3 ms·

Agreed. I very recently was thinking about how humans up to a few hundred years ago must have seen the most breath taking night skies. Imagine a native American

by uhtred 6y ago

Agreed. I very recently was thinking about how humans up to a few hundred years ago must have seen the most breath taking night skies. Imagine a native American standing in a clearing at night 2000 years ago, with zero light pollution, looking at the night sky and just wondering what it is all about.

wahern 6y ago
Even w/ a clear desert sky hundreds of miles from the nearest city (e.g. middle of Nevada), the sky looks nothing like these pictures. Astrophotography uses exposure times many multiples--and usually several orders of magnitude--longer than the human eye. Can you see the Milkyway? No, not really; not without prompting. If you have no idea what to look for, the disc is just a barely imperceptible, slight increase in otherwise meager (relative to astrophotographs) star density. I've never seen it, nor other constellations, because I don't really know what to look for, though I've spent many hours staring up at the sky from various places, including extremely remote desert and mountain locales--Western U.S., Northern Mexico, Mongolia, Ecuador, Chile, etc. Of course, there's no way to understand the awe and wonderment somebody lacking our knowledge, experience, and expectations may have experienced. Especially if they had never seen an astrophotograph. EDIT: Actually, now that I think about it, I wonder if astrology, navigation, and astronomy might have developed more slowly if the human eye had greater fidelity. With only several thousand stars visible (much fewer readily discernible, especially if you're not an adolescent w/ fresh corneas), the motion of stars probably stands out more. Imagine trying to recognize and track the planets on a background as dense as an astrophotograph. Where to start? Would you even recognize the relative motion? People had much fewer distractions during nighttime back then, but it still seems substantially more daunting.
- quesera 6y ago
  I agree with your larger premise, but: > Can you see the Milkyway? No, not really This is not my experience. I have seen the Milky Way very clearly from a few locations in the US. None are particularly remote -- all are just a few hours drive from the large cities I've lived in. Winter months are clearer than summer.
  - jjnoakes 6y ago
    Yeah I agree. Not only have I seen the milky way, but I've seen andromeda with my naked eye from the right place on the right night, within a day's drive from very populated cities.
    - mathewsanders 6y ago
      +1. I’ve not seen it for 10 years (since I’ve lived in the United States) but growing up in New Zealand, looking up at the Milky Way with your naked eye, it’s definitely clear the increased density of stars. Doesn’t look anything like photos, but very beautiful.
  - dpe82 6y ago
    Where I grew up in rural Wisconsin I could see it at night laying out on our front lawn. Not super bright, but you could definitely tell it was there.
  - no-s 6y ago
    > I have seen the Milky Way very clearly from a few locations in the US. I agree. heck, I remember stargazing in rural New Mexico in the 70's, the moonless night sky was luminous to the dark-adapted eye. The Milky Way was a river of stars, bright enough to read by (well, distinguish the words on the page, I don't remember spending much time reading...)
  - piva00 6y ago
    Completely agree, I've seen the Milky Way just by traveling to a city called Eskilstuna, some 200km away from Stockholm, in the middle of the forest and away from settlements you could see the Milky Way much brighter than just a faint streak of light.
- davchana 6y ago
  Maybe its clouds, or air quality, or general deteriorating climate, about 30 years ago, my village in plains of Punjab, we used to see lots of stars, constellations, & planets along with satellites at night time. Maybe absence of tv, mobile, culture of sleeping on roof in summers, made us more aware of stars. Full moon nights were like brightly lit. No moon nights were amazingly dark. We could see shadows in moon light. Things were just like day, but in dark blue grey color. We always saw the north pole star, few other groups, & watched milky way moving from side to side in night. Did not know its name, we call it SkyRiver in our language (Galaxy). For reference, now I am in northern california small town.

by uhtred 6y ago

wahern 6y ago

Even w/ a clear desert sky hundreds of miles from the nearest city (e.g. middle of Nevada), the sky looks nothing like these pictures. Astrophotography uses exposure times many multiples--and usually several orders of magnitude--longer than the human eye. Can you see the Milkyway? No, not really; not without prompting. If you have no idea what to look for, the disc is just a barely imperceptible, slight increase in otherwise meager (relative to astrophotographs) star density. I've never seen it, nor other constellations, because I don't really know what to look for, though I've spent many hours staring up at the sky from various places, including extremely remote desert and mountain locales--Western U.S., Northern Mexico, Mongolia, Ecuador, Chile, etc. Of course, there's no way to understand the awe and wonderment somebody lacking our knowledge, experience, and expectations may have experienced. Especially if they had never seen an astrophotograph. EDIT: Actually, now that I think about it, I wonder if astrology, navigation, and astronomy might have developed more slowly if the human eye had greater fidelity. With only several thousand stars visible (much fewer readily discernible, especially if you're not an adolescent w/ fresh corneas), the motion of stars probably stands out more. Imagine trying to recognize and track the planets on a background as dense as an astrophotograph. Where to start? Would you even recognize the relative motion? People had much fewer distractions during nighttime back then, but it still seems substantially more daunting.

quesera 6y ago
I agree with your larger premise, but: > Can you see the Milkyway? No, not really This is not my experience. I have seen the Milky Way very clearly from a few locations in the US. None are particularly remote -- all are just a few hours drive from the large cities I've lived in. Winter months are clearer than summer.
- jjnoakes 6y ago
  Yeah I agree. Not only have I seen the milky way, but I've seen andromeda with my naked eye from the right place on the right night, within a day's drive from very populated cities.
  - mathewsanders 6y ago
    +1. I’ve not seen it for 10 years (since I’ve lived in the United States) but growing up in New Zealand, looking up at the Milky Way with your naked eye, it’s definitely clear the increased density of stars. Doesn’t look anything like photos, but very beautiful.
- dpe82 6y ago
  Where I grew up in rural Wisconsin I could see it at night laying out on our front lawn. Not super bright, but you could definitely tell it was there.
- no-s 6y ago
  > I have seen the Milky Way very clearly from a few locations in the US. I agree. heck, I remember stargazing in rural New Mexico in the 70's, the moonless night sky was luminous to the dark-adapted eye. The Milky Way was a river of stars, bright enough to read by (well, distinguish the words on the page, I don't remember spending much time reading...)
- piva00 6y ago
  Completely agree, I've seen the Milky Way just by traveling to a city called Eskilstuna, some 200km away from Stockholm, in the middle of the forest and away from settlements you could see the Milky Way much brighter than just a faint streak of light.
davchana 6y ago
Maybe its clouds, or air quality, or general deteriorating climate, about 30 years ago, my village in plains of Punjab, we used to see lots of stars, constellations, & planets along with satellites at night time. Maybe absence of tv, mobile, culture of sleeping on roof in summers, made us more aware of stars. Full moon nights were like brightly lit. No moon nights were amazingly dark. We could see shadows in moon light. Things were just like day, but in dark blue grey color. We always saw the north pole star, few other groups, & watched milky way moving from side to side in night. Did not know its name, we call it SkyRiver in our language (Galaxy). For reference, now I am in northern california small town.