Stars, Urban Light and Philosophy

[Keith]

Family and I spent some time on the Frio last week which is about 2 hours from San Antonio and 30 miles from the nearest town.

Here in San Marcos our night sky is that orange hue.

Out there with no light pollution it's amazing. You can see it all. Just viewing the whole night sky prompts me to dwell on the Universe. Also I got to thinking about how urban dwellers probably are growing more and more detached from thought about stars, universe, physics based on the fact that they can't even see it anymore whereas other civilizations thought about it a lot and it in return was heavy in their Philosophy thoughts.

[oldognewtrick]

I deer hunt about 2 hours away from Nashville and when we get out of the truck in the morning it's amazing how many stars you can see when you get away from the urban light pollution. I've sat many a cool frosty mornings looking at the stars and pondering the wonders of the universe. Saw 2 shooting stars last Sunday morning, that was pretty cool.

...but you have to remember that earlier civilizations spent a lot of time looking at the stars because they didn't have cable TV or the INTERNET,if the Myans would of had WiFi we never would of had their calendar, just a thought...

[vindicated]

This is why I spend as much time as I can in the wilderness. I love gazing up out at the universe in wonder. I can get lost in my thoughts for hours. I makes me feel at peace.

[Motorcharge]

I go shooting out in the country a good bit and it's always nice sitting around the fire at night just looking up. Really puts things in perspective how small we are.

[Deepskyy]

Charlotte has terrible light pollution. That is why my telescope stays home in Marion.
I have an 8" reflector that I love to use whenever I get a chance on a clear night to make the 2 hour drive back home to the mountains. I've even went so far as to drive an extra 40 minutes up the BRP to some of the overpasses on the way to Mt Mitchell to eliminate even more of the light pollution.
One of the most amazing, and intriguing things to do (for me anyway) is just to set up the scope pointing towards whatever part of the milky way I can see on a given night and just pan around. I've managed to catch a few asteroids, notice some binary systems, and just other general cool stuff by doing this.

[Otahyoni]

Originally Posted by Deepskyy

Charlotte has terrible light pollution. That is why my telescope stays home in Marion.
I have an 8" reflector that I love to use whenever I get a chance on a clear night to make the 2 hour drive back home to the mountains. I've even went so far as to drive an extra 40 minutes up the BRP to some of the overpasses on the way to Mt Mitchell to eliminate even more of the light pollution.
One of the most amazing, and intriguing things to do (for me anyway) is just to set up the scope pointing towards whatever part of the milky way I can see on a given night and just pan around. I've managed to catch a few asteroids, notice some binary systems, and just other general cool stuff by doing this.

I've been to Mt Mitchell

You ever try to take pictures through your telescope? You'd get some amazing ones i'm sure!

[jeepcache]

you guys should visit ND. ive been to many remote locations, but ive NEVER seen stars like i have here...

[Keith]

The most amazing night sky I've seen was December Northeast New Mexico about 2AM. We ended up pulling over just to watch the shooting stars, one after another.