Stargazing in death valley area late November

[Stephanie]

Hi guys

I'm very new at this but I'm going to paramint springs in November and made sure I picked a night that was no more than ten percent moon and a clear forcast. After viewing pics of the milky way, I was very excited to see it 

 

I just read that Nov is a bad time to see it and maybe I'll see the band. I'm really dissapointed. Has anyone been out there in November. I'm a city girl so I know I'll be in for a treat but I don't want to not see at least some of the milky way. I wanted to see the pink part. If anyone can attest to the conditions this time of year please let me know. Thanks.

[mattjanes100]

Hi Stephanie

At that time of year and at your latitude, I don't believe the milky way will rise much above the horizon but if it is a clear night there will still be plenty for you to see! You can check exactly what will be visible that night by looking at Stellarium online (https://stellarium-web.org)

Also it's important to know that the colours you will have seen in pictures online are not going to be the same as what is visible to your naked eye - these are usually processed images taken by cameras which can collect light in various wavelengths that our eyes cannot see. Regardless of colours, the milky way is still an awe inspiring sight and will look like a bright dusty band across the sky.

[bingevader]

Hi,

As Matt has said, you can stick the location into Stellarium and see what's up.

There will still be some milky way from alongside Orion, down past Sirius.

I'm sure it will still look impressive from a dark site.

And as Matt has also said, there'll be plenty more to see.

[Stephanie]

Thanks guys. I tried that site from my phone and it didn't allow me to put in the date I was going. I have an Android. I don't know if that had anything to do with it. I'm hoping I'll see other colors though instead of only white star. Not that that isn't spectacular, just wanted to see other colors to 

[ollypenrice]

4 hours ago, Stephanie said:

Thanks guys. I tried that site from my phone and it didn't allow me to put in the date I was going. I have an Android. I don't know if that had anything to do with it. I'm hoping I'll see other colors though instead of only white star. Not that that isn't spectacular, just wanted to see other colors to 

The night sky was quite stunning when I was there in late August. We slept up at Dante's Peak in our rented station wagon and also saw a sunrise to die for. That might be well worth the effort. You'll certainly see star colour. Betelgeuse, the upper left in Orion, and Aldebaran, the eye of the bull in Taurus, would be good starting points because they are strikingly red (or 'Astronomers' red,' which the rest of the world would tend to call orange!)

Could you take some binoculars? Even cheap ones are worth having. If you don't own a pair perhaps you could borrow some because even the standard birdwatching kind of  around 8x40 will increase the light entering your eye by about 33 times. The magnification is also very exciting on things like the Seven SIsters or the Great Nebula in the belt of Orion.

Olly

Edited September 18, 2019 by ollypenrice

[carastro]

You can never guarantee the weather in advance anyway, but I hope you are successful.

Try looking up Stellarium on a computer rather than a phone, it's much easier to see what you are doing and control.

If you have a DSLR camera is would be worth trying to take some long exposure on the Milky way, take a number of shots and stack them in DSS (we can help with that) for improved image.

If you have no tracking but just a tripod, you could possibly get away with about 15 secs exposure before star trails start to be noticeable (remember the Earth is rotating).  If you can do longer than that even better.

The milky way should be visible in the early evening,  

Carole 

 

Edited September 18, 2019 by carastro

[Stephanie]

I may go in later October if it improves my chances. I'm trying to find out.

 

Thanks for letting me know about what I can see though ☺