Originally Posted By Mr X I guess I miss seeing the stars in full glory. Here in Tokyo, the light polution is incredible and on a GOOD night, I only see a handful. Travelling into the countryside in Japan is somewhat better, I've enjoyed some very nice star-filled nights. But the BEST I've ever seen, where the sky was just FULL of stars, was driving through Mexico towards Encinada (just past Tijuana). Kind of a sad sidenote to that was the fact that, driving back up a couple of days later in the daytime, I realized that we were in a very populated area...BUT, I think electricity was an issue (good for stargazing, bad in general). But anyway, thoughts on the best places to see the heavens? I have some friends from Utah who claim Utah is just the BEST place to see the stars (because of the altitude, they claim). Would LOVE to hear from our LP worldwide population on this one. I can imagine that a stargazing "tour" would be a really great one to embark on!
Originally Posted By Lisann22 My personal best place was a special camp out at Glacier Point in Yosemite. It felt like we were parallel with the stars as they shot by and turned into falling stars to the valley below. It was amazing how close the constellation and stars were. The ranger was able to point out almost all of the 26 brightest stars. It was absolutely beautiful.
Originally Posted By SuperDry I've seen the stars from Yosemite, and it is quite a sight to behold. But I think that aguably the "most best" answer to the question is at the top of Manua Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii. It's about 13,000', remote as far as light pollution, and with virtually no air pollution due to the remote location in the middle of the Pacific. It houses the world's biggest concentration of large optical telescopes, and they didn't get put there for no reason. The road to the summit is open to the public and is always open. I've only been up there during the day, which is quite an experience. I would imagine that the stargazing experience at night would be like none other.
Originally Posted By peeaanuut around here in LA you really have to head out of town usually hours away to get a good view, but for a not so long drive I go to the Ski Sunrise resort in Wrightwood. I have camped there alot as there is a disc golf course that we play during the summer. Everytime there is a meteor shower and if I can get out there, that is where I head.
Originally Posted By Mr X Cool. I hadn't really thought about islands, but that would make a lot of sense considering the factors SuperDry mentioned...
Originally Posted By Elderp I like going to Griffith Park and watching the stagazer show. Forget stargazing with that place it is like you are traveling to the star.
Originally Posted By chickendumpling Years ago, DH and I spent a week hiking Yosemite with a buddy of ours. We spent a night at Vogelsang which is just above the tree line. Some great star gazing to be had there. It was a very clear, crisp night and it was truly incredible. Seeing the abundance and brilliance of the stars was practically a spiritual experience. I'll never forget it as long as I live. Another great stargazing experience was while crossing the English Channel. The guy I was with pointed out a misty band of stars in the night sky and told me it was the Milky Way. I was young and he was a charming and had an accent that made me melt so I chose to believe him. *sigh* LOL.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< misty band of stars in the night sky and told me it was the Milky Way >>> Yea, that's a pretty good indication that you have a good stargazing location when you can clearly see the Milky Way.
Originally Posted By pecos bill The top of Mt.Whitney is a mindblower. Out on the playa in the Black Rock Desert is another personal favorite. Looks like we dont spend ALL of our free time at Disneyland!
Originally Posted By tink2680 >> have some friends from Utah who claim Utah is just the BEST place to see the stars (because of the altitude, they claim).<< It's true though, I live in Utah and the best place to see the stars is in the Uintah Mountains. When I was a kid when went camping there all the time and at night it was fabulous. Even if you live in the city here though all you have to do is take a 20 minute drive up one of the many canyons and you are plenty far away to see the stars. At my parents house in Park City you can see the stars fairly well even with the Olympic Ski Jump lights on. That is one of the many reasons I love living in Utah.
Originally Posted By dltraveler SuperDry has the answer I was going to give, although I've never been up there at night it's probably spectacular. The best viewing I've ever seen personally was on a boat sailing from one island to another. It was a crystal clear night and we were far enough from any land to avoid light pollution. Between the stars above and the phosphorescence in the water, it was like I was in a dream.
Originally Posted By Mr X Oh man, that sounds amazing! Travelling between Hawaiian islands, or was it someplace else? Were you on a small boat? That must have been awsome. I must say, I was a tad disappointed in the short carribean cruise I took. The stargazing was "okay", BUT between the lights of MY boat, plus the lights from the string of boats ahead and behind (I really felt like this carribean cruise deal was more like a CARAVAN, with so many dang boats following each other!)...not to mention I imagine we were never far from the coast really (maybe for a night or so between Florida and Mexico). I kinda imagined the stargazing must be so neat from a boat way out to sea. A sailboat all alone must have been amazing!
Originally Posted By mrichmondj Viewing the heavens while at sea can't be beat. It's amazing how much more there is to see when there is nothing on the horizons for hundreds of miles in every direction. To add to the fun of it, you can even navigate using the stars -- the original GPS.
Originally Posted By chickapin Following the Utah theme--best stargazing I ever had was from a houseboat on Lake Powell. Incredible!
Originally Posted By fkurucz >>The best viewing I've ever seen personally was on a boat sailing from one island to another. It was a crystal clear night and we were far enough from any land to avoid light pollution. Between the stars above and the phosphorescence in the water, it was like I was in a dream. << Short of paying for a ride to the International Space Station, the middle of the ocean is probably your best bet.
Originally Posted By Schmitty Good Vibes I spent a lot of time stargazing from Lake Tahoe. That's pretty hard to beat if you are in the right place, but the most amazing star gazing experience I had was the night I camped out at Tioga Pass in Yosemite, elevation 9,945 feet. I woke up in the middle of the night and wondered who had turned all the lights on. When I stepped out of my camper, I found I was alone, and it was just the moon and stars.
Originally Posted By BlueDevilSF The most memorable time I had stargazing was at a resort near Ukiah in Northern California called Saratoga Springs. A group of us went in pitch dark to lay back and watch the skies, and it was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. The stars seemed close enough to almost touch, and I saw shooting stars for the first time. That night is among my most favorite memories.
Originally Posted By Tink2002 Southern Arizona. When the shuttle was sent up to fix the Hubble years ago, I was at a ranch in Sonoita and saw both of them moving across the sky. Simply amazing. Have also seen the ISS. About five-six years ago during the incredible Leonid Shower, we had a sleepover at our school (I was involved with Project Astro) and the view was one I will never forget and neither will my students from that year. We laid on the playground with sleeping bags and saw fireballs and countless meteors. It was beyond words. Speaking of Mauna Kea on the big island...my dad was instrumental in choosing the site for the first telescope placed there. His stories about the road (or lack of one) are great.
Originally Posted By DVC_dad My kudos goes to a road that I cannot name, I forgot and am a little too lazy to look it up. In 1995 my wife and I drove from Omaha Nebraska, to Devil's Lake, North Dakota. But that's not it. After a two day fishing trip for Walleye and Northerns we went on up just into Canada. The road between Devil's Lake and the US/Canadian border was the most remote place I have ever been in my life. We went into Canada for a few hours, into a little town that had a lot to do about Turtles, I forget the name. We returned to Rolette ND, for the night to stay with a friend. Rolette ND is only say 30 or so miles from the Canadian border and it's over in the state, NOT over on Interstate, in fact it's several miles away from the Interstate highway if memory serves. It was this place that I realized how vast and numerious the visible stars from Earth really are...there were bright, clear, BILLIONS of them! The fellow who was our host had a fantastic telescope. It was very long and maybe 6' in diameter (I know very little about telescopes) and we saw some unbelieveable vistas of stars. But honestly the most impressive thing we saw was the MOON. It was so incredible, I remember I could see craters and all sorts of fantastic things about the moon that I had taken for granted for so long! I recommend any two lane road about 5 miles north of Rolette, North Dakota !!!
Originally Posted By dltraveler >>Oh man, that sounds amazing! Travelling between Hawaiian islands, or was it someplace else? Were you on a small boat? That must have been awsome.<< It was on a small boat, a 33' sailboat. We were sailing from Oahu to Lanai. It was awesome. I must admit that for a little while I was seasick, but I fell asleep and when I woke up I was fine. I'm not sure if I enjoyed the night or the early dawn best. Around the time the sun rose, a pod of dolphins came and swam along our boat for a while. I went and sat at the very nose of the boat and watched them leap back and forth in front of us. It was just amazing. Looking back on it now, the whole thing has a dream-like quality to it.
