When was the last time you saw stars?

glenimp617 · 17 Apr 2019 at 10:01

Not hollywood stars, or stars in your eyes from being punched......but stars in the night sky?

https://news.sky.com/story/more-tha...nd-cant-see-starry-skies-survey-says-11695814

I read this artcile earlier and thought....yeah, I remember looking up at the sky when I was growing up and seeing millions of stars. Now though, I hardly see any. Good old pollution eh!

koolpc · 17 Apr 2019 at 10:04

Fine here.

Devrij · 17 Apr 2019 at 10:05

When I used to live in the states as a kid we would occasionally go out into the desert on school trips, and it really is incredible to see what the sky is supposed to look like without all the light pollution. Been a long time since I saw it like that.

Em3bbs · 17 Apr 2019 at 10:10

Quite often recently, and also especially see Mars towards the South. It's light a bit too late for them now the clocks have changed, but my kids love looking at a Star Map app I have and seeing where different constellations are. They also find the planet name 'Uranus' funny for some reason.

Where do you live? I live about 20 miles outside of London. Light pollution seems a lot less since they got rid of most sodium lamps, the sky is no longer orange.

Orionaut · 17 Apr 2019 at 10:11

Devrij said:
When I used to live in the states as a kid we would occasionally go out into the desert on school trips, and it really is incredible to see what the sky is supposed to look like without all the light pollution. Been a long time since I saw it like that.

It should come as no surprise that many stars have Arab names. In the desert you need astronomy for navigation just as with at sea (In fact, more so. Early Mariners would hug the coast rather than head off over the oceans. this is rather more difficult to do trying to cross deserts where you might easily miss a critical well by half a mile and die)

Light pollution seems a lot less since they got rid of most sodium lamps, the sky is no longer orange.

Unfortunately, for astronomers, that is not the case.

The old yellow lights were essentially monochromatic and therefore relatively easy to filter out. The more modern whiter lights make nighttime light pollution far more difficult to eliminate

glenimp617 · 17 Apr 2019 at 10:14

koolpc said:
Fine here.

You are one of the lucky 2% https://www.theguardian.com/travel/...in-uk-dark-skies-festival-2017-national-parks

wolfie138 · 17 Apr 2019 at 10:16

see stars all the time despite being right next to a lamp post. however, it's nothing compared to what you see if you drive away from lights; sometimes stop around the Otterburn/Keilder area on the way back from Scottish concerts, on a clear night the night sky up there will knock your eyes out.

Firestar_3x · 17 Apr 2019 at 10:16

Fine here, probably between the 9 & 2% depending on the night in question.

VincentHanna · 17 Apr 2019 at 10:17

Walking the dog a week ago at night.

Em3bbs · 17 Apr 2019 at 10:24

Orionaut said:
Unfortunately, for astronomers, that is not the case.

The old yellow lights were essentially monochromatic and therefore relatively easy to filter out. The more modern whiter lights make nighttime light pollution far more difficult to eliminate

Yeah, I meant more for the naked eye, although colour aside aren't the modern lights a lot better because they are much more directional now? I certainly notice a difference having lived by motorways for a lot of my life.

james.miller · 17 Apr 2019 at 10:26

Loads here, we live at the end of dimly lit cul de sac on the edge of golf course. It gets really dark here

StoutMeister · 17 Apr 2019 at 10:38

All good here, and a full moon with spring tides on Friday

... thus making said stars less visible. :mad:

SickAsAParrot · 17 Apr 2019 at 10:58

Get very few around here (middle of Stoke). I've got a Skymaster telescope but it's only really good for looking at the planets. Have occasionally seen some of the brighter nebulae through it but only as dim fuzzy blobs.

FishLicker · 17 Apr 2019 at 10:59

All the time, I do live in the North East though. Around 40 miles in fact from the darkest place in England (Kielder Observatory). Though even just 5 miles away from the centre of Newcastle its possible to see stars quite easily, but obviously gets better the further away from towns and cities you go.

Gerard · 17 Apr 2019 at 11:05

Most nights if it's not cloudy.

Tek81 · 17 Apr 2019 at 11:05

I see them almost every night; weather dependent. I'm in a rural area of County Durham though, so not seeing them would be concerning.

tom_nieto · 17 Apr 2019 at 11:24

Can see them quite well on a clear night in Birmingham. Clearly it's not as good as a rural setting, but still not bad... definitely can't make out second order stars of the Milky Way here!

BananaDunka · 17 Apr 2019 at 12:17

TheOracle said:
Not hollywood stars, or stars in your eyes from being punched......but stars in the night sky?

https://news.sky.com/story/more-tha...nd-cant-see-starry-skies-survey-says-11695814

I read this artcile earlier and thought....yeah, I remember looking up at the sky when I was growing up and seeing millions of stars. Now though, I hardly see any. Good old pollution eh!

See them often here.

Here's one pic from just down the road even!

glenimp617 · 17 Apr 2019 at 12:23

mrk said:
See them often here.

Here's one pic from just down the road even!

did you take that?

FishFluff · 17 Apr 2019 at 12:25

I live in a city so don't see many.

Last time I saw them properly was 2017 when I went to a bunch of US national parks.