What can I see at the equator ?

[jambouk]

I'd love to try some star trails at the equator:

[acey]

If there is little or no man-made light pollution and few stars can be seen at night then possibilities are:

1. Moonlight is drowning out stars (this would have been the case about a week ago but we're quite well past full moon now so there is enough opportunity to view a moonless sky after sunset).

2. Cloud or haze (which will be invisible if there is no light pollution - you'll only know it's there because you can't see stars)

3. Dust/sand (as above).

If there is no light pollution then you should be able to see the Milky Way clearly with the naked eye, as a white band running across the sky. If you can't see it then something is blocking the view - so wait for a clearer night.

Current weather forecast for Freetown is partly cloudy, day and night, so that is most likely the answer.

[medwatt]

Thanks all of you guys for you responses. One of the reasons I am skeptical of seeing a lot of stars is because when I was living in Ukraine (L'viv) in the past I remember the sky was almost always blank. It even looked more sparsely packed than here (Freetown). I attributed that to the ever present clouds. Today, it was cloudy here but yesterday the sky was as clear and  bright as I have seen during the day which I believe continued through the night.

One request : My disappointment is from the fact that I am expecting to see a sky with so many stars, brightly colored nebulae with a blue or purple hue which is what I see on most photographs of the sky. So can anyone take a picture of the sky so that I can know what to realistically expect.

[medwatt]

Ignoring the halo at the centre, is possible to see the rest with binoculars or perhaps with naked eyes. FYI, I have never seen something like that.

Is it possible to see this too because I have never seen it in my life.

[brantuk]

Download Stellarium (it's free) and configure it with your location - then orientate the screen using cardinal points. You will then be able to see everything that's visible in the sky at night from your location, and where to look.

Don't expect to see images like those you posted above - most everything in a telescope or binocs is black/white and shades of grey. There is some colour when observing planets and double stars. But the camera sees things differently to the eye and you won't see the glossy images that are printed in magazines or on the internet. Hth

[medwatt]

Here the humidity is always fixed at 80%. How much of an effect is that to see stars with naked eyes ??

[Scooot]

http://7timer.y234.cn/index.php?product=astro&lon=-13.229&lat=8.484〈=en&ac=0&unit=metric&tzshift=0&site=

This is a good site to look at, I've selected your location which shows the humidity is very high as you say. It seems to indicate it is totally clear, with seeing and transparency in the middle of the range although instability isn't good. I don't know whether humidity affects the ability to see plenty of stars but judging from this data I would have said not, but I'm a novice interpreter.

I would have guessed you should be able to see plenty of stars tonight if you have no light pollution.