> in the clearest of skies the naked eye can barely see the milky way unless it's a new moon and you're hundreds of miles from any town That's a bit of an exag

> in the clearest of skies the naked eye can barely see the milky way unless it's a new moon and you're hundreds of miles from any town That's a bit of an exaggeration. I often go to some place in a rural area in mainland France, very close to the sea. Night skies are beautiful and I can clearly see the milky way at times. The two closest big city are 46 miles (75 km) south or 70 miles north (115 km). But there's very little pollution: one of the reason is that it's a very sparsely populated sea side (there are vineyards and that's about it) and the other reason is the closest highway is a 45 minutes drive. > Even in perfect conditions the milky way will never look like the hyper-saturated versions that a camera can capture I agree with that!