Once that I can really remember.
My extended family has a lake house in northern Wisconsin and my uncle and me went out to a rock island-type thing at night to stargaze. First time I’ve ever seen a satellite from the ground as well.
Forty one posts and nobody has said, “I’ve seen Uranus”, or “I prefer Three Musketeers”.
I grew up in Bethesda and Rockville in the 1960s… The Milky Way was clear anywhere that the horizon wasn’t blocked by hills and trees. Out in farm country it was amazingly clear. Seeing the stars like that was a highlight of camping out. We had no idea one day it wouldn’t be as simple as going outside and looking up. By the time we left in late 1969 light pollution was increasing, I’m not sure when the last time I was able to see it in the northeast.
I’m astounded that 10% of the people here have polled “no” or “maybe.” I would have expected virtually 100% have seen it. To me, it’s like asking “who has ever tasted bread?”
You don’t even need skies that are that dark if you know where to look. I live in a Dallas suburb and see it frequently.
I don’t know what to tell you. I live in Chicago, and it wasn’t until I was 18 until I saw anything that even remotely looked like this. We see individual starts around here. I’ve never seen those types of shimmering, gaseous fields until I visited my cousins in Australia. Nothing even close to that. Never camping up in the middle of nowhere Wisconsin or even visiting my cousins in a farming village in Poland. Too much light pollution everywhere to see anything like that.
Lots and lots of times. I grew up in rural South Dakota, where it was easily visible. At our current lake house, a hour north of the Twin Cities, it’s dark enough to view. The other great views were at Yosemite, Yellowstone, and while on a backpacking trip at Philmont Scout camp in New Mexico. There, I had to get the scouts to actually look up; they were quite surprised and awe-struck to see it.
A similar question would be for the Northern Lights? Has anyone done a poll on that recently?
Never saw it until I made a trip to Hawaii, Big Island.
We did a lot of camping when I was a child and into early teens. You can just barely see it from our cabin where we used to go now:(
My folks and little brother live outside a town of 39 in Colorado about 30mi northwest of Royal Gorge. The first time we spent time up there, My wife was looking at the sky and said,“I wish there weren’t so many clouds. I wanted some pictures of the stars.” Turns out the “clouds” was the milky way. It was so bright that the stars looked like moonlit clouds. One of my favorite places to be now.
I lived in a small city in Africa, near the equator. There were many nights when the electricity was off and I could see the Milky Way quite well. Could also see the Southern Cross fairly often. Awesome stuff!
When I was in Calgary, the northern lights used to drive me crazy - they’d wash out the Milky Way (and everything else!)
I am surprised it’s only 10 percent (or less) who haven’t seen it. I would have bet that most urban/suburban dwellers have never seen it.
During the 1994 blackout in LA, people were calling 911 worried about the strange glow in the sky. It was the Milky Way.
I’ve always been in areas with pretty heavy light pollution. Even now in this largely rural county, so many people have security lights and so many places stay lit all night, I’m lucky to see a few stars. Dammit.
Even when I would be at sea on a cruise, there was too much light on the ship. Maybe I need to go into a desert or something.
I believe it’s selection bias. People who haven’t seen it are far less likely to click through into the thread.
Yes, over Bishop CA and all along the Eastern Sierra Nevada.
I live near San Francisco and often do not see it. But east of the Sierra Nevada along US-395 from about Minden/Gardnerville to the north and Mojave to the south you have over 350 linear miles of beautiful, dark skies. The stars are fantastic.
When flying at night in our small plane, we’d occasionally douse all the lights and look at it from 8-9000 feet. Also spent a week backpacking in the Weminuche Wilderness – saw it every night as I stretched out on my sleeping bag. It was actually more spectacular from the ground than the air.
Just to clarify my comment - I would not be surprised that a poll of random USAians would be 10% or more who haven’t seen it. I AM surprised that 10% of Dopers haven’t.
Really, no one has seen the Milky Way looking like that. You’ll never see colors in it with your eyes, even through a telescope or binoculars. It takes a photo to get colors.
But here in Dallas I can often see a pale streak in the sky that some might mistake for a wispy, long cloud, but I know it’s the MW.
Once in Saline Valley on a camping trip. The next time we went there was a storm (we were snowed in and had to take the Lippincott Lead Mine road to get out via Death Valley) and couldn’t see much.
I swear to god, to me it looked like I saw colors. (And I’m a photographer, so I know the effect you’re talking about.) Even if I didn’t, the effect to me, when I saw it, was as dramatic as that–with the gaseous clouds and everything. I describe it as “for the first time, it felt like I saw all the stars.” And, since it’s in the Southern Hemisphere, from what I’m reading online, it’s much more overhead than in the Northern, so even more impressive.
ETA: For example, here’s my description of that memory from five years ago:
Maybe what I should have asked is whose kids/grandkids have seen it? It’s a shame that all kids aren’t able to lie out under the stars.
As I touched on in my OP, it was the effect on me of the night sky - the genuine deep, inky dark sky with clouds and clusters of stars - when I was young that would lead me to all types of things which soon became guideposts in my life. And, even beyond the effect it had on me personally with respect to science and philosophy, I think that experiencing and knowing ‘the stars’ connects us all with humanity past, present, and future.