Off topic, but after my daughter was born I realized how sad and worried I was that she wouldn't be familiar with looking up at the sky on a clear night and seeing the Milky Way. Stuff like what's in this article is much more intuitive if it's part of your schema of the night sky; it's more difficult to appreciate when it's invisible.
She's too young to appreciate it now when I point it out to her when we have the opportunity, and I worry that when she's old enough to appreciate it she'll be someplace she can't see it. For me it was a common thing up until I was a bit older, and now it's uncommon to be in the right place at the right time to see it. I wonder if the unlit night sky will become something like old-growth forests or other ecological sights that are long gone.
Go to the Southern Hemisphere, the stars are still epic there.
Story Time: I'm from Australia, but didn't got for almost 10 years. I lived in the Yukon, roamed all of Alaska, etc. etc.
When I got to Australia after 10 years I walked outside in the middle of a city of 50,000 people and almost fell over the stars were so bright and colourful and (seemingly) close. They were so good, in fact, I took photos right there in the middle of that city that are better star photos than anything I have ever taken in Yukon/Alaska.
My most breathtaking glimpse of the world: Stopping one night while hitching through the Nullarbor, and walking to the coast very close by. Pitch black, but then not quite, for all over the sky were insanely more and brighter stars than I have ever seen before or since.
And then the crashing waves at the foot of the cliffs, and wind roaring in from the south, with the just the right amount of arctic chill to make it awesome and remind you that across that ocean lies Antarctica.
That's more than thirty years ago, but words about 'the end of the world' still take me back.
Can confirm that the Southern sky is great from my time in South Africa. We had a nicer view of the milky way during many braais in a small town backyard than I have seen in the Northern hemisphere (including back country camping in Yellowstone National Park). The combination of high elevation, dry air and little light pollution is great.
The most incredible night sky I've seen is on the top of Mt John (there's a small observatory) on the southern island of New Zealand. Mauna Kea wasn't close.
You could see the band of the milky away across the sky. It was like something from Hubble.
There's nothing like looking up in the sky and getting some perspective.
So yes, when I lived in the Europe one of the joys of coming back to Oz for holidays was that you can actually see stars. Even inside a big city, the nights tend to be clearer than in Europe and the light "pollution" more limited.
That said, I've never seen the Milky Way.
I probably could if I went out somewhere far from the city, but I can't remember ever actually seeing it, even when doing star-gazing at school camp.
Interesting. I think I've heard that before somewhere else. I'll have to ask one of my colleagues about it.
Where my family is from, in the northern US, the night sky is very clear and visible (barring clouds etc which aren't uncommon for various reasons). But where we live you can barely see much other than the moon and planets. I wish more attention were paid to light pollution.
I never really saw it, until I was about 18 and spent a weekend in the Swiss Alps. That was in the mid-'80s. I'd seen it as a dim smear before, but not in its full glory. It looked like the pictures. I wished I could jump on a spaceship and just head out there.
Skies in the alps (at least french and swiss) have too much light pollution to have properly clear picture most of the time. Every valley has some village, and even if you get to 3000+ metres (or even 4000+), glows from valleys are never too far. Depends on cloud/haze situation too.
I camp up there a lot, all seasons, even have full frame camera with tripod with me for night shots but you simply can't escape the glow (at least I didn't manage so far).
But to be honest, even in himalayas 2 years ago (3 passes hike in Everest region), or on Aconcagua (6000m camp) last winter the skies were mostly just OK. Of course with 30-second exposure things come to light, but I don't like those overly-photoshopped pictures of milky way so popular these days. Very little reality, too much painting with brushes with regard to color representation.
I'm from the inner city. Growing up, I always recalled just seeing a twinkle here and there in the night sky.
However, my mother's side of the family is from the deep south. I remember visiting relatives, and one time staring at the night sky. There were so many "things up there" I was both in awe and a little bit frightened.
Indeed! It is that sight, the infinity of stars and space, that has probably been the greatest creative inspiration for humans ever since we gained sentience. The reminder and assurance that there is more to reality than the artifice of society and its petty concerns we've cocooned ourselves in.
With the stars gone from the skies in cities and their surroundings it is truly a dystopia, where humans will live their lives out thinking that our cities are all there is.
She's too young to appreciate it now when I point it out to her when we have the opportunity, and I worry that when she's old enough to appreciate it she'll be someplace she can't see it. For me it was a common thing up until I was a bit older, and now it's uncommon to be in the right place at the right time to see it. I wonder if the unlit night sky will become something like old-growth forests or other ecological sights that are long gone.