4 ms·

This. My dad taught me to some of the constellations when I was a wee lad and I tried to practice as much as I could after that, mostly because reading Jules Ve

This. My dad taught me to some of the constellations when I was a wee lad and I tried to practice as much as I could after that, mostly because reading Jules Verne's books does that to a kid. Turned out it was pretty hard. I only got a chance to get some decent practice during the summer, which I often spent at my grandmother's house in the countryside. Today, there's a fair deal of light pollution even there and even well-known constellations are getting hard to identify. In my home city, at bloody 4 AM in the morning, on a very clear winter's night, I could maybe see 30-40 stars from my parents' balcony, if I squinted a little.

rimantas 11y ago
On the other hand very dark sky also makes constellations hard to identify. With so many stars visible it is a bit harder to see the "main" stars that are making the shape. The good example are the photos of rbritton posted in this thread. "DanceOfTheSpirits" features some majors highlights of the winter sky (Orion, Gemini, the brightes star of norther sky — Sirius) but they don't just immediatelly pop up among all the other stars.
- notalaser 11y ago
  It is, but there are simple ways around it: - It helps if you can identify small, local "clusters" of stars. E.g. even in a very dark sky where you can see stars you never remember seeing, Orion's belt is very easy to recognize, because three collinear stars so close together are a fairly rare sight. Same for the North Star -- it's not too bright, but it's related to two very recognizable constellations and you can find the North based on other clues as well, so you know where to look. Once you've identified one constellation, it's pretty easy to find the other ones. - It also helps if you're familiar with how the sky looks in various seasons. This way, you have a pretty good idea about what should be where. Granted, this probably doesn't work well if you have to travel a lot. My home country is pretty small; in its northernmost point, the sky looks pretty much the same as in its southernmost. If I suddenly found myself transported from Maine to Texas, I imagine I'd be in some difficulty.

rimantas 11y ago

On the other hand very dark sky also makes constellations hard to identify. With so many stars visible it is a bit harder to see the "main" stars that are making the shape. The good example are the photos of rbritton posted in this thread. "DanceOfTheSpirits" features some majors highlights of the winter sky (Orion, Gemini, the brightes star of norther sky — Sirius) but they don't just immediatelly pop up among all the other stars.

notalaser 11y ago
It is, but there are simple ways around it: - It helps if you can identify small, local "clusters" of stars. E.g. even in a very dark sky where you can see stars you never remember seeing, Orion's belt is very easy to recognize, because three collinear stars so close together are a fairly rare sight. Same for the North Star -- it's not too bright, but it's related to two very recognizable constellations and you can find the North based on other clues as well, so you know where to look. Once you've identified one constellation, it's pretty easy to find the other ones. - It also helps if you're familiar with how the sky looks in various seasons. This way, you have a pretty good idea about what should be where. Granted, this probably doesn't work well if you have to travel a lot. My home country is pretty small; in its northernmost point, the sky looks pretty much the same as in its southernmost. If I suddenly found myself transported from Maine to Texas, I imagine I'd be in some difficulty.