Comment on Have most people never seen a full starry night sky
deranger@sh.itjust.works 4 days ago
It’s not just cities - there’s nearly no dark sky sites in all of Europe, and very few dark sky areas east of the Mississippi in the US.
I didn’t see the Milky Way with my naked eye until driving through NE New Mexico in my late 20s.
darkskymap.com/nightSkyBrightness
I grew up in a green-ish area of this map in Norway, and in Winger it gets pitch black. If theres even faint aurora in tje North we can see it behind the house.
For sure there is some light pollution - we don't draw the curtains in the evening - but it's pitch black by any standard observable by humans.
Can you see the stars well?
The entire sky is a carpet of stars.
According to that map, the place I was visiting to see aurora was a yellow region, but it was definitely dark enough to see the milkyway and the aurora itself by naked eye. If the rest of the map is similar, then there are still plenty of “dark enough” skies.
Would love for more though of course. Better light regulations are long overdue everywhere.
I’m from the northeast US. I studied abroad in Australia when I was 20 and we took a backpacking trip into the rainforest and hiked up a huge plateau (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Solitary). Certainly not like “in the middle of nowhere,” but far away from Sydney or any other major light pollution that the night sky was beautiful.
I laid down on a cliff and saw the Milky Way for the first time. It was cold as fuck, but I had a light blanket and was just captivated. When our fire died down and everyone packed into their tents I still couldn’t help but hang out on that cliff for awhile.
I’m much older now, with less ability to get up and travel without consequence, but I want to travel across the US, and I think while some of the Midwest may be boring, I’m most excited to find some dark farmland that will let me see the Milky Way again.
cleardarksky.com/…/large_light_pollution_map.html
You might find an area of dark sky closer to you than you think :)
This is really cool! Turns out I can drive like 4 hours instead of 20 to find a very low light pollution area, thanks!
RavenofDespair@lemmy.ml 4 days ago
Thanks awesome map. This means I haven’t seen a a full night sky :( My current light pollution dark yellow and I thought that was very bad. Too see a full night sky is going to top of my to-do list.