for a year and was finally flying home. I had rarely seen Mt. Hood, and only in pictures.

I flew into Portland. It was the strangest thing. I saw this beautiful mountain and I knew two things right away. I somehow knew it was Mt. Hood, and I knew I was home in the USA.

Kinda' corny, but it was such a beautiful sight and it confirmed that I really was home.

 

[gbeirn]

In the right area, that's not hard to see at all without long exposure.

To make your camera pick it up, however, that long exposure is necessary. Your eyes, once adjusted, drink in the faint light more easily.

I've looked up in secluded areas and seen something quite close to that, and here in the Midwest, the overall light pollution and the general atmospheric haze still severely restricts night sky viewing.

If you get into the middle of nowhere in the Western landlocked states, the quality of night sky viewing is supposed to be leaps and bounds better. I've seen photos from such places but of course, you can never tell just how well the photo translates to what the eyes can see, and what they did to improve the photo.

Even out here, I was out trying to watch the recent meteor shower and hoping to capture a few meteors with my camera, but alas, I never caught one though I saw a few. I did see the ISS or some satellite, never investigated what was visible at that time and angle/direction.

Regardless, even with the lesser quality of light, I still saw the galactic arm with my naked eye. I've seen it better while camping further away from civilization in the other direction.

In other words, Rural Ohio night sky viewing will absolutely pale in comparison to the most rural locations in Wyoming, where you can probably find a spot with absolutely no visible light pollution anywhere on the horizon.
The amount of light that reaches you from the stars in those areas, without a moon, can actually provide enough light to see what your doing.
I don't think we can get THAT much light from even the most rural location in much of the Mid-west (East of the Mississippi).

I was just camping this past weekend on the South Dakota/Wyoming border up in the black hills at 6000Ft elevation. In the middle of nowhere, the night sky was awesome to see. It rained a little but once it cleared and the clouds passed by, gorgeous nighttime sky.