Technology

I saw the Milky Way for the first time when I visited Cooperstown New York 5 or so years back. My neck was sore by the time I stopped looking. It’s a shame most people don’t know what they’re missing out on.

The Milky Way may be closer than you think. I had never really seen it until a few years ago. I was in my usual darker spot and took a picture of it with my phone's astro mode. I looked back up and suddenly, there it was. I just never knew what to look for or, more importantly, just how big the visible structure was.

I recommend taking a look at lightpollutionmap.info and seeing what's around you. I'm in a major city metro but dark-enough skies are less than 2 hours away. The Milky way revelation was in a "Bortle 5" zone (red on the map). Cities are class 8+, oceans/uninhabited is class 1. Constellations help you find the core (namely the tea pot/milk dipper asterism) and knowing what time of year/night to look is important. August is the usual ~10pm month but you can go out later at night earlier in the year and vice versa from about April (close to sunrise) to October (near sunset).

Be aware you need to adapt your eyes. Pupils dilate in seconds but the 20 minute thing comes from replenishing rhodopsin in your eyes. White/blue/purple light bleaches that compound but red doesn't. With enough commitment and knowledge at that same place, Andromeda becomes a naked eye object for me. Extremely faint and just a smudge, but unmistakable.

Look up a light pollution map for your area, it will show you the darkest parts around you to go see the sky for what it really is. Usually within an hour or 2 of anywhere there is a place dark enough to see the milky way with your own eyes.

I haven't seen the Milky Way for maybe 15-years. Even at my camp in the boondocks, nada. You have to really get out there, can't imagine where I would go from NW FL.

it always seemed a bit like something in cartoons. it must've been so much more vibrant in ancient times, it makes sense why they were so into star tracking. like a big soap opera

We are slowly turning ourselves into Krikkit.

It's frustrating how many people have security lights aimed wrong. They're often aimed high, wasting light to the sky, and they're often mounted low, blinding you walking into your own home and leaving you vulnerable.

TBH if I’m out at night I’d much prefer it to be bright and lit up in the city. If the city is dark and quiet at night it feels more unsafe to residents.

Not saying it’s right, but it makes sense

Or the big advertisement screens. I get the need for street lights but they also don't have to be the most brightest super white LEDs that exist either. Nowadays I literally can't even tell whether it is cloudy or not, because the sky is just this mushy grey noise. And the sad thing is that I still remember the night sky from a couple decades ago when cities weren't quite as bright. Now you can be lucky to see the little dim flickering of the brightest odd stars every now and then.

As someone currently living across the road from a strip mall with a dozen various businesses…NO YOU DO NOT NEED TO KEEP THE LIGHTS ON 24/7

I've always lived in cities and didn't see the milky way until I was in my 30s.

Anyhow, I took my kid camping last weekend and she couldn't believe how many stars there were. We were both enjoying it but then the string of SpaceX satellites went by and kind of ruined the moment

Unfortunately, even secluded towns suffer because of light diffusion in the atmosphere. The only places left where you can see it, the way it was before electric lights, are mountains and extremely far places (think middle of the ocean or the poles)

You'd be surprised how much "bleeding" there is. You also can't scope in certain directions because of even really far off cities. You're often forced into a specific cone.

Only in the most remote deserts, wilderness areas and oceans can you find a sky as dark as our ancestors knew them.

The article is about how there's less of it over time. Areas that were once nice (ex. Great views over the water or over a nice field) no longer work because of nearby light pollution.

There are few places left on Earth to see an unpolluted night sky. Definitely nowhere near civilization. On top of that, light pollution still drowns out dimmer objects permanently. We are blinding ourselves globally. To our ancestors the sky was a living light show. Its no mystery why they thought gods lived there.