Can you see the stars at night? (Raleigh, Greensboro: appointed, living)

[ibeg4sushi]

I just thought of this question. What is the nightlife like in NC? I don't mean clubs, I mean things like fireflies, the milky way, the big dipper and cloud cover. What's it like where you are, and can you see alot of stars at night? I sthe summer different from the winter?

Up here in Virginia, you get the best telescope views in teh winter when the humidity is lowest. I basically put my telescope away in the summer. Even when it's hot and sunny, we often have a kind of haze overcast. Sometimes lots of it.

What's your place like?

[Bethanytedder]

Sure I can see just about anything the sky will give up. But I am in a totally rural area in the eastern area of the state. There isn't much competetion here for the sky events. Well, except for fireworks on New Years and the Fourth of July.

[MsMuir]

Originally Posted by Bethanytedder

Sure I can see just about anything the sky will give up. But I am in a totally rural area in the eastern area of the state. There isn't much competetion here for the sky events. Well, except for fireworks on New Years and the Fourth of July.

Bethanytedder...Where exactly do you live? Can you tell me if there's any rural areas around the New Bern area?
Thanks...

[Shanti_R]

I live in New York city and you can hardly see the stars at night. As a child I thought I could always see stars no matter where I go but that's not true anymore.

[zthatzmanz28]

Originally Posted by ibeg4sushi

I just thought of this question. What is the nightlife like in NC? I don't mean clubs, I mean things like fireflies, the milky way, the big dipper and cloud cover. What's it like where you are, and can you see alot of stars at night? I sthe summer different from the winter?

Up here in Virginia, you get the best telescope views in teh winter when the humidity is lowest. I basically put my telescope away in the summer. Even when it's hot and sunny, we often have a kind of haze overcast. Sometimes lots of it.

What's your place like?

Quite simply AMAZING..

Carl Sagan was right--There really are BILLIONS and BILLIONS of stars.

From our back yard in Zebulon, we now see 50 times what we saw from Detroit.

[InformationPlease]

Originally Posted by MsMuir

Bethanytedder...Where exactly do you live? Can you tell me if there's any rural areas around the New Bern area?
Thanks...

Ha... New Bern is a rural area!!! New Bern is the "big city" and I think it's too tiny for me... and I'm a small town girl at heart.

Yes, most of Eastern NC is rural. Even in Wilmington, about 15 minutes out, at Carolina Beach, or even Wrightsville sometimes... you can see all of the stars. Not as great as my mountains... but still there.

[cynwldkat]

Let's see now, when I lived at 7,000 ft elevation in Big Bear Lake, CA I could see the stars like I was living amongst them. In a way, at that elevation, I suppose I was. As another poster mentioned I thought I would always see those stars. Then I moved to Los Angeles, CA and did not get to see stars again for 30 years until I moved to NC a couple of years ago. We live in a rural area also. The colder nights, like in the winter, are the best to see the stars but you can enjoy them all nights except when it's cloudy. The fireflies (lightening bugs) are another joy we have during the warm summer evenings. The night life here is pretty nice!

[Rick78]

Being an amateur astronomer I have been disappointed. We lived in Raleigh and the light pollution was pretty bad. I am in Greenville now and not much better but that is due to being more in town and closer to street lights. I grew up in the country where it was very dark.

[Dusty Rhodes]

I'm within 30 miles of Greensboro, the closest streetlight is over a mile away, most of the time I can not see the lights of my closest neighbor, Yes.... I see quite a few stars, and even a few planets. And,...yes, there are a lot of lightning bugs!!!

[Raivere]

We get meteor showers sometimes usually near the end of the year