If you can see Neptune with the naked eye, you're probably a genetically altered mutant with eyes the size of melons.
Neptune is theoretically a naked eye object, barely, against a perfectly black background. In reality the sky isn't perfectly black, even with no man-made light sources. (See e.g. the Zodiacal Light.) So your chances of seeing +08 objects without binos or a telescope are basically zero.
I lived in a very rural area for a while with limited light sources. On a clear night, the sky was absolutely glorious, and going for night time walks under it was a favourite hobby.
But even on the darkest and clearest nights, with half an hour of dark adaptation, +04/5 was as good as the view ever got without binos.
Agreed. I wouldn't expect anyone would be able to spot Neptune. The comment was basically about proving to yourself that you're not seeing more than ~5k stars.
Those of us with cataract removal surgery can see more stars than most as we've lost the majority of our natural UV filter (it makes seeing the Pleiades a LOT easier.)
Neptune is theoretically a naked eye object, barely, against a perfectly black background. In reality the sky isn't perfectly black, even with no man-made light sources. (See e.g. the Zodiacal Light.) So your chances of seeing +08 objects without binos or a telescope are basically zero.
I lived in a very rural area for a while with limited light sources. On a clear night, the sky was absolutely glorious, and going for night time walks under it was a favourite hobby.
But even on the darkest and clearest nights, with half an hour of dark adaptation, +04/5 was as good as the view ever got without binos.