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How aware are you of the sky?

It Aint Necessarily So

Veteran Member
Premium Member
Ahh.. The Gulf of Mexico.....at times, it's wonderful...soooo many lights up there...uncountable !

Ah yah...we all know the Gulf !

I hope @Polymath257 won't mind a digression into the arts, which I think is appropriate when considering the heavens, as star-gazing is often an inspirational or spiritual experience. And if you saw Shatner's comment to Bezos after he returned to earth, it was clearly a spiritual experience for him.

I'm not sure what you're saying, mud, but there's a Grateful Dead song you reminded me of called Standing On The Moon, in which the singer is looking down at earth below and is singing to somebody he misses there. As he surveys the terrestrial landscape from the moon, he notes

I see the gulf of Mexico
As tiny as a tear
The coast of California
Must be somewhere over here

If you're interested, it's quite a beautiful and poignant song. In the end, after reporting the metal flag in crimson, white, and indigo standing stiffly beside him, that someone planted long ago, he tells her,

I would rather be with you
Somewhere in San Francisco
On a back porch in July
Just looking up to heaven
At this crescent in the sky

Take a listen if you like. It's got a nostalgic feeling similar to Rocket Man (I miss the Earth so much I miss my wife; it's lonely out in space) and Space Oddity (And I think my spaceship knows which way to go; tell my wife I love her very much she knows) - so far away, so alone:

 

We Never Know

No Slack
How aware are you of the events in the sky?

Can you say what phase the moon is right now?

How about which constellations are visible? Which planets?

Can you orient yourself at night just using the stars? How about if the Big Dipper isn't visible (not relevant for those south of the equator)?

Do you know when to look for a rainbow? Sun dogs?

Have you ever seen the moons of Jupiter or the rings of Saturn yourself? how about another galaxy?

This is sad.

"Back in 1994, the Northridge Earthquake caused major blackouts in the Los Angeles area. During the hours of darkness, something strange happened. People began to call 911 to report a strange ethereal light in the sky.

What they were actually seeing was the Milky Way. Light pollution was so bad in the City of Angels that many people had never seen our galaxy."

Light Pollution Atlas Shows Why 80 Percent of North Americans Can’t See the Milky Way – MIT Technology Review
 
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