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Trying to get over my fear of the night sky!!!!

Weston2688

By Weston2688
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JamesM

JamesM

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Hi Weston and welcome to the forum. Your fear of observing the night sky is more common than most people imagine though its 'scariness' is often expressed when people lie down to observe the night sky with the naked eye and are immediately struck by the sheer immense space which can seem daunting, intimidating, sense of helplessness. However it can also create feelings that are positive such as humility, wonderment and of course and of course what you are really witnessing is TIME and therefore for many a very keen sense of how short a time we have on this planet which perhaps isn't a bad thing. Getting yourself engaged with astronomy will certainly straighten out some of the technical 'fears' that you might have but in your learning you will of course overcome your anxiety as it turns into amazement and wonder and how creative and positive the universe is which I'm sure is something that you may want to engage with rather than hide from - knowledge of what you fear will always make you stronger.

Clear skies and keeping looking up - its all good stuff!  :icon_salut:

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Dave Lloyd

Dave Lloyd

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Hi Weston, welcome. There's nothing silly about any fear. It's a natural response to anything you feel threatens you. I sincerely hope that being on here and sharing the magic that most of us feel when looking at the night sky will act as a kind of therapy. A bit like fear of flying acclimatisation. On a lighter note if you live in Britain you probably won't have to look too often.

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ollypenrice

ollypenrice

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You are not alone in this. Our local baker's wife declined my invitation to come up to the observatory, explaining that she gets a kind of vertigo when looking up into a clear sky. She has the feeling that she might 'fall into space.' 

Knowledge is power. The more you know about a thing the less it will alarm you. Imagine a creak behind you in the night. It might be terrifying but if you know it is a rusty gate hinge then your fear will vanish. Learn about the night sky! This is a good place to do so.

Olly

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Cath

Cath

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So tonight is a really bad night!! Went out and the star I'm being told in Venus is huge... Looked it up on my app thing and is won't show up help lol !!! Went out about 9.45pm

Well, you survived the outing :) .. along with the rest of us :)

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Ags

Ags

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I think your app doesn't show planets. Planets change position in the sky, so a star map won't show them. A program like Stellarium will show you planets in their correct positions. With Stellarium, you can even zoom in on the planets to see what they look like. You can also speed up time to see how stars an planets move through the sky.

Perhaps remind yourself that life has been going on this planet for 3.5 billion years and has survived many space rocks in that time. Also goverment agencies are specifically watching for any space rocks on collision course with us. They have mapped the positions of all the nearby large rocks, and none of them are going to hit us in the next hundred years at least.

Those same government agencies would surely have noticed something a bright as Venus!

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Ags

Ags

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Venus is much closer to us and to the sun, and it is covered in pure white clouds, so it seems brighter than Jupiter. But if Venus was out in Jupiter's orbit, it would be a lot fainter.

The clouds on Venus are made of sulphuric acid! Before the space age, it was thought that the clouds were water and there might be tropical jungles beneath them. But instead it's acid clouds and a surface temperature hot enough to melt lead.

There is not much to see on Venus through a telescope, all you see is a featureless white crescent. But Jupiter and its moons reveal a wealth of detail that is constantly changing.

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jabeoo1

jabeoo1

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Just been out again and I'm almost certain I may of seen iss 10.30om over Derbyshire looked like a star moving across the sky

Welcome on board.  You no doubt just saw an ISS pass.  22hr:27min:30sec - 22hrs:30min:10sec.  It looks even better through a telescope if you can track it :)  

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Weston2688

Weston2688

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I lsaw somthing mentioned on one of the forums I nipped outside for a cig and there it was I was so shocked I freaked me out abit but couldn't take my eyes off it!!! Such a strange experience it was there around 2 mins

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Cath

Cath

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Just been out again and I'm almost certain I may of seen iss 10.30om over Derbyshire looked like a star moving across the sky

Don't forget to wave back at them as they go round and round the Earth :)

Without the constant communications they have all through each and every day with those down here with us, they too would most likely  start to feel quite nervous and panicky too - it's very normal.

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