A minor moment of coolness in the urban context...
...realizing that the one bright star visible left of the moon in a sky saturated with light pollution isn't a star....
(Just to be clear, we're not talking about Nunki, in Sagittarius, which I can't see at all in the downtown Charlotte sky. We're talking about the other bright object labeled in the screenshot.)
If I had a tripod, I'd take a picture. Unfortunately, lacking a tripod, any picture I take is merely a bluuuuuuur. Hence the illustration via KStars. (Incidentally, if you're a KDE/Linux user, KStars is a pretty awesome little piece of software. Just saying.)
As for you folks in dark, remote places: look up, and enjoy. And if you have a telescope, it might be worth pulling it out in a little bit if it's a cool, dry night, eh? Those of us city folks will just have to settle for the one or two glittery things we can see, and imagine a spectacle out there somewhere.
If I had a tripod, I'd take a picture. Unfortunately, lacking a tripod, any picture I take is merely a bluuuuuuur. Hence the illustration via KStars. (Incidentally, if you're a KDE/Linux user, KStars is a pretty awesome little piece of software. Just saying.)
As for you folks in dark, remote places: look up, and enjoy. And if you have a telescope, it might be worth pulling it out in a little bit if it's a cool, dry night, eh? Those of us city folks will just have to settle for the one or two glittery things we can see, and imagine a spectacle out there somewhere.
Comments
I seem to see Jupiter, Mars, and Venus fairly regularly. You should be able to see Venus, even in an urban context.
Uh. Now that I'm done incoherently ranting, cool software. Enjoy the show.
lucky bastard
The other planet up near the Moon and Jupiter tonight--or ex-planet, depending on who you ask--is Pluto. Which isn't visible in the city at all.... :-D
I was trying to figure out what kind of spectacular night sky they must be getting in Alaska tonight. As far as I can tell from KStars, it looks like the Ecliptic is pretty close to the horizon--it looks like the planets barely rise at all this time of year. Meanwhile, I have to wonder if stars rise in Brooklyn at all. I wouldn't be surprised if Morgantown has a decent sky. If light pollution isn't too bad in Denver, our Coloradians have the altitude for a proper sky.
How's it looking out there?
I love traveling in the summer, because it is WARM and DARK. Growing up here, you associate DARK with COLD. DARK and WARM = WEIRD to kids from up here. Seriously.
So, enjoy those stars for me for next month or so. Then I'll be all over it!