Just curious because I've never seen a meteor shower before. I live near NYC. There's too much light to see many stars usually at night so I'd like suggestions for places to view nearby. How far do I need to get away from the city?
2007-07-12 11:29:59 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Light pollution is a terrible thing to experience when you want to view the heavens. The amount of light pollution is directly proportional to the population of the viewing area. New York, being, by far, the largest city in the U.S., offers the worst background for sky watching.
Traveling out to the country is the only way to avoid this problem. I found that living thirty miles from a city of a half million people wasn't far enough away. At least a third of the sky was still washed out with light. You'll need to travel further.
You've got two choices: travel as far out on Long Island as is feasible, preferably to the Hamptons; or head upstate, well past Westchester County.
If you have friends in the Catskills or the Adirondacks, I recommend making plans to take a vacation to visit them the weekend of August 10th through the 12th.
2007-07-12 15:51:40 · answer #1 · answered by Boots McGraw 5 · 123⤊ 44⤋
oh woooooooow
2015-08-17 01:32:55 · answer #2 · answered by josh 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
in addition to where, there is a when! The peak is on the night/moring of 12/13th August, expect to see around 80 meteors per hour if skies are clear and dark enough. Good luck!..get a camera ready.
2007-07-20 00:44:24 · answer #3 · answered by Professional Physicist 3 · 30⤊ 27⤋
You need to get far enough away that you cannot see the city lights. An overnight camp out with friends in the mountains is a good place. You can lay awake and watch the sky all night. Also, you don't want any clouds in the sky and if you have a choice pick a night during the peak of the shower so you will see more meteorites. sometimes it is like raining stars.
2007-07-19 18:18:57 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 23⤊ 25⤋
you need to get away from big cities and go where it is totally dark to see shooting star and meteor shower
2007-07-16 06:18:33 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 12⤊ 38⤋
Some meteors are bright enough to see, even from New Your City. But many more are not so bright. So you may see 2 all night in the city and 10 in an hour at a dark country site. Anyplace where you can see the Milky Way is dark enough. And you need to see the whole sky, no trees or tall buildings nearby. The meteors can appear anywhere in the sky, and the more of the sky you can take in, the more meteors you can see.
2007-07-12 12:59:07 · answer #6 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 23⤊ 35⤋
A good place to go is the Custer Institute, in Southold out on Long Island. The skies are reasonably dark there, and you'll find a lot of other amateur astronomers.
2007-07-12 11:50:19 · answer #7 · answered by GeoffG 7 · 42⤊ 26⤋
Well you won't have to go to far, I know about those city lights I live in Chicago. You'll be able to see them here and there in the sky from 9 to 10 PM (your time). If you want you can go somewhere where there aren't that many lights, maybe a park in the suburbs, or just in Central Park.
2007-07-12 11:43:09 · answer #8 · answered by A.R 2 · 13⤊ 67⤋
August is the best month to see these meteor showers.
Go out of the city into the country to see this event. And stay up really late.
2007-07-12 11:38:07 · answer #9 · answered by Anna Lynn 4 · 32⤊ 64⤋