I’ve seen it a few times, most recently on my trip this past Spring to Hawaii. We did the sunrise on Haleakala. After the grueling drive up the volcano at 4:30am, we parked and braced ourselves for the 25 degree weather and high winds. The moment I looked up I almost broke down in tears. It was absolutely gorgeous. Haleakala isn’t incredibly high, but it’s high enough and dark enough. And on top of all of that, I could see Mercury with my naked eye for the first time (not counting my homemade projection of the transit from a few years ago). Just an unbelievable experience.
Yeah, I thought it was a southern hemisphere thing, with the northern pointing away except during summer months and only just some of the band.
Also, personally, no.
Yes, I have, and the best viewing was when I was doing rotations on an Indian reservation in 1994. I was 40 miles south of Gallup, NM which was the biggest city of any size within a couple hundred miles, and even in town, it was visible, and it was spectacular.
I’ve seen it in a couple of north American locations that had fairly dark skies (notably central Wyoming), but the best view was from a camp on the shore of Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe.
Many times. When I lived in Wyoming, I ran the country roads before the sun came up, often with my face upturned. It was hard to tear my attention from the constellations and the Milky Way. People thought I was nuts for running in the dark, but I loved it and miss it still.
I’ve only seen it twice: once, while at a remote resort in the mountains of West Virginia, and the other time at a resort outside of Ely, Minnesota.
Beat me to it. I was going to say “Only every time I open my eyes!”
To prevent the spread of ignorance, I would have entitled this thread “…the outer arm of the Milky Way?”
Anyway, I’m betting even the other person who said “no” (besides engineer c g) has seen it, and those that say they’ve seen it just once or twice have actually seen it more than that. It’s easy to mistake for a diffuse cloud as Darren Garrison mentioned).
Yes, fairly often. I am in the Southern Hemisphere, though, and true dark sky country is only a short car ride away, so it’s easier to see the best bits.
Best viewing: from Horseshoe Canyon in southern Utah. Also from the tip of a peninsula sticking out into the Atlantic, on Martinique.
That’s nothing. I literally am the Milky Way.
I used to have a close friend who built his own 4 inch refractor telescope. Even when we didn’t use that to look at Saturn etc, we were staring up at the sky in a fairly low-light location. We also went out a bit to the countryside when we could. It has been a while since then, though.
No, sadly.
I was excited when I realised our second week in Schotland would be in a Dark Skies area, but I soon realised that it’s not much use in summer. The sky never goes past twilight. :smack:
I lived in one of the most congested cities on earth. All the people and vehicular movement kicks up so much dust into the sky, you can barely see a few major stars, forget the MW. Now in the US and planning to visit a dark sky site to see the MW for the first time.
Not for years, and not near DC. But yes, many times.
Barely see any stars here.
Looking for the MW is one of the things I try to do whenever I go visit family in the Intermountain region. But the last several trips have been plagued by clouds and/or haze from fires. 
I remember being at a beach at Santa Barbara a while back and noticing this faint cloud that didn’t seem to moving. Ooh! I just wasn’t expecting to see it in S. Cal with the pollution and lights. But being on the shore and all that helped.
As late as last June in Vieques – bioluminescence below me, Milky Way above.
So glad they are recent. Otherwise I might not have recognized it :rolleyes:
Every visible star is within the Milky Way, so yes I have seen it!
Yes, many times. The most memorable was while lying on my back in a grassy field in the mountains of Haiti. Other than our handheld flashlights, which we switched off, not a single source of man-made light for many miles in any direction.
I used to be able to see it regularly from my home, until about 10 years ago. Light pollution has now made it unusual to be able to spot it.