# What stars are we looking at in these awesome photos? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 18, 2012, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stars-are-we-looking-at-in-these-awesome-photos/638088 "2012-10-18T02:03:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stars-are-we-looking-at-in-these-awesome-photos/638088/21 "2012-10-18T17:31:26Z")
> [@Alka\_Seltzer](#): > > That’s surprising, it’s not that hard to see. Have you tried turning off all lights for at least 15 minutes? … I might have seen it and, in expecting something especially vivid, just not realized what it was. Maybe the moon was out or something :shrug: It’s been a good 20 years … maybe I need to go out and have another look 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stars-are-we-looking-at-in-these-awesome-photos/638088/22 "2012-10-18T19:06:29Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > … I might have seen it and, in expecting something especially vivid, just not realized what it was. Maybe the moon was out or something :shrug: I forgot about that pesky moon, I’m surprised no-one has realised it needs dealing with it [once and for all](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=664749). That’s the most likely cause. I have several memories of driving down to my parents, faffing around in my car with the _internal light on_ for a bit, then being wowed by the view of it when I stepped out. It’s not hard to see when the conditions are right. > [@beowulff](#): > > It’s a quote from the novel _Protector_ by Larry Niven: Thanks. I’m only familiar with burning attack ships in the vicinity of Betelgeuse. An almost inconceivable sight. ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stars-are-we-looking-at-in-these-awesome-photos/638088/23 "2012-10-18T20:08:09Z")
Here in the Atlanta area we can see about 9 stars on any given night.☹ But, my sister lives in rural South Carolina, so when I take the kids up there, I’ve always dragged them outside and shown them the awesomeness of looking into the middle of our galaxy. I grew up with it in rural Indiana in the 70’s, and it always saddens me that my kids and their kids have to travel hours to see just a part of what us old farts grew up with. If you ever take a cruise, or spend some time in the Caribbean, make sure to take some binoculars or even a small telescope with you. You’ll be amazed at what being away from city lights will do! I take a small scope to St. Croix every year, and head to the east end of the island away from even the few lights on the island and spend a couple of hours most nights. I spent a couple of months driving across Australia years ago, and it was truly amazing. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stars-are-we-looking-at-in-these-awesome-photos/638088/24 "2012-10-18T20:15:43Z")
It’s really surprising to me that one person here has never seen the Milky Way, and another has seen it only once (in Hawaii). If I’m out camping, or away from the city at night, it’s usually pretty prominent if it’s the right time of year and time of night. I recall driving through eastern New Mexico a few years ago at night, and out of my peripheral vision I saw a cloud over to the left. About ten or 20 minutes later, I noticed the same cloud in the same position and thought “wait.” ---
**Author:** ![A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a87d85/32.png) [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Dodgy_Dude)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stars-are-we-looking-at-in-these-awesome-photos/638088/25 "2012-10-18T20:22:31Z")
Oh my God! It’s full of stars! ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stars-are-we-looking-at-in-these-awesome-photos/638088/26 "2012-10-18T22:24:41Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > And then there were the people photographing the stars _with flash._ I asked a woman why she was using flash, and she responded “I want to make the stars look brighter.” I was in Maui and the Big Island in August, where I saw the most spectacular view of the Milky Way I’ve seen. I failed in getting a decent photo despite my efforts. I never fail to be amazed at people taking photos of things with flash that have no possibility of being illuminated by their flash, but using a flash to brighten stars just takes the cake. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stars-are-we-looking-at-in-these-awesome-photos/638088/27 "2012-10-19T01:58:27Z")
> [@The\_Hamster\_King](#): > > No, but the word “galaxy” is derived from the Greek word for milk. You can hear the etymology in related words like “lactose”. Also “cataract,” as in cataracts of the eye. I think. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stars-are-we-looking-at-in-these-awesome-photos/638088/28 "2012-10-19T02:21:10Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Also “cataract,” as in cataracts of the eye. I think. Pretty sure “cataract” comes from the latin word for waterfall. Wiki agrees. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stars-are-we-looking-at-in-these-awesome-photos/638088/29 "2012-10-19T02:28:55Z")
> [@Jamicat](#): > > Here’s a start… [http://mexicanskies.com/constellations/sagittarius.htm](http://mexicanskies.com/constellations/sagittarius.htm) > [@CookingWithGas](#): > > [You are here](https://www.google.com/search?q=milky+way+you+are+here&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=75s&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=imvns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=5hyAUOGWMJDU0gHJgoCIDQ&ved=0CAoQ_AUoAQ&biw=1600&bih=770). > [@Alka\_Seltzer](#): > > The bright patch on the right of the arc is towards the centre of the Milky Way, in the constellation Sagittarius. Thanks. I’ve seen the you are here stuff before, but the simple dimensional orientations are not clear to me (like trying to hold up a map while lost in a car): I’m looking up? Across? **Alka Seltzer** is on to my troubles, but I’m still confused. Hell, I can’t even read street maps reliably. I’m also kind of turned around as to the comments here like “I can see the Milky Way.” We’re in the Milky Way, right? So, better, “I can see the Milky Way except for the part that’s (essentially permanently?) behind me?” I clearly don’t know Jack shit about what’s going on up there, yet many times, like all my hominid ancestors (I’m guessing) and brethren of my own genus, think it would be pretty cool to know something about what I’m looking at. Perhaps if I could see a star atlas/big-ass exploded photo of the Milky Way, with a you-are-here, and you-are-looking-this-way arrow, at differing granularities, I could figure it out. It’s interesting that the cultural-intellectual triumph of abstract map-representation can be replaced atavistically after millennia (for some people, like me, who can’t hack it) by technology allowing simple follow-my-finger photographs or line drawings in false 3-D. I’m an example of Apple-maps devolution. Also, as to neato views: for over a decade, I spent two months in the Canary Islands, in Tenerife. Up on the mountain the view was kind of shattering. Later I found out they stuck some zillion-dollar observatories there. I don’t know what that zillion-dollar view has over other mountain tops, though. ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stars-are-we-looking-at-in-these-awesome-photos/638088/30 "2012-10-19T13:15:52Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Thanks. I’ve seen the you are here stuff before, but the simple dimensional orientations are not clear to me (like trying to hold up a map while lost in a car): I’m looking up? Across? **Alka Seltzer** is on to my troubles, but I’m still confused. Hell, I can’t even read street maps reliably. Well, I can _try_ to explain with a simplified model. Our galaxy is relatively thin disc of stars with a concentration in the centre. We are towards the edge. Try this (mental) exercise. - Remove your head. - Place it inside a giant hoola-hoop, towards but not at the edge. - Place a melon in the middle (remember that central bulge of stars). - Turn the hoola-hoop so that it is vertical, as the solar system is at about 90 degrees from the plane of the galaxy. - Tilt it over a bit, as the Earth is inclined about 23 degrees from the plane of it’s orbit. Looking around, the hoop and melon is the path the Milky Way takes across the sky, if the Earth wasn’t blocking half the view. (Technically, the hoola-hoop should be about 100,000 light years across, and that would be one hell of a melon in the middle, but that’s not important. Please remember to reattach your head after viewing.) > [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > I’m also kind of turned around as to the comments here like “I can see the Milky Way.” We’re in the Milky Way, right? So, better, “I can see the Milky Way except for the part that’s (essentially permanently?) behind me?” The close and/or bright stars show up individually in the sky. The Milky Way is the diffuse light from many millions of stars which are too dim or distant to show up individually. It was named a long time before anyone knew what it was. There are further complications. We can’t see much of our galaxy in visible light, as there are dust lanes throughout the disc. In this [picture](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/Milky_Way_Arch.jpg), the brightest bit is towards the centre in the constellation Sagittarius, where the melon shows up above and below the disc. The dark sections are the dust lanes. If this isn’t working, I suggest you download the free program [Stellarium](http://www.stellarium.org/), which generates 3D views of the night sky. You set it to your location, choose a time (night is good) and you can scroll around. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stars-are-we-looking-at-in-these-awesome-photos/638088/31 "2012-10-19T18:42:55Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > It’s a quote from the novel _Protector_ by Larry Niven: > > It has possibly the most accurate description of a space battle fought with ships limited by _C_. **If** you buy into Bussard ramscoops being possible. Which most folk haven’t since a few years after _Protector_ was written. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stars-are-we-looking-at-in-these-awesome-photos/638088/32 "2012-10-19T19:25:59Z")
If you ever make it up to Cloudcroft, NM, after dark take the Sunspot Hwy south out of town. A few miles down the road there is a little parking area for an overlook. If you can’t see the Milky Way from there, you can’t see it anywhere. At about 9000’ in the pitch dark of night, the Milky Way appears as a bright glowing band. The first time I saw it I nearly fell over backwards. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stars-are-we-looking-at-in-these-awesome-photos/638088/33 "2012-10-19T19:40:13Z")
I’ve posted this [photo](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3536/3756048883_f0c2e041b1_b.jpg) before. I took it on the road between Naples and Ft. Lauderdale, FL. The orange glow is Miami, around 80 miles away. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stars-are-we-looking-at-in-these-awesome-photos/638088/34 "2012-10-19T19:56:40Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > It has possibly the most accurate description of a space battle fought with ships limited by _C_. [nitpick for the record] _“C,”_ as I’m sure you know, should be _“c.”_ for a second I thought you were talking about some fictional science-fictiony limit from the novel. You are talking about _c,_ right? [/nitpick for the record] I haven’t gotten yet to removing my head and surveying the world in **Alka Seltzer** style. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stars-are-we-looking-at-in-these-awesome-photos/638088/35 "2012-10-20T01:14:43Z")
[Nice article](http://www.nyskies.org/articles/pazmino/milky-ny.htm)re Milky Way gazing problems/opportunities in NYC. Will do the Milky Way the Alka way. Also, obligatory for beauty’s sake (I didn’t have the heart to excise the continuation), from Ulysses: With what meditations did Bloom accompany his demonstration to his companion of various constellations? Meditations of evolution increasingly vaster: of the moon invisible in incipent lunation, approaching perigee: of the infinite lattiginous scintillating uncondensed milky way, discernible by daylight by an observer placed at the lower end of a cylindrical vertical shaft 5000 ft deep sunk from the surface towards the centre of the earth: of Sirius (alpha in Canis Major) 10 lightyears (57,000,000,000,000 miles) distant and in volume 900 times the dimension of our planet: of Arcturus: of the precession of equinoxes: of Orion with belt and sextuple sun theta and nebula in which 100 of our solar systems could be contained: of moribund and of nascent new stars such as Nova in 1901: of our system plunging towards the constellation of Hercules: of the parallax or parallactic drift of socalled fixed stars, in reality evermoving from immeasurably remote eons to infinitely remote futures in comparison with which the years, threescore and ten, of allotted human life formed a parenthesis of infinitesimal brevity. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stars-are-we-looking-at-in-these-awesome-photos/638088/36 "2012-10-20T01:21:59Z")
> [@Alka\_Seltzer](#): > > …driving down to my parents, _faffing aroun_d in my car… [italics added]. 😕 I have no idea what that verb means. I hope it is socially benign. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stars-are-we-looking-at-in-these-awesome-photos/638088/37 "2012-10-20T01:51:17Z")
On a beach on Fraser Island which is a big island that sticks out of the east coast of Australia with hardly any buildings and certainly no street lighting (no streets in fact just a few dirt tracks leading to beautiful lakes). I was on the east side as well so I was well into Pacific when I looked up in wonder at the millions of stars. I remember being annoyed by a very thin cloud above me that only the strongest stars could shine through, especially as I hadn’t seen a single cloud in the sky for days. After about 2 minutes of waiting for the cloud to blow over it suddenly dawned on me… that was no cloud. Awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stars-are-we-looking-at-in-these-awesome-photos/638088/38 "2012-10-20T09:06:48Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > 😕 I have no idea what that verb means. I hope it is socially benign. In common with many verbs, it can be either. It’s a piece of British slang, it means to waste time or do something inefficiently. In the context above, I mean the latter, while getting my things together. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stars-are-we-looking-at-in-these-awesome-photos/638088/39 "2012-10-20T09:50:23Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > On a beach on Fraser Island which is a big island that sticks out of the east coast of Australia with hardly any buildings and certainly no street lighting (no streets in fact just a few dirt tracks leading to beautiful lakes). I was on the east side as well so I was well into Pacific when I looked up in wonder at the millions of stars. I remember being annoyed by a very thin cloud above me that only the strongest stars could shine through, especially as I hadn’t seen a single cloud in the sky for days. After about 2 minutes of waiting for the cloud to blow over it suddenly dawned on me… that was no cloud. > > Awesome. I click your photography link in your sig, but those are a different type of star! Any photos of your Fraser Island experience? ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stars-are-we-looking-at-in-these-awesome-photos/638088/40 "2012-10-20T10:17:20Z")
Leo Bloom, I’ve only briefly skimmed this thread and I see Alka Seltzer mentioned Stellarium above. If you really want to know what those stars are, you should download that program and look at the [picture’s metadata](https://secure.flickr.com/photos/daves-f-stop/8076246372/meta/). It tells you the exact time and GPS coordinates of the capture. From there just input the time & location into Stellarium and look southwest towards Mt. Rainier. You can see all the constellations, planets, stars, whatever and click to identify them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stars-are-we-looking-at-in-these-awesome-photos/638088.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-stars-are-we-looking-at-in-these-awesome-photos/638088.md?page=3)