Who has ever seen the Milky Way?

Quite a bit. Plenty of woods in Maine where there's no light pollution for miles, same with upstate NY and out towards the Everglades down here.

A couple years ago I was visiting with a friend and consuming little tabs of paper that make you see things, she's on the outskirts of Palm Bay by Melbourne. Just as things were kicking in I walked outside and just as I looked up and saw the complete lack of light pollution save for one neighbors porch light, an AC turned off and I was in complete silence. I've been in the city for so long and I was at the most stressful/shitty point of my life at that particular time, I never had the lack of human intrusion on the planet hit me so hard.

I really took that for granted growing up, being able to go out in the woods and not see or hear another human or even a trace of them. I don't mean that in an anti-social way, but you simply cannot go anywhere here and experience that, not one single place. Where I grew up you could pretty much walk a quarter mile and you'll be at the woods.
 
There are places here, brother you don’t ever even want to get off the road. The forests so deep here you cannot believe… 7 feet in and you’ll be lost.

But the sky is rarely visible.
 
Timely review from ars technica:
Communal stargazing using your phone: The Unistellar eQuinox 2, reviewed

I generally agree with the comments after the article; sounds like this particular example didn't have the best optics (or wasn't aligned)....and it's kind of 'spensive. But a really cool idea nonetheless, for the price of an Axe-Fx III. The fact that it compensates for light pollution definitely makes it more attractive.

That said, I don't even get my scope out any more (6" SCT). Every year we go camping here in VT over Labor Day, and we usually spend part of our nights with binocs and astronomy apps on our phones. More than enough for me these days, esp. given the images coming out of the Webb telescope...
 
Perseid showers tonight…

earthsky.org

| EarthSky

earthsky.org earthsky.org


Early to mid-August meteors … the Perseids​

Predicted peak: is predicted** for August 13, 2023, at 7:58 UTC.
When to watch: The moon will be a waning crescentand 10% illuminated during 2023’s peak of the Perseid meteor shower. This shower rises to a peak gradually, then falls off rapidly. And Perseid meteors tend to strengthen in number as late night deepens into the wee hours of the morning. The shower is often best before dawn. In 2023, the moon will be in the morning sky from early to mid-August but growing fainter each day before the peak.
Duration of shower: July 14 to September 1.
Click to expand...
 
I've seen the Milky Way many times. I used to pilot Fireball XL5.
$_1.jpeg
 
Saw about 6 to 7 in a couple hours time. They always say "Look to the Northeast," but I see them
from horizon to horizon. Biggest and brightest was in the Southwest sky. Penetrated into the
atmosphere so close you could see color and the smoke/vapor trail behind it as it burnt up.

Kind of insane to think we still have these cosmic collisions at tens of thousands of MPH so
frequently. Just a little cosmic dust is all. :idk
 
I did get up a little before 4, but didn't see any in the 10 minutes I spent outside. I'd hold my breath, then exhale a big gasp and then walk away so the mosquitoes wouldn't find me, but 10 minutes was all I could take. I can always find Cassiopeia, but for some reason it eluded me this morning.
 
Haha! Damn skeeters!! :horse

Can see the Milky Way above on a clear night here. Really visible last night. No haze or
lingering smoke froom Canada for a change, so that was nice.

Kind of neat being out for a few hours and seeing the Milky Way above stretching from
North to South and then 4 hours later it is stretching from East to West.
 
Saw a cool dogfight in the Night Sky last week. Could see them dueling high above with the light shooting
out of their asses. :LOL:

I was like, "I hope they are all friendly and nothing goes wrong." :idk

I am directly in between the Air Base and the Live Fire Artillery Range where they have one of the largest War
Games Training Exercises in North America every Summer.


Screenshot 2023-08-14 at 18-00-34 Northern Strike Returns to Michigan.png
 
Without looking it up… Does anybody know why the moon looks bigger when it’s closer to the horizon, versus when it apparently is high in the sky?
 
fretworn said:
Without looking it up… Does anybody know why the moon looks bigger when it’s closer to the horizon, versus when it apparently is high in the sky?
Click to expand...
As I understand it, when it's near the horizon you're seeing it thru more of our atmosphere....which acts as a lens..... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
It's how our brains perceive objects - it's in our head is the closest explanation so far.

Even astronauts experience the this illusion effect with no foreground or background visuals as a reference point on the horizon.
 
mavrick102000 said:
It's how our brains perceive objects - it's in our head is the closest explanation so far.

Even astronauts experience the this illusion effect with no foreground or background visuals as a reference point on the horizon.
Click to expand...

Winner, winner, chicken 🍗 dinner 🏆

If you actually measure it, the actual size is the same. It is an optical illusion of the apparent size created by the reference of the horizon as you say.
 
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