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Comment by grecy | Hacker News Reader

Go to the Southern Hemisphere, the stars are still epic there.

Story Time: I'm from Australia, but didn't got for almost 10 years. I lived in the Yukon, roamed all of Alaska, etc. etc.

When I got to Australia after 10 years I walked outside in the middle of a city of 50,000 people and almost fell over the stars were so bright and colourful and (seemingly) close. They were so good, in fact, I took photos right there in the middle of that city that are better star photos than anything I have ever taken in Yukon/Alaska.

If you're still in doubt, go to Australia!

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My most breathtaking glimpse of the world: Stopping one night while hitching through the Nullarbor, and walking to the coast very close by. Pitch black, but then not quite, for all over the sky were insanely more and brighter stars than I have ever seen before or since. And then the crashing waves at the foot of the cliffs, and wind roaring in from the south, with the just the right amount of arctic chill to make it awesome and remind you that across that ocean lies Antarctica. That's more than thirty years ago, but words about 'the end of the world' still take me back.

Can confirm that the Southern sky is great from my time in South Africa. We had a nicer view of the milky way during many braais in a small town backyard than I have seen in the Northern hemisphere (including back country camping in Yellowstone National Park). The combination of high elevation, dry air and little light pollution is great.

The most incredible night sky I've seen is on the top of Mt John (there's a small observatory) on the southern island of New Zealand. Mauna Kea wasn't close.

You could see the band of the milky away across the sky. It was like something from Hubble.

There's nothing like looking up in the sky and getting some perspective.

I could very clearly see the bands of the Milky Way from the summit of Haleakala. My wife initially thought it was a cloud.

So yes, when I lived in the Europe one of the joys of coming back to Oz for holidays was that you can actually see stars. Even inside a big city, the nights tend to be clearer than in Europe and the light "pollution" more limited.

That said, I've never seen the Milky Way.

I probably could if I went out somewhere far from the city, but I can't remember ever actually seeing it, even when doing star-gazing at school camp.

> That said, I've never seen the Milky Way.

I'm really shocked to hear that. I feel like it's a certainty any night in Oz when it's not cloudy.

I'm 30 and until a few years back I thought the pictures with the milky way showing were fake.

Interesting. I think I've heard that before somewhere else. I'll have to ask one of my colleagues about it.

Where my family is from, in the northern US, the night sky is very clear and visible (barring clouds etc which aren't uncommon for various reasons). But where we live you can barely see much other than the moon and planets. I wish more attention were paid to light pollution.

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