The evening sky recently has been stunning

[Watchinherskip]

The sky last night was totally amazing here too. We had a cold front go through and cleared out all humidity. Awesome views. You all mentioned light pollution. That is a big problem and perhaps you could help with a study on it. The GLOBE project has a study called GLOBE at Night. You go to the website, input your address (only for mapping purposes) and look at Orion. Match the sky with the samples and the data will help put together maps of light pollution.

Address is: http://www.globeatnight.org/

The next (and last sample sessions) begins on April 11. It will continue to April 20. For those with smart phones there is an App for that too..

[Skywatcher]

The sky last night was totally amazing here too. We had a cold front go through and cleared out all humidity. Awesome views. You all mentioned light pollution. That is a big problem and perhaps you could help with a study on it. The GLOBE project has a study called GLOBE at Night. You go to the website, input your address (only for mapping purposes) and look at Orion. Match the sky with the samples and the data will help put together maps of light pollution.

Address is: http://www.globeatnight.org/

The next (and last sample sessions) begins on April 11. It will continue to April 20. For those with smart phones there is an App for that too..

April is pretty late to be looking at Orion for us ! what with the daylight savings hour its pretty low in the West now when it gets 'proper dark' we do sit pretty high up on Earth so by June time it doesn't really get astronomically dark at all. I remember being up taking shots of the North American Nebula a few years ago - finally got some decent darkness and started taking subs at about 1 am by 2.30 the sun was starting to rise again.

[catrancher]

It's really stunning to me just how badly light pollution can affect the seeing. When I look at time lapse videos like this one:

it really makes me long for a place out where the lights from the surrounding civilization are gone. Granted, the above video was shot with a Canon 5D that has pretty good light gathering ability but it still shows just how badly light pollution can ruin a perfectly good night.

I'd love to be somewhere where I could have as good a view as that with the naked eye! Note that about the :15 mark, you can see a galaxy quite clearly. Or so it appears to me!

Tom (... unbelievable!)

[Skywatcher]

Nice vid Tom - the milky blob coming in from the top just at the end looks top me like the andromeda galaxy

See what you can see

innit amazin'

[catrancher]

I gots to buy me an intervalometer!

Tom (... ohh... and find some dark skies!)

[Watchinherskip]

Think the best sky I have seen in a while was in Puerto Rico. I have never seen the Milky Way so fired up that you could see colors like the way it is presented in my planetarium. The sky was fantastic. We were on the south west side of the island in a little village near LaJas. We went on a boat to the bioluminescent bay and honestly I am not sure what was more spectacular, the sky or the water. (It was like swimming with Tinkerbell.)

Anyhow April is International Astronomy Month. Maybe you would like to take some astrophotos for yourself. You can access robotic telescopes at

www.microobservatory.org
www.telescope.org

Take a nice shot and share it here?

I am game.

[Watchinherskip]

It's really stunning to me just how badly light pollution can affect the seeing. When I look at time lapse videos like this one:

it really makes me long for a place out where the lights from the surrounding civilization are gone. Granted, the above video was shot with a Canon 5D that has pretty good light gathering ability but it still shows just how badly light pollution can ruin a perfectly good night.

I'd love to be somewhere where I could have as good a view as that with the naked eye! Note that about the :15 mark, you can see a galaxy quite clearly. Or so it appears to me!

Tom (... unbelievable!)

oops can't see it here at work. Will check it out at home though Tom. In keeping with what Tom said, I forget to think about the effects of latitude on daylight and what can be seen at night. I put together an animation in Alaska a few years ago at a NASA workshop. We were supposed to demonstrate animation techniques. So after class, dinner and more than a few Alaskan Ambers we decided to climb Flattop Mountain outside of Anchorage. Bear in mind that this series was taken after 11 PM. The sun just made a big loop in the sky!

http://aim.hamptonu.edu/outreach/AK-...-sarandria.gif

[Skywatcher]

Bioluminescent water is on my 'bucket list'

There have been some reports of truly awesome displays

[Watchinherskip]

It is the coolest thing I have ever experienced for sure. Blows away a Northern Lights event in my experience.

Bad thing is there is no real way to experience it save for being in it. You can't really photograph it, you have to see it. We get out of the boat and swim in it.....very cool