An unexpected revelation

[MarcusVatta]

I was closing up the house for the night the other day, when I noticed that it was a beautiful clear night - perfect for star gazing. So I grabbed a lawn chair and spent a few minutes looking up.

The milky was unusually clear - a band of light across the sky, with the Coalsack nebula front and center. I've seen it hundreds of times, but this was the first time I'd really looked at it since I started exploring in ED.

So I was very surprised when, looking up at the milky way, I thought: "So that's where I am" I recognized where I was sitting based on what the galaxy looked like. It wasn't a fixture of in the night sky - it was a landmark that fixed the Earth's location within the Galaxy - in the galactic plane, about midway to the rim, 500ish lys from the coalsack.

It was a long time before I looked away and went to bed.

 

[Sapient6]

I'd love to see the milky way in the real sky some time. I live in a rural community in northern Mass, but still there is far too much light pollution for me to see such things.

 

[Kirov099]

Revealing moments like that are always the best. I would have repped you for it, but apparently I have to spread it around first. I remember once when I looked up at the sun, and it wasn't just a source of light in the sky. For a brief moment, I actually saw it for what it was, an unimaginably large ball of hot gas, and the Earth a tiny rocky world hurtling at hundreds of meters of seconds around it. The scale of the solar system really hit me, and it was astonishing. Perhaps one of the most surreal moments of my life.

 

[Cdr Voorheez]

I was closing up the house for the night the other day, when I noticed that it was a beautiful clear night - perfect for star gazing. So I grabbed a lawn chair and spent a few minutes looking up.

The milky was unusually clear - a band of light across the sky, with the Coalsack nebula front and center. I've seen it hundreds of times, but this was the first time I'd really looked at it since I started exploring in ED.

So I was very surprised when, looking up at the milky way, I thought: "So that's where I am" I recognized where I was sitting based on what the galaxy looked like. It wasn't a fixture of in the night sky - it was a landmark that fixed the Earth's location within the Galaxy - in the galactic plane, about midway to the rim, 500ish lys from the coalsack.

It was a long time before I looked away and went to bed.

What a beautiful, simple post. Repped.

 

[hems303]

I was closing up the house for the night the other day, when I noticed that it was a beautiful clear night - perfect for star gazing. So I grabbed a lawn chair and spent a few minutes looking up.

The milky was unusually clear - a band of light across the sky, with the Coalsack nebula front and center. I've seen it hundreds of times, but this was the first time I'd really looked at it since I started exploring in ED.

So I was very surprised when, looking up at the milky way, I thought: "So that's where I am" I recognized where I was sitting based on what the galaxy looked like. It wasn't a fixture of in the night sky - it was a landmark that fixed the Earth's location within the Galaxy - in the galactic plane, about midway to the rim, 500ish lys from the coalsack.

It was a long time before I looked away and went to bed.

Love you description. Repped. This highlights just what David Braben has always had in mind (read some of his own thoughts he has published). He has envisaged the galaxy and distant worlds, unable to get there in RL he has come up with the Elite series; which for all their faults do inspire some of us. Just like the OP here...just sometimes it all makes perfect sense!

 

[TD Bauer]

I used to be in the Merchant Marines and worked on merchant ships out at sea... used to love going out on deck late at night. Even with the ship all lit up the sky you see while out in the middle of the ocean is amazing compared to the sky you see standing on land, even in rural areas.

Wow.

 

[Bam]

Dark skies in the UK are few and far between, especially clear ones. I'll never forget the first time I really saw the Milky Way, I went to New Zealand in 2004, in the middle of nowhere at the north of the North Island visiting my 80 year old Great Aunt. It was almost like looking at a long exposure photograph, but then I realised I was on the bottom of the planet and of course it would be darker down there ;-)

But seriously, the Milky Way with proper dark skies and good seeing is awesome, and awesome in the true sense of the word.

 

[Zieman]

One thing I've noticed about the night sky, when you're somewhere without light pollution, the sky is clear and your eyes have adjusted to darkness properly (like waking up after a few hours of sleep in complete darkness ), is the incredible brightness of stars. There are so many more stars visible than usually, and hefty chunk of them are really bright. So bright that the familiar constellations tend to be hard to trace amongst all the bright stars filling the sky.

 

[Gramps]

Lovely post + rep for sharing.

 

[Badboybobby]

Wow, mate I know how you feel. I remember when I was in the service, out on a field trip west of Townsville in North Queensland Australia. I was laying in my sleeping bag looking up at the milky way and smack in the middle of it was Halley's Comet. Didn't get much sleep that night. Just lay there looking up at the night sky and it was clear as you could imagine. Something to tell my grand kids about anyhow. Also something I'll never forget.

 

[Mibuchi]

Revealing moments like that are always the best...For a brief moment, I actually saw it for what it was...

Sublime experience that is, especially if you've ever been laying in a meadow at night with your head flat on the ground to one side staring at a running river with the starlit night sky of the milky way in the background under the influence of vertigo brought on by peyote (for religious experience of course) and realizing that gravity makes the world go round as you witness the water in the running river "fall" along its course.

 

[Jarsil]

Beautiful post, repped.
I still remember my last view of the milky way, it was like 1994 or so in UK, we were standing in the middle of a golf course in a college near Winchester, nearest lights were at least half a mile, the sky was completely black with the milky way perfecly visible. An awesome sight that I still remember like it was yesterday.

 

[Traveller_GG]

Years ago, I was sat out on the patio with my (then) wife and watched the moon appear over the horizon. Normally at times like this you see the moon rise, but for a brief moment the pair of us actually felt the Earth rotating round to reveal the moon. It was an incredibly sublime moment and the most amazing shift in perception I'd ever had.

 

[newman1702]

I'd love to see the milky way in the real sky some time. I live in a rural community in northern Mass, but still there is far too much light pollution for me to see such things.

Some time ago I found some google map plugins that showed light polution. If you can find such maps for your area, you may be able to find a nice dark spot within reasonable driving distance. I recommend an elevated position, such as a hill or mountain top, for best results; a lot of air turbulence will occur below the top around the mountain, giving you nice and clear visibility. Another tip if you don't own a scope - you probably own binoculars of some sort. You'd be amazed at what you can see with a pair of ordinary binoculars - the Andromeda galaxy (visible by naked eye as well under really good conditions), a few brighter open / globular clusters, not to mention the planets. Saturn's season is almost up, but Jupiter will come replace it. Both are beautiful sights. If you do plan a trip I suggest googling binocular astronomy / stargazing, you should find a list of recommended objects visible from the northern hemisphere, and how to find them.

I kind of dabble in amateur astronomy, and will be taking my telescope to a gathering in the local area's dark spot with my astronomical society. In a few weeks.. can't wait. So I can really understand your fascination, OP - I share it - though I think my fellow amateur astronomers may give me strange looks when we target the Orion nebula and I say something like "oh yea, been there in my Asp, it's such a tourist spot, everything explored there.."

 

[ArkSeaJumper]

I used to be in the Merchant Marines and worked on merchant ships out at sea... used to love going out on deck late at night. Even with the ship all lit up the sky you see while out in the middle of the ocean is amazing compared to the sky you see standing on land, even in rural areas.

Wow.

Me Too. Lovely wasn't it. But you had to allow your eyes to adjust as another poster has mentioned. Around 20 minutes at least. I think that's half the problem now, no time to sit around outside adjusting without checking your phone

 

[iain666]

your eyes have adjusted to darkness properly

That makes so much difference. Got a taxi home from the airport last week and after sitting in the dark for 40 minutes on the motorway and then going out into the back garden there were so many more stars than I normally see round here. Having the patience to just sit in the dark for a while (or being made to...) makes all the difference.

 

[newman1702]

That makes so much difference. Got a taxi home from the airport last week and after sitting in the dark for 40 minutes on the motorway and then going out into the back garden there were so many more stars than I normally see round here. Having the patience to just sit in the dark for a while (or being made to...) makes all the difference.

Yes. Adjustment to darkness is a two-step process. Phase 1 is mechanical; your brain tells your pupils to dilate more when in darkness, to allow for more light to enter your eyes. This happens very quickly. Phase 2 is chemical; an enzyme is secreted over time that increases your eye's sensitivity to weak light sources, allowing you to see a lot better in darkness. This process takes some 20-30 minutes and is immediately reversed if exposed to a light source; strong white and green light are the worst culprits and reduce you night sight adaptation almost instantly. To gain proper night adaptation you need to avoid all but red light sources for at least 20 minutes - quite impossible in a city. This is why amateur astronomers use red light to consult star maps and the like when out below dark skies, away from light polluted cities. Avoid car headlights, and laptop / smartphone / tablet screens, unless you can set them up with a red filter. A lot of stargazing apps allow for nightvision mode which basically turns them red for this reason.

Differences are quite profound if you're trying to observe something very faint, like a distant galaxy; those few photons have been traveling for millions of years and you need all the help you can get to catch them

 

[certhas]

Differences are quite profound if you're trying to observe something very faint, like a distant galaxy; those few photons have been traveling for millions of years and you need all the help you can get to catch them

galaxies, they allways tend to dissapoint you, especially andromeda, without a real dark sky its just some blurred foggy thing, doesnt matter if you use binoculars, a small or a big telescope

 

[newman1702]

galaxies, they allways tend to dissapoint you, especially andromeda, without a real dark sky its just some blurred foggy thing, doesnt matter if you use binoculars, a small or a big telescope

They can be quite faint since they're among the most distant objects you can see, and yes you won't see individual stars, but I wouldn't call them disappointing. When I observe the whirlpool galaxy, I'm fascinated that I can actually see both galaxies intersecting each other, by absorbing light that started it's long voyage over 23 millions of years ago - long, long before our ancestors started walking on two legs.