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Hot take: you don't need a perfect dark sky to see something amazing

A friend came over to my place in the suburbs last fall and scoffed at my setup, saying 'Why bother from here with all the streetlights?' We went out anyway and I pointed my old binoculars at Jupiter. He saw the four big moons clear as day and just went quiet for a full minute. It happened right there on my patio in Tempe. Has anyone else had a moment like that change someone's mind?

3 comments

3 Comments

stella3072mo ago

Come on, that's just one lucky view. Most nights in the city, the haze and light drown out everything but the moon. You need real darkness for the good stuff, or it's just a waste of time.

sammurray2mo ago

Yeah, and even the moon gets washed out sometimes.

margaret_flores171mo ago

Wait... are you saying you've never had a clear night where the city lights just sort of... cooperate? That's wild to me. I've been out on my balcony plenty of times, and yeah, sometimes it's all haze and orange glow, but I've also seen Venus and Jupiter perfectly clear, like they're right there. Not every night is a total loss, you know? I feel like you're being a little too harsh about it.