The Milky Way

[wossname]

I just saw it for the first time with the naked eye! My home town has too much light pollution to make that possible. On the Welsh coast however, there is hardly any light pollution at all and I can see probably 10 times more stars than I've ever seen before.

If it's like this again tomorrow then I'm going to try to photograph it!

It's a pretty awesome thing to witness, at first I thought it was cloud, but it wasn't moving at all in relation to the stars, there's only one thing it could be then! How exciting.

[FunkyDexter]

Did it ruin your appetite?

[techgnome]

I remember the first time I saw it myself. Was on a camping trip and was making a midnight run to the outhouse. Realized I didn't need a torch to see my way, thought it was moonlight, turned out to be this nice beautiful ribbon of stars shining across the sky. Something I've never seen again since, nor something I'll ever forget.

-tg

[abhijit]

I just saw it for the first time with the naked eye! My home town has too much light pollution to make that possible. On the Welsh coast however, there is hardly any light pollution at all and I can see probably 10 times more stars than I've ever seen before.

If it's like this again tomorrow then I'm going to try to photograph it!

It's a pretty awesome thing to witness, at first I thought it was cloud, but it wasn't moving at all in relation to the stars, there's only one thing it could be then! How exciting.

I had no clue, you could see the Milky Way with a naked eye.

On an unrelated note, if you wear glasses, is the eye still naked?

[schoolbusdriver]

I demand awesome pics, a complete descriptive narrative of your setup and all EXIF data including GPS.

[wossname]

You want a GPS coordinate for something dozens of lightyears away? I'll see what I can do.

I reckon the sky will be too cloudy tonight but I'll have a look at taking a (very) long exposure shot of it before the holiday ends.

[EntityX]

Where I live I can see the Milky Way on a regular basis. In 2007 homes started going up around my own and now there is more street light than there was before the homes went up so it's not as easy to see as it was pre 2007 but I can still see it. Before 2007 my closest neighbor was about a third of a mile away. I'm in a very low population density area and am out in the desert. The total population for everyone within a radius of 10 miles of me is probably under 3,000. When I lived in Los Angeles there wasn't any chance of seeing the Milky Way; too much light pollution as well as air pollution.

[techgnome]

Oddly enough, it was in the mountains above San Berdoo where I had my MW sighting... we were up above Arrowhead... (Holcolm Valley?) 10k+ elevation... WAAAAAY above all that smog junk...

-tg

[Code Doc]

Nowadays you have to be about 100 miles away from any major city to really see it well. Believe me, it is worth it.

The cool crisp days in Autumn represent beautiful opportunities. Best is when it's really cold outside, but that's not as much fun. A pair of good quality binoculars, about 7 x 50, add to the enjoyment.

The 7 sisters of the pleiades is one of my favorite star clusters to observe. If you have 20:20 vision or are a bit farsighted, you can see all 7 with the naked eye. Then the binoculars let you know quickly that there are actually thousands of stars in that cluster:

[wossname]

Here you go! ...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/adamneilward/3920515961/

[schoolbusdriver]

Nice one, but where are the Galactic Positional System coordinates ? Access to the SOOC image would be nice.

[wossname]

The GPS coordinates are as follows:

Up there.

I'll upload the SOOC later on in tiff format.

[EntityX]

If you're trying to spot the Milky Way my advice is look up at the sky not down at the ground. If you're in a place you can see it then you'll probably see it. It takes up a large area of sky and is spread out. Remember you're seeing millions of stars that are in the galaxy that we occupy and those stars are spread out quite a bit but they are in a wide band because galaxies aren't shaped like a sphere but more like a disc or pancake.

[demotivater]

Here you go! ...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/adamneilward/3920515961/

Very cool, I've seen it before, but not that clearly.

[wossname]

Nice one, but where are the Galactic Positional System coordinates ? Access to the SOOC image would be nice.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/adamneilward/3923798517

[CoachBarker]

Awesome picture

[kleinma]

Thought you might find this interesting..

http://www.gigagalaxyzoom.org/