Milky Way in Colorado

[My Green Pets]

Damn! I have never seen the milky way.
Did it look like this with your eyes too?

[estación seca]

William, you absolutely must drive out into the nowhere some moonless, cloudless night. Winter is really good for viewing the Milky Way. It looks like you could dip your hand in it.

[WaterWitchin]

Stunning. An absolutely award-winning photograph. :

[Mountaineer370]

Here is a link to an excellent article on how and when to best see the Milky Way. You don't need a telescope or even binoculars to find it. In fact, they are unlikely to help, since the Milky Way is so large it extends across the entire sky (but in different locations depending on the season). Of course, there are dozens of interesting deep space objects within the Milky Way that can be seen in more detail with binoculars and telescopes.

Dark skies and no moon in the sky are your best bets to see it. Give your eyes a chance to adjust to the dark and just look up and slowly scan the sky. Most people mistake the Milky Way for just a long narrow cloud across the sky when they first see it.

If you are in a location that allows you an unobstructed view of the skies to the south, you should still be able to see the constellation of Sagittarius. If you recognize that, know that the center of our Milky Way galaxy (home to a supermassive black hole), is just a short distance off the "spout" of the teapot of Sagittarius. (To clarify, not meaning that's where it is, right near that spout star, but that is the direction in which to look. It's actually much, much farther away.)

How To See the Milky Way – Dark Site Finder

[camille1585]

That's a fantastic photo, well done!! :-)

I took some milky way shots a couple years ago, while vacationing with family on the north-west coast of France. The milky way looks much brighter in your photo than in mine, you must have had a really, really dark sky. Even though I took the photo from a not so populated area and on the beach, western Europe is alas a very bright place...


Winter (in northern hemisphere) is actually not the best time for viewing the Milky Wy, as the wider core section is then under the horizon line. In the winter only the narrower side of the 'ribbon' is visible. It's still nice, but I do prefer the more contrasted and denser structure of the summer side.

[DirtyCoconuts]

This is awesome.

It makes me want to pic the next no moon night and drive into the Everglades.

There a few “dark parks” near me and that is a must for any chance at good viewing

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by DirtyCoconuts

This is awesome.

It makes me want to pic the next no moon night and drive into the Everglades.

The Everglades at night with no moon? You're much braver than I would be, there's probably all sorts of nasty things lurking in the darkness!

[Bayard]

Glad to read all of your comments and experiences!

The second time I saw the Milky Way was in the mountains in Peru. I gasped - It was so clear and bright and laying on its side. We were camping at 10,000 feet, the air was clear and dry and there was no moon. I didn’t know then that it was maybe the best time I would see it in my life. I’ve seen and photographed it since, but it has never been that overwhelmingly present and seeable. Sadly, I am now hooked and may be chasing that experience for the rest of my days. Stay tuned...

[estación seca]

In the intermountain western US there will usually be very little water in the atmosphere in winter as compared to the summer, so it does wind up being a good time to view the Milky Way for us.

[Chris17]

I live in a city and never see it. Thanks for sharing!