Light Pollution

[Corkeyno2]

My back garden is extremely dark. I looked towards the horizon and there is no yellow glow. There are no clouds (I know this because I can see plenty of stars). I only have one light coming from my house. Despite all of this I still can't see the milky way! Any advice or explanation for this would be greatly appreciated

Thanks,

Corkey

[Alien 13]

1 minute ago, Corkeyno2 said:

My back garden is extremely dark. I looked towards the horizon and there is no yellow glow. There are no clouds (I know this because I can see plenty of stars). I only have one light coming from my house. Despite all of this I still can't see the milky way! Any advice or explanation for this would be greatly appreciated

Thanks,

Corkey

Thats odd, I live very close to a City center and have no problem seeing the milky way but it does take time for your eyes to adjust.

Alan

[CraigT82]

Have you checked on a planetarium app to see where in the sky it should be at the time? Perhaps the brighter parts of it aren't above the horizon at your time/location? 

[Floater]

Well, Corkey, looking for the Milky Way might depend on your specific location in the 'Virgo Supercluster' ... ??

But, lacking further information, I have no idea why you can't see the Milky Way. From the description of your situation you should.

Think of a faint whitewash brush leaving a trail up through Cygnus ... 

[saac]

I think Alan has the answer, you may need to wait a good 30 minutes or so until your eyes are properly dark adapted to see the Milky Way.  I know when I step outside I can't see it but after 10 minutes in the dark it starts to become apparent.

 

Jim

[Aaron F Johnson]

If you look at any light other than the celestrial light you will not compeltely dark adapt, about a half hour should do it. Here is a simple ground level light pollution test for your garden. A paper towel tube and  moonless night is all that's needed, simply walk outside sit down look up place the tube over one eye wait 30 minutes and compare the visual of each eye by covering one eye and the tube individually with your hand. This is also a great light pollution test before buying a first scope. You will see exactly the difference of light pollution/dark adaptation at your observing spot.

[Charic]

Not sure why your missing out, and Floater beat me on your location issue, your  just too far away?

You need to be at a dark site to best see the Milky way, your conditions seem  perfect? Mine are not,  and from within my garden there is  a constant  street lighting issue, so I have to shield my eyes in the shadows, or cover up using a dark blanket, but up above when the clouds are away, I can still  see Cassiopeia through  faint band of Stars, the Milky way. Now if I drive less than a Mile to the end of the field, I can only just make out Cassiopeia as its now drowned in a Sea of Stars, now I can really see the Milky way, and the last time I was out with a family member, the conditions were so good, the Stars created shadows, that's just the way it is sometimes. 
The suggestion to try Stellarium may help to find the Milky Way, or any other target up there.
 

[Aaron F Johnson]

I haven't had light pollution issues since leaving the big city back in the late 80's, I have the opposite problem now. Too many stars, so many in fact that while dark adapted I often become overwelmed and need a small dose of brite light to get back to my guide stars. Using something to cover you and your eyepiece I did for years it works very well and if folks aren't trying it they don't know what they are missing.

[Dave In Vermont]

I also think it's possible that you need to stay outside - and away from lights - for at least 20 minutes to get your eyes fully dark-adapted.

The Stellarium suggestion is a very good one. It's amazing that it's totally FREE of cost, So here's my 'copy & paste' to help you find it:

I will give you the details on getting a copy of Stellarium. It is an excellent star-charting program that you set for your specific location, and it gives you a very realistic view of what's in your sky - assuming the clouds cooperate. Similar programs can run you several hundred $'s. But Stellarium is completely free. I'll now leave you a copy & paste edition of the links for the program, as well as two links to the full instructions. I'll also post a screenshot of how mine is set to show things I need. Not to worry though - yours will be much simpler until you start loading it with all the objects that interest you:
 

On this link is the main page for downloading Stellarium. Choose which version is correct for your computer. Here you go:

http://www.stellarium.org/
 
As for instructions, a full copy of them is bundled with the program that you download. But if you need another copy for some reason, these can be downloaded here:
 
https://sourceforge.net/projects/stellarium/files/Stellarium-user-guide/0.15.0-1/stellarium_user_guide-0.15.0-1.pdf/download

 

Enjoy!

Dave

PS - if you need light, use red light. Red won't ruin your dark-adaptation.

 

Click on the image to see it full-size.