Star gazing is one of those things we give up by living in a big city. The light pollution is so intense that only the very brightest stars can be seen, and often those stars are planets. If you are well educated in astronomy, you might be affected in various ways by not seeing stars, but for me it’s pretty much purely aesthetic. One of the great things about places where I vacation is star gazing. I was on top of a mountain in Hawaii a year ago at 3AM and was stupified by the number of stars. It didn’t look like there was enough room in the sky for all of them! I’m sure that’s the most I’ve ever seen. Sometimes I wish I could see more stars, but one makes choices. At this time in my life I’d rather live in the city than be able to see stars every night. Fortunately I’m not required to find The Big Dipper in order to get home.
Being somewhere that you can’t see many stars on a nightly basis would increase your awe and appreciation for their beauty when you do get a chance to see a twinkly midnight blue sky.
laura k.
19 years ago
many cultures past and present depend[ed”> on the night sky for myths and education. but, if you think about it, the night sky appears as it does because of where we view it from – Earth. it’s not fixed like that, in that particular pattern. if we were in another star system, it would be a different arrangement. would we be able to tell which stars are which? do astronomers identify stars based solely on location? i hope not. that would be really earth-centric of them.
Star gazing is one of those things we give up by living in a big city. The light pollution is so intense that only the very brightest stars can be seen, and often those stars are planets. If you are well educated in astronomy, you might be affected in various ways by not seeing stars, but for me it’s pretty much purely aesthetic. One of the great things about places where I vacation is star gazing. I was on top of a mountain in Hawaii a year ago at 3AM and was stupified by the number of stars. It didn’t look like there was enough room in the sky for all of them! I’m sure that’s the most I’ve ever seen. Sometimes I wish I could see more stars, but one makes choices. At this time in my life I’d rather live in the city than be able to see stars every night. Fortunately I’m not required to find The Big Dipper in order to get home.
Being somewhere that you can’t see many stars on a nightly basis would increase your awe and appreciation for their beauty when you do get a chance to see a twinkly midnight blue sky.
many cultures past and present depend[ed”> on the night sky for myths and education. but, if you think about it, the night sky appears as it does because of where we view it from – Earth. it’s not fixed like that, in that particular pattern. if we were in another star system, it would be a different arrangement. would we be able to tell which stars are which? do astronomers identify stars based solely on location? i hope not. that would be really earth-centric of them.
maybe mayor daley can fix this star problem.
Actually, I wouldn’t be surprised if he could. He’s a Miracle Mayor.
Mayor Daley is my star.