Is space viewable like this by the naked eye anywhere on earth?

https://i.redd.it/6hbyh5paj6td1.jpeg

35 Comments

  1. Yes, on a moonless night in a dark sky site. You won’t necessarily see vivid colors but you’ll see the same structures, albeit fainter because this is a long exposure.

    Not likely you’ll be able to see it very vividly when there’s skyglow from nearby cities, though. Hence, look for dark sky sites. National parks with wide open spaces are generally great for this, like Joshua Tree or Grand Canyon, as long as no one’s driving past.

  2. You’ll get close in a really dry location far from city lights. Death Valley, for example. But human eyes just aren’t that sensitive to really low light levels

  3. virtual_human on

    I’ve only seen the Milky Way once in my life, halfway between Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

  4. Yes, though not in this fidelity and color.
     You want
    – cloudless skies
    – clean air
    – low humidity 
    – high altitude 
    – as little civilization close by as possible (or at least that they turn of exterior lights at night)
    – no major urban areas close by BC light pollution.

    There’s a few OKish ones in Europe, the US has quite a few good ones. Grand Canyon is one decent option considering thst there’s other things to do there as well 😛

  5. I was on top of Haleakalā at 3am with no moon a few weeks back and you could see the Milky Way, nothing as colorful as this though. There is an observatory in the summit which is one of the few places with little to no light pollution.

  6. i have been to a perfect night in certified dark sky at the mcdonald observatory.  the only question i have is that i think i may not have been facing the galactic core direction, but i could make out the shapes of the dust clouds pictured here and it was amazing.  i dont think you would see this color with naked eye but you can definitely see it.  even so, its faint and almost more visible in your periphery sometimes

  7. indomitablescot on

    Come out to Utah we have a lot of places to see that kind of view. Can’t guarantee that star density with the naked eye but close to it.

  8. Considering this is a composite & layered picture with long exposure edited in a software suite; like this, that is a no.

  9. Almighty_Horse on

    Yes.

    My family and I used to go to a very small town on holiday, far away from any big city. One night there was a blackout and the whole town went completely dark. There were no clouds in the sky and no moon, and the view of the sky was absolutely breathtaking.

  10. You can see a lot of the structure of the Milky Way on a moonless night, after getting your eyes accustomed to the darkness for around 30 minutes. However you won’t be able to see the colors: there’s only 6 million cones in your eye (vs 100-120 million rods) and there’s just not enough light to make you see them.

  11. Western Australia, no problem. You wont get the colours, but you can see the milky way no problem.

  12. Beaches, mountains, open fields….pretty much anywhere there isn’t a lot of light pollution, you can see the milky way this pic is fully layered, so it won’t look like this, but you can see it

  13. Ok-Communication1149 on

    The Missouri river break in northeastern Montana offers pretty close to that on a cold clear night

  14. Not that vividly, but my dad and I would see something similar when we would go deer hunting in the remote mountains of Idaho when I was growing up. Never brought a tent, we would put hammocks up between trees and usually go sit on top of a ridge and talk while looking for satellites and stuff. Now I live in Florida and barely see stars 😂

  15. ZealousidealTotal120 on

    It’s pretty amazing at the top of Mauna Kea, but i don’t think you can get that sort of view with human eyes.

  16. Kobethegoat420 on

    Saw it look very similar to this in the middle of the Everglades in Florida. Never saw it like that again in my life

  17. Yes, middle of cold winter nights when the air is clear and dry, up in northern Canada.

    Can see it like that from my own back yard.

  18. There should be a map in which pin points location areas where this can be seen.

    Where is this project?

  19. Correct_Path5888 on

    I took some mushrooms up on Max Patch once and you could see the milky way. Looked a lot like this, but slightly less vivid.

  20. LightBackground9141 on

    Wasn’t like this but when I was out on a mountain in the south of France, I’d never seen a sky like it at night. Amazing with no street or city lights.

  21. I’ve seen it on a summer night on Sucia Island in Washington State. Just about the most magical place in the world to me.

  22. CourtClarkMusic on

    Yes. Away from city lights or up in the mountains or out in the desert. The Milky Way will be visible with the naked eye and countless stars you wouldn’t see otherwise.

  23. whatevers_cleaver_ on

    From the top of Mauna Loa on the Big Island of Hawaii, it’s like that or better on a moonless night.

  24. Yes. High up in the Sierra Nevadas and WELL away from any light pollution, in the clearest days you can see this at night. I believe we were up at Edison Lake one summer and it was MIND BLOWING (Elevation 7,600 feet more or less). There were only a handful of people staying in the campground we were in, as most people like to camp lower (VERY cold at night) we had deer in the campground, too which is pretty sweet. Without a bunch of people they are less shy.