Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Texas
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 06-17-2008, 03:59 PM
 
3,424 posts, read 5,972,527 times
Reputation: 1849

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by catman View Post
solytaire: I certainly have nothing against those "majestic pretentious backdrops", but I share your love of rural settings. I wonder how many people (kids especially) have never seen the Milky Way? They don't know what they are missing.
Yeah, thats truly one of the most noticeable absences from cityscapes IMO... peering up, through the city lights and glowing windows, one is unable to get that august panorama of the constellations that one sees when away from the obstructions of concrete and metal.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 06-17-2008, 04:11 PM
 
Location: The Big D
14,862 posts, read 42,858,565 times
Reputation: 5787
Quote:
Originally Posted by solytaire View Post
Yeah, thats truly one of the most noticeable absences from cityscapes IMO... peering up, through the city lights and glowing windows, one is unable to get that august panorama of the constellations that one sees when away from the obstructions of concrete and metal.
The "darkest" we have ever experienced where you felt like you could just reach up and grab a handful of stars was down by the Frio River outside of Concan, TX. Granted out at the lake house (Tawakoni) it is dark w/ no city lights and the kids see that all the time. It really is amazing how "light" it can be just from the stars and moon shining.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-17-2008, 05:09 PM
 
10,239 posts, read 19,598,982 times
Reputation: 5943
LOVE these descriptions of Texas nights. And one of the truly saddest news stories I ever read was one which involved a Boy Scout troop started in the inner city northeast.

It was arranged so that some of those kids were taken on a "camping trip" to upstate New York. NONE of them had EVER been out of the city and megapolis and huge buildings and glaring city lights.

The striking thing was, that they had never even SEEN the MOON before...much less the stars! They literally didn't even know what it was!

I am not a bleeding heart by any stretch, but I couldn't help but almost feel sorry for them and understand (in a tiny way) why so many of them will end up in prison one day.

It also made me -- as lots of y'all have alluded to -- realize how truly lucky, at least in this regard, I am. There is very little so naturally glorious as one of those perfect nights when the Milky Way is the Main Event.

The best ever portrait I could ever paint of it was recalling a night quite a few years ago, on a camping trip, when a bunch of us were gathered around and sitting on the tailgate of somebody's pickup truck. The Southern night was crystal clear and star-blazed, and the Milky Way overhead was as if the Hand of God had dusted the Heavens with essence of pearl...

For several minutes, drinking beer, we had all just gotten completly and totally silent. Looking up and getting lost in it all. Finally, one guy said "Y'all know, boys? They just don't make nights like this above the Mason-Dixon line"


Last edited by TexasReb; 06-17-2008 at 05:39 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-17-2008, 05:49 PM
 
Location: East Texas, with the Clan of the Cave Bear
3,264 posts, read 5,628,678 times
Reputation: 4763
They do seem to be quite thick this year around here!

It does kinda make me sad for them to smack the windshield though!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-17-2008, 11:02 PM
 
Location: Metromess
11,798 posts, read 25,175,776 times
Reputation: 5219
I've been to the Texas Star Party twice. It is held annually on the Prude Ranch a few miles north of Fort Davis, near McDonald Observatory. All the amateur astronomers show up with their telescopes (including me) and take advantage of being 180 miles from the nearest city. The night sky, needless to say, is stellar (pun intended). I had no idea my little 8" telescope was capable of showing some of the galaxies and nebulae I saw through it until I took it out there. What a great place to observe!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Texas
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 04:20 PM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top