Stargazing from Anywhere

A couple of weeks ago I did some stargazing and then posted a short note on social media about how beautiful the sky was that night. Venus was bright low in the west, and we’d just had a pretty sunset. Some of the brighter stars were starting to pop, and it was a lovely view.

A few minutes after I posted my musings, a colleague sent a fairly sharp little note to me, reminding me that not everyone had such a great view of the sky as me. They wanted me to think of folks living in the cities. That’s where light pollution and buildings block the view of the sky for stargazing.

Fair enough. I’ve certainly written about that topic before and created a whole series of fulldome shows about stargazing wherever you are. In point of fact, we all have challenges in watching the sky. It’s tougher for city dwellers, but those of us in rural areas face some, too. Sure, we do have some light pollution from nearby cities, and, in some parts of the midwest, viewing is ruined by lights from fracking operations, wind farms, and other outdoor businesses. The challenges for me where I live are more about clouds and cold temps. Oh, and wind. It can be pretty biting most of the year, even on an early summer night.

City Stargazing

Well, what if you are a city stargazer? If you can’t get to a dark-sky site (a campground, state park, a family farm, or on a vacation to a national park, for example), it might be tempting to say, “I’m going to stay inside.” Or, you might decide to look at stars on a computer screen. And, that would be totally understandable.

I’ve lived in several big cities, and traveled to many more around the world. In every case, I’ve tried to do some stargazing, within the limits of safety and what the skies would permit. In nearly every city, I could see the brightest stars and planets. The Moon, of course, was obvious, too. You can check it out with binoculars or a small telescope to see details.

Of course, stargazing doesn’t have to happen during the night. There’s a big bright one up there that, with some safety precautions, you can also check out. NEVER look directly at the Sun with the naked eye. And, don’t do it through binoculars. You might be able to observe it through a specially equipped telescope (using solar filters). Or, if you have a telescope but NO filter, here’s a safe way to see sunspots and other solar activities; shine sunlight through the telescope, out through the eyepiece—NOT to your eye, but to a white wall or a piece of white paper. Believe it or not, you can see the sunspots, for example, without risking your eyes. I’ll warn you again, though, do NOT look directly at the Sun with naked eye or through unfiltered optics. Just don’t.

The Planets

I mentioned the planets earlier. The five naked-eye planets, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, are fair game when they’re well-placed in the sky. I’ve seen them from some of the most light-polluted places on the planet. Of course, if buildings are blocking the view, that’s a problem. But, these objects can be seen—you just might have to be a bit clever about finding them.

As I write this, Venus is just finishing a brilliant run in the western skies and will pop into view in the early morning eastern skies (before sunrise) starting in mid-July. Mercury is visible these days, for a while after sunset. In the early morning skies right now, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter look quite lovely.

To get the latest info on where the planets are, check out Sky & Telescope’s pages or those of other astronomy magazines. You can also use star programs such as Stellarium to create your own finder charts for sky objects.

Stargazing in the Deeps

Deep-sky objects are more of a challenge to stargazers in populated areas. Unless you know exactly when and where to look with a telescope, such objects as the Orion Nebula or the Milky Way (our own galaxy), or the Andromeda Galaxy (the spiral galaxy next door), are pretty hard (or impossible) to find. However, with some planning, city dwellers can find a few deep-sky objects. You have to find a way to avoid lights.

One trick is to stay up very late, probably well after midnight. At that point, a lot of buildings shut down their outside lighting. If you can find a spot where that happens, you can search out the Orion Nebula, the Double Cluster, the Pleiades, and other not-too-dim objects. You can also search out places to observe from that are shielded from bright lights (maybe your balcony, or a rooftop with a wall you can use as a light block. If none of those are appealing (or available), perhaps your own porch (or balcony) with a blanket over your head would do. I’ve seen some city stargazers drape their telescopes with tarps or blankets and then duck under to do some deep-sky observing.

Star Parties

When I was teaching at the planetarium, we had to contend with lights from the surrounding town and campus. But, we still tried to have “telescope nights” every week. We searched out areas where the lights weren’t shining, behind the building, etc. and set up the scopes. Although there’s not many of them open right now due to the shutdowns because of the coronavirus pandemic, many planetariums and science centers do set up similar stargazing sessions.

The advantage of going to one of those is that all you have to do is let THEM set up the scopes and then you get to reap the rewards of stargazing. Heck, some of us rural dwellers take advantage of that, too! I suppose when social distancing guidelines permit, star parties will start up again. Those would also be a great way to stargaze, country OR city.

Whatever stargazing you do, wherever you do it from, try to share it with others online. Especially as many of us are still locked down and staying home from more social activities, it’s fun to read about what other people see in the sky. It’s the one thing everyone around the world has to share.

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