Sharksbaja
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Starry Starry Baja Nights
I couldn't count the number of times I've laid there in a sleeping bag watching the stars.
From Inuvik Alaska to Whitney Portal to the Rockies I can't ever remember seeing so many stars in my life those nights in P. Chivato.
It looked like an artist air brushed the entire sky with diamonds.
So intense was it it lit up the land like a full moon.
Why?
Why, I wonder at such a low elevation in an area that had tremendous winds those winter nights. One would surely think the haze from water & dust
everywhere would skew the view. Unbelievable and breathtaking. Hard to describe, better git out there and look some more.
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Osprey
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Wanna guess how many stars you saw?
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bajaden
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Ahh, the kinder, gentler Sharky. Letting the female side show. How much did you have to drink that night? Actually, I have to agree with you Sharky.
The stars are pretty intense here. Maybe there's less junk floating around in the upper atmosphere.
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rpleger
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Mood: Was good.
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You should see the stars from the south pacific.
from a beach on Moorea or Bora Bora.
Different, no smog, so bright you could almost read a paper.
Richard on the Hill
*ABROAD*, adj. At war with savages and idiots. To be a Frenchman abroad is to
be miserable; to be an American abroad is to make others miserable.
-- Ambrose Bierce, _The Enlarged Devil\'s Dictionary_
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Osprey
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Pompano
Make that 8,000 stars http://kosmoi.com/Science/Astronomy/Stars/
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Eli
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Mood: Some times Observing, sometimes Oblivious.
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Mi too Sharky. Only seen such stars in Baja. One of the things that always draws me home. I have a wonderful little deck next to my room. A Mexican
cot, and the stars for a roof, doesn't get better than that. Soon, soon, very very soon I will see the diamonds in the sky as they should be viewed.
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jrbaja
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Isn't that every night in Mulege?
"Actually the evenings a bunch of us gather together to share libations,"
Only 2000 are visible after stumbling out of Jungla Jims!
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Dave
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And it only gets better the higher in elevation. Night sky at Laguna Hanson or up near Diablo is spectacular.
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Sharksbaja
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Wait just a dadburn minute Roger! I don't have a libation!
[Edited on 10-2-2005 by Sharksbaja]
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Dave
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Either that picture is out of focus or I'm having a flashback.
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bajaden
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Pompano
Bajaden..now,now...beware unleashing the darkside. You are going to be neighbors. Actually the evenings a bunch of us gather together to share
libations, swap stories, and sit back to watch the lightshow....stars, planets, satellites, meteor showers in March & April, Halleys and other
comets from time to time...it doesn't get any better. Always disappointed me to learn that the human only can perceive about 2000 light objects in
any given nightsky on earth. Maybe it's worth 20 million to ride a Russian space vehicle? |
Don't worry Pompano, Sharky knows I'm only kidding. As for the Jungle, I'm headed there in a little while. Don't know if their open or not. They keep
changing the schedule.
Hey, if not, I'll just look at the stars. Hmmm. Cloudy outside. Oh well, I've got a good memory......
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Bob and Susan
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We were just looking at getting a telescope with a TV viewer...
http://cgi.ebay.com/Meade-DS-80-EC-Telescope-Value-Upgrade-1...
...but we look at boats too....as they pass
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Sharksbaja
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No way!
I counted at least 527,972 before I fell asleep!
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jrbaja
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Favorite Stargazing spots
#1. Like Dave said.
#2. The South China Sea off Borneo
#3. Saline Valley
#4. The canyon up behind the "Glowman".
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bajalera
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I like the beach at San Juanico, south of Scorpion Bay resort and the fishing settlement. Kazillions of stars, waves sloshing in, the Big Dipper
circling around during the night, a little string of distant lights marking the street in to town, fog curling in, the sky gradually turning pink and
gold in the morning. And feeling COLD.
\"Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest never happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects.\" -
Mark Twain
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Rusty
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Sharksbaja - To answer your original question "why":
No light pollution! I would have to guess that the place from which you are viewing the sky is far from the influence of city lights, as most of Baja
is.
From the most remote places on the Earth, where there is no trace of light from nearby cities, the human eye is capable of seeing somewhere between
5000 and 8600 stars. (Yes that is a big discrepancy of 3600 stars. It arises because some human eyes can see fainter star light than others.) Since
you are only seeing half the sky at any particular moment, divide the number in half.
There are other factors too, such as elevation, dust or moisture in the air.
I was camping on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon several weeks ago, around the new moon. In the middle of the night I got out of my tent and looked
around and realized that everything I could see (trees, my tent, etc.) was due to starlight. There were no other sources of light around. Pretty
cool! I've even noticed planet Venus casting a shadow before in the pre-dawn hours.
Check out the International Dark-Sky Association (http://www.darksky.org/) to learn more about light pollution. OK I'll get off my soapbox now.
Rusty
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Dave
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I recommend North Korea. 
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vandenberg
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Hollywood ??
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thebajarunner
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Mood: muy amable
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11 A.M.- July 11, 1991
Best stars I ever saw, Baja or otherwise.
It was the morning of the great eclipse, we were at KM100 which is north of La Paz.
We saw Orion, Venus, the "Winter Triangle" (in July)
That was the greatest!
By the way, too many stars make it difficult to identify the familiar constellations.
Took a group of kids out on a hill at San Vicente, one night in June and it was so clear and bright that I had a very tough time showing them the
"normal stuff"
Too many stars!!
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