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Have you seen the Milky Way
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By *rHotNotts OP Man 37 weeks ago
Dubai & Nottingham |
Have you ever laid outside at a dark moonless site watching the Milky Way in the night sky? I’ve done it a couple times by accident when wild camping, It’s pretty amazing.
I was just reading how so few people have actually done this, less than 20% of people have observed our galaxy this way.
Researching a little mostly for Astro photography I found it’s no surprise too as it’s pretty complex to achieve.
There are certain seasons when the Milky Way is visible, then you have to get the moonphase correct (new moon) and the timing changes all the time as the earth rotates , sometimes it’s right after sunset sometimes middle of the night or right before Sunrise , then there is local cloud cover that’s hard to predict and finding a location without light pollution (dark sites)
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I have yes, but I grew up on farm in the middle of nowhere. What I've yet to see is shooting star even though people around me are seeing them!!
We have a dark sky reserve near us so we're extremely lucky. |
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By (user no longer on site) 37 weeks ago
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I have yes a few times, me and my friends do a lot of wild camping and our fav place by far is keilder forest in Northumberland, beautifully dark skys, observatory as well |
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Yes, I take a lot of interest in the night skies, seen one solar eclipse, can name places on the moon, can spot the planets without a guide and know the constellations.
If you have not seen the milky way, you are missing a treat. Would love to go to the southern hemisphere and see it from there. |
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By *rHotNotts OP Man 37 weeks ago
Dubai & Nottingham |
"I have yes a few times, me and my friends do a lot of wild camping and our fav place by far is keilder forest in Northumberland, beautifully dark skys, observatory as well "
By accident or did you track the galaxy and moon phase to try and see it? I do so much wild camping in the UK and some pretty good dark sites but there’s nearly always either no stars or cloud  |
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By *rHotNotts OP Man 37 weeks ago
Dubai & Nottingham |
"Yes, I take a lot of interest in the night skies, seen one solar eclipse, can name places on the moon, can spot the planets without a guide and know the constellations.
If you have not seen the milky way, you are missing a treat. Would love to go to the southern hemisphere and see it from there. "
I realise that local cloud cover and dark sites need to be figured out a day or two in advance but it seems like the other stuff - the moon phase , the dates when the Milky Way is viewable and the times are all very predictable to have a good chance of seeing the Milky Way?
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By *abonWoman 37 weeks ago
L’boro/Ashby & Cheltenham |
I’ve seen it…purely by chance. Didn’t realise how lucky I was after reading this thread!
Best night skies were in the red centre in Australia back in my travelling days…couldn’t quite believe that’s what we could see from our planet. And that’s what all our ancestors would have seen all the time, except for the last couple of hundred years. |
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By *rHotNotts OP Man 37 weeks ago
Dubai & Nottingham |
"I’ve seen it…purely by chance. Didn’t realise how lucky I was after reading this thread!
Best night skies were in the red centre in Australia back in my travelling days…couldn’t quite believe that’s what we could see from our planet. And that’s what all our ancestors would have seen all the time, except for the last couple of hundred years. "
It’s amazing there isn’t it I travelled from Cairns to Perth In pretty much a straight line and spent a lot of time camping in the Red centre - East McDonald Rangers , Palm Valley, and then down the gun barrel highway.
Unfortunately, never had a tracker and wide angle lens…
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By (user no longer on site) 37 weeks ago
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Saw it when I was in the Outer Hebridies. I walked out of the hotel one night and was totally gobsmacked by the number of stars. They seemed a lot closer than those I had seen in a city. The sweep of the Milky Way across the sky was a beautiful sight. |
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By *mmaleiaWoman 37 weeks ago
Trowbridge |
1st thing I did when I moved to the rurals, was to walk round the back of my house to the field, with a blanket & flask & lay down & look at the sky at night, no light pollution anywhere, it’s an amazing sight |
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By *abonWoman 37 weeks ago
L’boro/Ashby & Cheltenham |
"I’ve seen it…purely by chance. Didn’t realise how lucky I was after reading this thread!
Best night skies were in the red centre in Australia back in my travelling days…couldn’t quite believe that’s what we could see from our planet. And that’s what all our ancestors would have seen all the time, except for the last couple of hundred years.
It’s amazing there isn’t it I travelled from Cairns to Perth In pretty much a straight line and spent a lot of time camping in the Red centre - East McDonald Rangers , Palm Valley, and then down the gun barrel highway.
Unfortunately, never had a tracker and wide angle lens…
"
I didn’t even have a decent camera back then so no pics sadly. I only camped for a few nights there - the mosquitoes were quite a force! Would love to go back sometime. I only did the east & south, but a friend has emigrated to Perth…so one day 🤞 |
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"Yes, I take a lot of interest in the night skies, seen one solar eclipse, can name places on the moon, can spot the planets without a guide and know the constellations.
If you have not seen the milky way, you are missing a treat. Would love to go to the southern hemisphere and see it from there. "
I regularly stand watching the stars here in south Africa the night sky is very different although you can see the Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters, early in the evening. |
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It's wonderful isn't it. In a very literal sense - it is full of wonder.
That sense of being less than a speck of dust on a planet that is less than a speck of dust in a galaxy that is less than a speck of dust, in a universe.
Sausages sizzling in a mess tin and a flask of hot chocolate. |
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Yeah on a beach in Cyprus in 2006 whilst eating some squid straight from the sea cooked on a bbq
Sky full of stars and milky way going from the horizon right over your head it was magical and def want to see it again |
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Sad to read that it is such a rarity for most people.
I was lucky, I now realise, to grow up in Jersey in a rural area with clean air, some clear skies, and no street lights..
..and an interest in looking,which helps a lot! |
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"Have you ever laid outside at a dark moonless site watching the Milky Way in the night sky? I’ve done it a couple times by accident when wild camping, It’s pretty amazing.
I was just reading how so few people have actually done this, less than 20% of people have observed our galaxy this way.
Researching a little mostly for Astro photography I found it’s no surprise too as it’s pretty complex to achieve.
There are certain seasons when the Milky Way is visible, then you have to get the moonphase correct (new moon) and the timing changes all the time as the earth rotates , sometimes it’s right after sunset sometimes middle of the night or right before Sunrise , then there is local cloud cover that’s hard to predict and finding a location without light pollution (dark sites)
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Yeah, I grew up in the middle of nowhere with zero light pollution so saw the milky way and the northern lights frequently. Probably took it for granted tbh!
It's very beautiful. |
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By *rHotNotts OP Man 36 weeks ago
Dubai & Nottingham |
"Hang on, isn't every star in the sky part of the Milky Way, including our own, and the Earth itself for that matter."
Almost all. You can see a second galaxy just but hard to make out individual stars as it’s so far away
What’s generally referred to as of viewing the Milky Way, or our galaxy, is viewing the core Milky Way at Sagittarius? |
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By *rHotNotts OP Man 36 weeks ago
Dubai & Nottingham |
So anyone interested in a slightly different social , for the UK 2025 I’ve nailed it down to the new moons 14th March, 13th April & 12th May between midnight and 5am, got a few dark sites in the peaks that are about 1 hours walk from parking 
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By *rHotNotts OP Man 36 weeks ago
Dubai & Nottingham |
"Big skies freak me out a bit
It's a reminder of just how insignificant we are "
I know exactly what you mean, I feel similar with the oceans but also love them both, hard to describe the feeling |
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By (user no longer on site) 36 weeks ago
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Yes! I grew up somewhere where you can avoid a lot of light pollution. It made a bid to be a designated Dark Sky site.
The first time I looked at the stars in the southern hemisphere blew my tiny mind that they had different stars |
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