SomethingIrreverent t1_j9b6jem wrote on February 20, 2023 at 5:23 PM

I live in an area of moderately dark skies, and can just make out the Andromeda Galaxy by eye - and only if I have it just off the center of my vision.

I use a couple of stars from the Andromeda constellation to find it, though Cassiopeia helps too.

TheDotCaptin t1_j9dnkqb wrote on February 21, 2023 at 3:47 AM

I have to do something similar with the Pleiades. Looking directly at it I see one dim star, but when I look off to the side and move my eye back and forth, I see a weird tiny cluster of dots.

Still am unable to see it well enough to count. Probably needs to be viewed form somewhere even further away from the cities.

ShadowKiller147741 t1_j9ebxic wrote on February 21, 2023 at 8:13 AM

I live in the middle of a busy nightlife area of a city (ASU in Tempe, AZ) and on clear nights can make Pleiades out fairly well. I also have to have it just off the center of my vision, but counting it isnt too difficult. Also, I'm surprised to see my favorite constellation talked about, since I rarely hear about it

Illusion_Jolted t1_j9e5xiy wrote on February 21, 2023 at 6:55 AM

Hi! Could you please tell me where are you situated? I love star gazing and have taken few trips to dark sky parks. Honestly the only place wheres I found like complete darkness were creator lake NP in Oregon and big bend NP Texas. Most hyped in my opinion was Death Valley NP, it had so much light pollution from Los Vegas and Los Angles skylights. No matter where I went, there would be no complete darkness. People take photo and edit them to make them appear all beautiful but in reality the place would be sh!t lit from light pollution from nearby cities.

Plantmanofplants t1_j9esaz2 wrote on February 21, 2023 at 11:56 AM

https://www.lightpollutionmap.info/

SomethingIrreverent t1_j9f1268 wrote on February 21, 2023 at 1:24 PM

Yeah, I guess I'm a bit spoiled; my sky is reasonably dark. I'm in a fairly sparsely populated area a bit north of Toronto.