Stars in the Sky with ZERO Ground lights. Night Sky just White. (home, camping)

[Paul74]

Hi Everyone,

I was interested if anyone has ever seen the nights sky with zero ground lights, let me explain. I have seen this amazing sight twice in my life, it just litterally took my breath away, the nights sky looks so unbelievably amazing there is just an array of a gzillion white broken stars, with litterally no spaces or darkness gaps between, the nights sky its litterally just white. Is this a rarity or are there places where you can see it like this all the time or often.

I was interested in locations where you can see this sight. The last time I saw it was near Negril in Jamaica in a jungle region in 1999. I long to see it like that again. For those of you with a scense of humour I wasnt on some kind of wackybacky cigaretts LOL. This is actually serious.

I would love to see it again. I dont know where or when though.

For any information or shared experiences of this sight I would be really thankful.

[Lola Getz]

I've just registered with this forum to answer you - this is my first post!

When I was growing up in Atlanta, my grandparents had a farm in Madison County, NE Georgia. They had 250 acres and their nearest neighbors were more than a mile away on a different road. There was no traffic (the road was a dirt road cut through the farmland, leading to my grandparents' house), and there were no streetlights. When night fell, it was dark like I've rarely seen it since.

I remember many times during my childhood sitting outside with my grandmother at night looking at the sky. It was exactly as you described, with so many stars that the sky almost looked white.

The only time I've ever seen the night sky like that again was in the desert in Utah and Nevada, and in Kashmir, in the north of India.

It's breathtaking.

[Paul74]

Thanks for the reply... its apprecaited...Its a small world my uncle and aunt and cousins live in kennesaw cobb country in Georgia. I have been there quite a lot mostly when I was younger on family holidays. I loved the humidty which we never had had in bristol england where I grew up. I live in Zurich switzerland now for work and also mont boron nice in france. I have been to the swiss alps and even there I cant see the nights sky like that in fact I doubt its possible in europe to see such a sight.

[Baja Boomer]

Driving through west Texas at night the sky can be like that. The old song is true: The stars at night ARE big and bright, deep in the heart of Texas.

In San Felipe, Baja, Mexico, if you are in one of the campos south of town during the summer when most of the residents have left for cooler climes-- yes, the sky is white with stars and you can see why the Milky Way was called "the backbone of night". An added bonus is that you are on the Sea of Cortez there, so you get the ocean at the same time.

[firebll31]

Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the Grand Canyon after everyone goes to bed. Absolutely awesome!

[ss58yy]

If you're looking for places with dark night skies, try a Google search for "Atlas of Artificial Night Sky Brightness". There are maps showing the levels of light pollution around the world.

Where I live, the light pollution makes the night sky about 4x brighter than it would be at a truly dark sky site.

[mdz]

I can think of four places I've been where I've been blown away by the number of stars. From 4th best to best...

4) Death Valley, CA
3) Southern tip of Maui
2) Big Bend national Park in West Texas (you're right Baja)

and strangely enough (to me at least, someone who's been lucky enough to travel through some desolate and beautiful parts of the American West), the most stars/clearest Milky Way I've ever seen was in my home state of Illinois. We went camping at a place called Mississippi Palisades State Park which is right on the Iowa-IL border and on the river. It was the middle of autumn and a cold front had just come through. We froze our buns off, but this was the clearest night I've ever seen. Probably spent an hour just staring at the sky. Woke up cold and with a stiff neck. Fantastic.

[Paul74]

Thanks all for the feedback. It really is an amazing sight !!!. I really felt like time slowed down when I saw the nights sky with literally no black, like there was no atmostphere and almost like you were on a rock directly in space ( I suppose we are actually LOL) You havent lived until you have seen it. Seems like you can see the stars mostly from the USA Landmass regions. I will have to go more often. thanks again.

[vseale]

Try googling "night sky park". There are parks in Canada and the US that are for night sky watching.

I lived in West Texas when I was little. I'll never forget the awesome stars. They really do sparkle like diamonds. You can see to the horizon 360, so it felt like you could see forever.

I highly ditto mdz's recommendation of visiting Big Bend for sky watching. There's another sky phenomena in West Texas that's a joy to experience. At dusk the sky is daytime and nightime at the same time. The eastern half of the sky is night with stars showing and the western half is daytime with blue sky and setting sun. It is an awesome experience!

[GreggB]

The BADLANDS of South Dakota make for wonderful night sky viewing. A particular good area is near sheep mountain. Lights from Rapid city are not visible there. I have also been in Death Valley at night. Awesome as well, but light pollution from Las Vegas somewhat present. And I've heard of Phanthom ranch at the bottom of the Grand Canyon--that must be an awesome view. Some parts of Northen Wisconsin, Minnesota and the upper Peninsula of Michigan make for good viewing as well.