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Billions and billions
When I first started teaching Astronomy in the early 1970s (I include the “19” part of that just to thwart a possible Clarke snark about my age), I started polling my classes concerning how many of them had ever seen the Milky Way and knew what they were seeing. In the ‘70s, the response was typically about 75%. By the late ‘80s it had dropped to below 50%, and by 2000 it was 10% or even less. I don’t even bother asking, now.
Thus spake Sherwood in the comments to this post, and — after making the obligatory “BC-AD” joke quietly to myself — I’ve been thinking about it since. I don’t remember the first time I saw the Milky Way, but it was quite possibly the first time I was out after dark — I grew up at first in the rural and small-town landscapes of Central New York. It wasn’t until we moved into Buffalo that the night was lit too brightly for the Milky Way to show.
And yet more and more people don’t have that experience, as the world grows more urban and more brightly lit.
While this was running through my mind from time to time over the last week, I noticed a few more people commenting around here who I didn’t recognize, and realized it had been a while since I’ve actively solicited comments from the lurkers.
And what better metaphor for lurkers than stars you hadn’t seen before?
So tell me, lurkers, occasionals, and regulars: was there ever a time you hadn’t seen the Milky Way? Have you seen it yet? Do you see it often, or do you, like me, have to travel a couple hundred miles to see it? Take it away in comments. And feel free to expand on the basics, give us date and place and tell stories about what happened the night you saw it first, or the night you saw it last for that matter. Let it shine.
Posted by: Chris Clarke
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