4 ms·

idk about you but when i look at it I see 6. been trying to spot #7, no luck so far.

lolinder 6y ago
Do you live in the middle of nowhere, far away from any light pollution? If not, your inability to see more than 6 means nothing about what someone 2000 years ago would have been able to see.
- dotancohen 6y ago
  Not the OP, but I have been observing the naked eye sky for decades from many different locations, including locations far from light pollution. In my best nights, when I was young, and far from light pollution, I could never make out more than 6 stars. And I'm able to spot Alcor very easily, even in suboptimal conditions.
- 0_____0 6y ago
  no matter where I am, if i have the night sky, I check for Pleiades and take note of how many I can see. sometimes it's fewer than 6 depending on light pollution, but I have never been able to see 7, even on nights in deeply rural areas where the milky way is stunningly bright and clear.
pegasus 6y ago
I imagine hunter-gatherers, whose life depended on their eyesight acuity, would be find it easier to spot than most modern humans do.
- comboy 6y ago
  Plus light pollution and air pollution. Maybe some other changes in the atmosphere. And very careful looking. You don't need lenses, just looking through a hole in a leaf could be helpful.
  - scotty79 6y ago
    I think the problem is not that the star is faint but it's drowned in the light of other star nowadays
- bee_rider 6y ago
  They also probably didn't Netflix subscriptions so the only way to entertain themselves was "Star look and chill."
- pegasus 6y ago
  For skeptical downvoters: http://darwinian-medicine.com/the-perfect-eyesight-of-hunter-gatherers/ http://darwinian-medicine.com/the-perfect-eyesight-of-hunter...
- sebmellen 6y ago
  Indigenous Australians also have incredibly good eyesight, and are probably the people group best preserved in our deeper evolutionary past. See, for example, this article on their special military unit https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-08/prince-harry-may-struggle-to-keep-up-with-aboriginal-super-sight/6378066 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-08/prince-harry-may-stru....
  - astrange 6y ago
    All people are equally old of course, but if you mean the ones closest related to a 100k-year-old hunter gatherer group I think that would be the San or another African group. (They of course aren't completely the same either.) The Australians encountered multiple non-homo-sapiens species on their way to Australia and might have even picked up better vision from them. They do apparently have better temperature regulation suited to desert nights.

Do you live in the middle of nowhere, far away from any light pollution? If not, your inability to see more than 6 means nothing about what someone 2000 years ago would have been able to see.

dotancohen 6y ago
Not the OP, but I have been observing the naked eye sky for decades from many different locations, including locations far from light pollution. In my best nights, when I was young, and far from light pollution, I could never make out more than 6 stars. And I'm able to spot Alcor very easily, even in suboptimal conditions.
0_____0 6y ago
no matter where I am, if i have the night sky, I check for Pleiades and take note of how many I can see. sometimes it's fewer than 6 depending on light pollution, but I have never been able to see 7, even on nights in deeply rural areas where the milky way is stunningly bright and clear.

pegasus 6y ago

I imagine hunter-gatherers, whose life depended on their eyesight acuity, would be find it easier to spot than most modern humans do.

comboy 6y ago
Plus light pollution and air pollution. Maybe some other changes in the atmosphere. And very careful looking. You don't need lenses, just looking through a hole in a leaf could be helpful.
- scotty79 6y ago
  I think the problem is not that the star is faint but it's drowned in the light of other star nowadays
bee_rider 6y ago
They also probably didn't Netflix subscriptions so the only way to entertain themselves was "Star look and chill."
pegasus 6y ago
For skeptical downvoters: http://darwinian-medicine.com/the-perfect-eyesight-of-hunter-gatherers/ http://darwinian-medicine.com/the-perfect-eyesight-of-hunter...
sebmellen 6y ago
Indigenous Australians also have incredibly good eyesight, and are probably the people group best preserved in our deeper evolutionary past. See, for example, this article on their special military unit https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-08/prince-harry-may-struggle-to-keep-up-with-aboriginal-super-sight/6378066 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-08/prince-harry-may-stru....
- astrange 6y ago
  All people are equally old of course, but if you mean the ones closest related to a 100k-year-old hunter gatherer group I think that would be the San or another African group. (They of course aren't completely the same either.) The Australians encountered multiple non-homo-sapiens species on their way to Australia and might have even picked up better vision from them. They do apparently have better temperature regulation suited to desert nights.