3 ms·

I had a couple of weeks in Cyprus a few years back, * Bortle Class 3-4 * Artifiical brightness 81.7 μcd/m2 according to https://www.lightpollutionmap.info

I had a couple of weeks in Cyprus a few years back, * Bortle Class 3-4 * Artifiical brightness 81.7 μcd/m2 according to https://www.lightpollutionmap.info/ https://www.lightpollutionmap.info/ It was lovely and clear every night, I could not only see the ISS pass, I saw something dimmer following it at the same speed - I later found out it was a Dragon cargo capsule Still very difficult to pick out anything milkyway ish. I live in * Bortle Class 4 * Artifiical brightness 375 μcd/m2 Can currently pick out the usual - Cassiopea, Orion, Ursa Major, etc, not the milky way. It's usually overcast. However for picking out a decent number of stars - I was pleasantly surprised one evening on Manly Beach in Sydney (1350 μcd/m2) to be able to see a fair amount of (unfamiliar) stars. I don't go south of the equator much, and when I do it tends to be for work and I'm in a city - I had some time in Sydney though, and it was clear.

sen 5y ago
I live in a rural Australian city and can regularly see the Milky Way from my back yard on clear cold nights. We do get light pollution from the city around me if there’s any type of moisture or even the tiniest amount of cloud but that just makes the Milky Way itself blend in and the stars themselves are still incredible. I moved here from a big city so I never get sick of it, regularly just lying on my back on the grass and staring for a bit while taking the bins out at night. Despite being a big fan of the idea of Starlink etc, I do (literally) see the concerns about their sky pollution though. It’s very jarring how many more satellites you see moving around the sky in the last few nights and they’re bright enough to cause you to require a few minutes adjustment afterwards until you can see the dimmer stars in the areas they’ve passed. Eg they basically “wash out” anywhere they’ve been for a while.
- iso1210 5y ago
  It's that adjusting that's the problem in the UK - it's winter that the nights are dark enough at a reasonable time, which means sitting outside in the dark with no lights for an hour at near freezing temperatures.
zimpenfish 5y ago
* Bortle Class 8-9 * Artificical brightness 8650 μcd/m2 Ah, London, truly world class. (Although I suspect there's parts of Greenwich Park where you could get it down to a 6, maybe? Top end, near the tea hut, if anyone is familiar. Middle of Oxleas Wood as well except that's obviously full of trees blocking the sky...)
dylan604 5y ago
It's an interesting experience where you live in a place to pick out the usual constellations like you mentioned and get used to finding them with ease, but take the trip to the dark sky spots and be blown away how those seem to disappear in the noise of the rest of the sky. It always takes a wee bit for me to get my bearings. And I love having to do it each time as it reminds me to slow down and enjoy being away from it all to where that view is possible.

sen 5y ago

I live in a rural Australian city and can regularly see the Milky Way from my back yard on clear cold nights. We do get light pollution from the city around me if there’s any type of moisture or even the tiniest amount of cloud but that just makes the Milky Way itself blend in and the stars themselves are still incredible. I moved here from a big city so I never get sick of it, regularly just lying on my back on the grass and staring for a bit while taking the bins out at night. Despite being a big fan of the idea of Starlink etc, I do (literally) see the concerns about their sky pollution though. It’s very jarring how many more satellites you see moving around the sky in the last few nights and they’re bright enough to cause you to require a few minutes adjustment afterwards until you can see the dimmer stars in the areas they’ve passed. Eg they basically “wash out” anywhere they’ve been for a while.

iso1210 5y ago
It's that adjusting that's the problem in the UK - it's winter that the nights are dark enough at a reasonable time, which means sitting outside in the dark with no lights for an hour at near freezing temperatures.

zimpenfish 5y ago

* Bortle Class 8-9 * Artificical brightness 8650 μcd/m2 Ah, London, truly world class. (Although I suspect there's parts of Greenwich Park where you could get it down to a 6, maybe? Top end, near the tea hut, if anyone is familiar. Middle of Oxleas Wood as well except that's obviously full of trees blocking the sky...)

dylan604 5y ago

It's an interesting experience where you live in a place to pick out the usual constellations like you mentioned and get used to finding them with ease, but take the trip to the dark sky spots and be blown away how those seem to disappear in the noise of the rest of the sky. It always takes a wee bit for me to get my bearings. And I love having to do it each time as it reminds me to slow down and enjoy being away from it all to where that view is possible.