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This year we (our family) have the expressed goal of renting a cabin far off from major cities (partly) so our daughter will get to see a night sky full of star

This year we (our family) have the expressed goal of renting a cabin far off from major cities (partly) so our daughter will get to see a night sky full of stars. We live close to an airport, so atm she gets excited by seeing more than 10-ish stars, so I'm looking forward to seeing her reaction :). Also, once seeing and pointing out a satellite was a highlight :).

_Microft 7y ago
You might want to show her the International Space Station. It's very bright and NASA offers a notification service [1] for overflys at your location. Having people on it might give bonus points. Extra info: on November, 2nd, it will be the 19th year of uninterrupted human presence off the Earth. [1] https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/ https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/ PS: you might want to watch out for the next group of Starlink satellites from SpaceX. The chain of sparkles moving silently over the sky was absolutely amazing to watch. It's most likely not dark-sky compatible, though :/
- sokoloff 7y ago
  Another helpful site (be sure to try the green button) https://james.darpinian.com/satellites/ https://james.darpinian.com/satellites/
daemin 7y ago
One thing I'm thankful of when living and growing up in Australia, you could clearly see the night sky and all the stars there if you went to the beach or the hills. Far less ambient light pollution, such a beautiful night sky. I just hope it doesn't get spoiled by all those constellations of Internet Satellites.
- Ididntdothis 7y ago
  Australia also has the advantage of seeing more of the galactic core during the whole year. On the northern hemisphere you can see it only in the summer and even then less than Australia.
- ceejayoz 7y ago
  Australia has far less air pollution, too, given the low population and relatively tiny strip of populated areas along the coast. The skies in Freycinet National Park in Tasmania were the most stunning I've ever seen in my life.
hunter-gatherer 7y ago
I don't knowknow where you are located, but Wyoming has some dark skies and beauitful camp sites if you can make it that way. A guy I went to bootcamp with in my Army days was born and raised in the city. One of our first nights in the field I remember he was astounded at the number of stars. I guess like your daughter, he had only ever seen a few at a time his entire life. He actually thought shooting stars were something that Hollywood contrived. So myself and another guy stayed up a little bit with him until he saw one. His mind almost exploded.
- eth0up 7y ago
  A great way to "explode" the mind routinely is a pair of 15x70 binoculars with premium optics. The effect of handing them to someone, nudging them to Orion's belt or Pleiades, etc, and hearing the inevitable expletive never gets old. Continues to work on self indefinitely, for me.
  - bradstewart 7y ago
    Recommendations for a good pair?
    - eth0up 7y ago
      Entry price will be near $400 for what I was referencing. Mine were Garrett Optical (Signature Series), which I think is no more. However, the build is almost identical under different brands, eg Orion Resolux. The features in these porro prism 15x70 models, for an equivalent, should be: Fully multi coated; waterproof; bak-4; individual diopter focus. Garrett was meticulous in testing collimation before shipping, which is critical for quality viewing at higher magnification. I had the Resolux too, but in 10x70, which were great, but not as wow. When I can afford it, I will buy the Fujinon Polaris 16x70 ($900), unless I stumble into great wealth, in which case I may consider the largest pair of roof prism Leica available. The well-built porro style binos are best equipped with a monopod for extended viewing, due to their weight. Roof-prism binos are lighter, but much more expensive and rare in large apertures, ie objective lens. I briefly had a pair of Zeiss Victory (roof prism) 10x50 which were phenomenal, highly portable and stunningly clear, but simply couldn't provide the wowness of the 15x70. Ideally, I'd have both. Edit: Whatever you choose, my advice is to never even consider "zoom" as a feature in any pair of binoculars. It is tempting in concept, but almost never conducive to quality.
Merrill 7y ago
There is nothing like a moonless winter night (<20 below) in far rural Minnesota. Either you get a vast number of stars or you get the Northern Lights. Eastern North Dakota is probably a good choice as well.

_Microft 7y ago

You might want to show her the International Space Station. It's very bright and NASA offers a notification service [1] for overflys at your location. Having people on it might give bonus points. Extra info: on November, 2nd, it will be the 19th year of uninterrupted human presence off the Earth. [1] https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/ https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/ PS: you might want to watch out for the next group of Starlink satellites from SpaceX. The chain of sparkles moving silently over the sky was absolutely amazing to watch. It's most likely not dark-sky compatible, though :/

sokoloff 7y ago
Another helpful site (be sure to try the green button) https://james.darpinian.com/satellites/ https://james.darpinian.com/satellites/

daemin 7y ago

One thing I'm thankful of when living and growing up in Australia, you could clearly see the night sky and all the stars there if you went to the beach or the hills. Far less ambient light pollution, such a beautiful night sky. I just hope it doesn't get spoiled by all those constellations of Internet Satellites.

Ididntdothis 7y ago
Australia also has the advantage of seeing more of the galactic core during the whole year. On the northern hemisphere you can see it only in the summer and even then less than Australia.
ceejayoz 7y ago
Australia has far less air pollution, too, given the low population and relatively tiny strip of populated areas along the coast. The skies in Freycinet National Park in Tasmania were the most stunning I've ever seen in my life.

hunter-gatherer 7y ago

I don't knowknow where you are located, but Wyoming has some dark skies and beauitful camp sites if you can make it that way. A guy I went to bootcamp with in my Army days was born and raised in the city. One of our first nights in the field I remember he was astounded at the number of stars. I guess like your daughter, he had only ever seen a few at a time his entire life. He actually thought shooting stars were something that Hollywood contrived. So myself and another guy stayed up a little bit with him until he saw one. His mind almost exploded.

eth0up 7y ago
A great way to "explode" the mind routinely is a pair of 15x70 binoculars with premium optics. The effect of handing them to someone, nudging them to Orion's belt or Pleiades, etc, and hearing the inevitable expletive never gets old. Continues to work on self indefinitely, for me.
- bradstewart 7y ago
  Recommendations for a good pair?
  - eth0up 7y ago
    Entry price will be near $400 for what I was referencing. Mine were Garrett Optical (Signature Series), which I think is no more. However, the build is almost identical under different brands, eg Orion Resolux. The features in these porro prism 15x70 models, for an equivalent, should be: Fully multi coated; waterproof; bak-4; individual diopter focus. Garrett was meticulous in testing collimation before shipping, which is critical for quality viewing at higher magnification. I had the Resolux too, but in 10x70, which were great, but not as wow. When I can afford it, I will buy the Fujinon Polaris 16x70 ($900), unless I stumble into great wealth, in which case I may consider the largest pair of roof prism Leica available. The well-built porro style binos are best equipped with a monopod for extended viewing, due to their weight. Roof-prism binos are lighter, but much more expensive and rare in large apertures, ie objective lens. I briefly had a pair of Zeiss Victory (roof prism) 10x50 which were phenomenal, highly portable and stunningly clear, but simply couldn't provide the wowness of the 15x70. Ideally, I'd have both. Edit: Whatever you choose, my advice is to never even consider "zoom" as a feature in any pair of binoculars. It is tempting in concept, but almost never conducive to quality.

Merrill 7y ago

There is nothing like a moonless winter night (<20 below) in far rural Minnesota. Either you get a vast number of stars or you get the Northern Lights. Eastern North Dakota is probably a good choice as well.