BajaNomad - Starry Starry Baja Nights

Starry Starry Baja Nights

Sharksbaja - 10-2-2005 at 12:08 AM

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.

Osprey - 10-2-2005 at 08:54 AM

Wanna guess how many stars you saw?

bajaden - 10-2-2005 at 08:56 AM

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.

rpleger - 10-2-2005 at 09:25 AM

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.

Osprey - 10-2-2005 at 09:41 AM

Pompano

Make that 8,000 stars http://kosmoi.com/Science/Astronomy/Stars/

Eli - 10-2-2005 at 10:46 AM

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.

Isn't that every night in Mulege?

jrbaja - 10-2-2005 at 10:53 AM

"Actually the evenings a bunch of us gather together to share libations,"

Only 2000 are visible after stumbling out of Jungla Jims! :lol:

Dave - 10-2-2005 at 10:54 AM

And it only gets better the higher in elevation. Night sky at Laguna Hanson or up near Diablo is spectacular.

Sharksbaja - 10-2-2005 at 10:56 AM

Wait just a dadburn minute Roger! I don't have a libation! :lol:

[Edited on 10-2-2005 by Sharksbaja]

Dave - 10-2-2005 at 11:20 AM

Either that picture is out of focus or I'm having a flashback.

bajaden - 10-2-2005 at 11:22 AM

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......

Bob and Susan - 10-2-2005 at 01:11 PM

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 :lol:

No way!

Sharksbaja - 10-2-2005 at 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Osprey
Pompano

Make that 8,000 stars http://kosmoi.com/Science/Astronomy/Stars/

I counted at least 527,972 before I fell asleep!

Favorite Stargazing spots

jrbaja - 10-2-2005 at 03:55 PM

#1. Like Dave said.
#2. The South China Sea off Borneo
#3. Saline Valley
#4. The canyon up behind the "Glowman".

bajalera - 10-3-2005 at 09:38 AM

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.

Rusty - 10-3-2005 at 05:04 PM

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

Dave - 10-3-2005 at 09:10 PM

I recommend North Korea. :biggrin:

vandenberg - 10-4-2005 at 07:38 AM

Hollywood ?? :biggrin:

11 A.M.- July 11, 1991

thebajarunner - 10-4-2005 at 09:01 AM

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!!