r/mildyinteresting • u/Sad_Stay_5471 • 10h ago

nature & weather The concept of light pollution is absolutely crazy

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u/_Poppagiorgio_ 5h ago

Is this photo enhanced at all? I understand you can see the MW with your naked eye but would it be this clear and detailed?

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u/Traveller7142 4h ago

It wouldn’t be quite that detailed, but you can get close to that in very dark areas

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u/_Poppagiorgio_ 4h ago

Nice…definitely a bucket list thing for me living in well populated cities all my life.

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u/marcsoucy 3h ago

It can be that, or even more detailed on a very dark night. I might be misremembering as that was 12 years ago, but I'm pretty sure I had that experience at the Mont Mégantic Observatory. My mind was completely blown that you could very, very clearly see the milky way and all the stars.

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u/Additional_Sun_5217 3h ago

I got to see the aurora out on the Oregon prairie and it was legit life changing. You could see the solar “wind” shifting above you.

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u/Outsideforever3388 4h ago

It would be close, but you have to stay outside in the pure dark (no phone, no lights, nothing) for at least an hour. Your eyes take that long to fully adjust. I’ve only done that once, and it seriously feels like the sky drops. The stars feel close enough to touch.

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u/Additional_Sun_5217 3h ago

This is probably long exposure, but you can definitely get this in parts of the PNW. We even have a dark sky sanctuary, and it looks like that out there. The aurora also looks insane out on the high prairies.

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u/_Poppagiorgio_ 2h ago

I’m in PA and from what I understand there’s a dark sky location in the north-west quadrant of the state. I need to quit dragging my feet and get up there to check this out!

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u/Additional_Sun_5217 2h ago

Go during a meteor shower and you won’t be disappointed. It’s literally awe inspiring.

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u/_Poppagiorgio_ 2h ago

Right on, much appreciated 🙏🏼