Night Sky

Nabbed from Wikipedia. My camera can't handle this sort of thing, at least I don't even know if it can.

The electricity going out last night prompted me to step outside and appreciate the night sky. I am no where near knowledgeable enough about constellations and celestial bodies to notice a large difference between the Southern and Northern hemispheres but I have made a point to locate and analyze the Southern Cross (Crux). I did not see how that particular constellation makes finding South any easier. In fact I was only really able to find it by knowing which way South was first and then looking up and to the right. Perhaps it was brighter in the sky earlier in human history and made it obvious but I didn't quite grasp it's importance.

The bigger difference is the lack of any light pollution. The splendor of outer space can only properly be seen in total darkness, from the ground level anyway. This is something a rural village in the middle of nowhere can offer. At the same time, the utility of a full moon is really evident when you've tried to stumble your way to the outhouse during a new moon. It is easy to forget that we are living on a pale blue dot when our influence over our planet overpowers the light from the rest of the universe. I will certainly miss being able to go right outside my door and place things in perspective.

Socks and Underwear: Night Sky

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Night Sky

Nabbed from Wikipedia. My camera can't handle this sort of thing, at least I don't even know if it can.

The electricity going out last night prompted me to step outside and appreciate the night sky. I am no where near knowledgeable enough about constellations and celestial bodies to notice a large difference between the Southern and Northern hemispheres but I have made a point to locate and analyze the Southern Cross (Crux). I did not see how that particular constellation makes finding South any easier. In fact I was only really able to find it by knowing which way South was first and then looking up and to the right. Perhaps it was brighter in the sky earlier in human history and made it obvious but I didn't quite grasp it's importance.

The bigger difference is the lack of any light pollution. The splendor of outer space can only properly be seen in total darkness, from the ground level anyway. This is something a rural village in the middle of nowhere can offer. At the same time, the utility of a full moon is really evident when you've tried to stumble your way to the outhouse during a new moon. It is easy to forget that we are living on a pale blue dot when our influence over our planet overpowers the light from the rest of the universe. I will certainly miss being able to go right outside my door and place things in perspective.

3 Comments:

Blogger mrpresco said...

OH and wait. Did you really take this picture? Your camera could capture this? Impressed? Why, yes I am.

August 30, 2011 at 5:35 PM  
Blogger mrpresco said...

This one made me think of the story about Dad looking at the stars out of the top of the submarine in the middle of the ocean. Pretty amazing stuff.

August 30, 2011 at 5:37 PM  
Blogger Noah Prescott said...

I bet even the sky out here is washed-out compared to Dad's view on the submarine. Also I most definitely did not take this picture, I grabbed it from wikipedia. I guess I should say so under the picture.

August 31, 2011 at 6:51 AM  

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