Why Can't You See Any Stars In Thailand?

[69_68iou1]

wonder if any one can tell me why when you look at the sky you can not really see any stars, though you can see the moon?

If any one knows Please tell me as no one seems to know, many have not noticed, but look up there are very few / none

Only answer so far is that the thai's have sold them.

[Jockstar]

wonder if any one can tell me why when you look at the sky you can not really see any stars, though you can see the moon?

If any one knows Please tell me as no one seems to know, many have not noticed, but look up there are very few / none

Only answer so far is that the thai's have sold them. 

Where do you live? If you live in a big city then there is so much light that its difficult to see the stars. If you at a beach downsouth and not to many lights. Then the sky is beautiful.

[Ricardo]

The monsoon rain-clouds get in the way

Until the winter-burning season, when it's the clouds of smoke, instead

[Soph]

Well it really depends on the weather, as in any country. Some nights I can spend hours on the beach staring up trying to spot a shooting star. Just looked out my office and there are only a few - might mean rain this evening

[69_68iou1]

wonder if any one can tell me why when you look at the sky you can not really see any stars, though you can see the moon?

If any one knows Please tell me as no one seems to know, many have not noticed, but look up there are very few / none

Only answer so far is that the thai's have sold them. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Where do you live? If you live in a big city then there is so much light that its difficult to see the stars. If you at a beach downsouth and not to many lights. Then the sky is beautiful.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Pattaya, Where I am not really to much light polution, Not realy been to much rain the last few days so I think clouds are not the reason, unless the clouds come only at night and gone by the morning. Just gone out and looked, can't really see any stars. Not like I remember being back in the UK

[Jockstar]

The best place that i've been to see the sky at night was in OZ. In the middle about 4 hours from Alice Springs. Truely amazing.

[Soph]

When I was in India I live on a real paradise beach for a few months with just a few other people.

Every night we would all hang out on the beach smoking, drinking and watching the stars.

We had an agreement that you couldnt go to bed until you had seen a shooting star. One by one, people would stand up and wobble off to bed.

The stars were amazing and the amount of shooting stars was out of this world!

A very wonderful place

[RDN]

Nice stars in Phuket!

[Boon Mee]

Nice stars in Phuket!

Wern't talking about them pornstars at Patong...

[britmaveric]

Smog!!!

[chownah]

I think you can't see the stars because you are standing right next to a crack in the space time continuum and all the star light is being sucked into it.....WATCH OUT!!!!...YOU MIGHT GET SUCKED IN TOO!!!!......

[LivinLOS]

If you have ever been in the desert where there is absolutely minimal moisture in the air / pollution or light pollution the sky is incredible...

Similarly on a yacht far out at sea (though moisture / clouds / etc can be more in effect) its also great..

As for not much light pollution from a major population (nocturnal one at that) thats a joke.. I have a nice reflector astronomy telescope here and can barely use it (in outskirts of Patong) due to light pollution...

[The_Moog]

The ambient light from the city itself makes star-gazing difficult.

A few are visible.

I'd like to get some star charts that show the local skies. I'm not clever enough to use ones taken at the Poles and make the adjustments.

You won't see the great star clusters in the centre of the galaxy (the 'Milky Way') as our northern hemisphere roughly points towards the outside of the galaxy. From Australia you can see right in towards galactic central point.

[Boo]

take off your sunglasses when the sun sets

Seriously though, you probably have some residual light pollution from nearby towns & night spots. Also clouds can block them. I know when we are in the north east the stars are very clear at night as there is bugger all open after 8pm to affect the view of them.

[Neeranam]

When I was in India I live on a real paradise beach for a few months with just a few other people.

Every night we would all hang out on the beach smoking, drinking and watching the stars.

We had an agreement that you couldnt go to bed until you had seen a shooting star. One by one, people would stand up and wobble off to bed.

The stars were amazing and the amount of shooting stars was out of this world!

A very wonderful place rolleyes.gif

The best place for stars I have been is India too, but in the Himalaya, amazing!

The northern lights of old Aberdeen are also pretty spectacular.

[wolf5370]

You're better off waiting until night-time

As said - all to do with the lights. Too much light and no stars can be seen.

[RDN]

Nice stars in Phuket!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Wern't talking about them pornstars at Patong...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ah. My mistake.

[johnh101]

The northern lights of old Aberdeen are also pretty spectacular.

Of course I have to agree on that one ! !

3 weeks ago I was sitting between Lopburi and Chaiaphum and I swear I saw the best array of stars I have seen in years. In 2 hours there must have been 6 - 8 shooting stars. But after the first couple I was told to shut up. Thai style if you see one you keep it to yourself for good luck.

[Fried Rice]

In Egypt outside the city in the desert I would sit and stare in the sky for hours at night with night vision goggles. Didn't have much else to do.

It was unreal looking through the goggles. Millions of stars and a constant stream of shooting stars. It is unblievable how many stars you miss with the naked eye that the goggles pick up.

I would suspect if you get up country in Thailand away from the lights and happened to have a pair of night vision goggles handy you would see just as many.

Edited September 22, 2005 by Fried Rice

[edd]

Last month I went A**E over T*T down my stairs, no alcohol involved.

It was not pretty and only 4 for style.

For about 15 minutes I saw all sorts of Stars.

[mumbojumbo]

If you want a good star show, you have to get closer to them. Go to North Thailand and go up one of the mountains

[devildog683]

where are you, i see them all the time in my wifes home

[Ricardo]

If you want a good star show, you have to get closer to them.  Go to North Thailand and go up one of the mountains

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Northern Thailand is the place, especially during the (flying - not floating) kratong season, when we have so many short-lived extra stars, that the airlines ask us not to release them in the path of their planes !

[69_68iou1]

Thank you all for your help on this.

I belive that I know know why you can not, there seems to not be a single reason but quite a few factors:

1) Light pollution

mosts lights do not have the shield over them to reflect the light down.

most of the time its those bare florissant tubes hanging from what ever. Also on refelection there are a ###### of alot of lights (soi pattayaland and walking)

2) High mositure in the air

time of the year, being next to the sea in pattaya, I do remember that it was alway those cold sharp nights back in the UK that you could see them best. yes there are no cloulds but it is humid.

3) Being at see level there is a lot more atmosphere to see through

4) You won't see the great star clusters in the centre of the galaxy (the 'Milky Way') from here. Thanks "The_Moog"

5) Take off your sunglasses at night.

Thanks Boo

Thanks to the rest of TV that brightened a boring question and shared old star gazing memories.

[jackr]

The reason you can see the moon on a not so cloudy night is that it is relatively massive in the night ski and reflects masses of the sun's light. All the reasons that everyone else has mentioned regarding the stars, but mainly the high humidity and dust if you're out of town. Up here in Chiang Mai, you can pick out a few but we're at a higher elevation than most other regions in Thailand and therefore have less atmosphere to have to peer through.

Same as Jockstar, if you want to see the night sky, get out into the desert in Aussie land; the Southern Hemisphere beats the Northern one hands down regards the heavens at night and you can virtually walk about by starlight.

[Prudent_rabbit]

www.skyandtelescope.com is a great site to work out what you might see. Go to the interactive sky chart, stick in your location, and lo and behold, the sky at night!!!

Also, the Falkland Islands was a brilliant place to see the stars, no smog, very little light polution.

[Girlfrombar]

stargazer1

stargazer2

stargazer3

Edited September 23, 2005 by Girlfrombar

[sadman]

It's a toss-up for me, between Northern Cyprus (Med), Lapland looking at the aurora borealis, and my old cottage in Norfolk, where there is so little light pollution that I can see 723,944 stars. I counted them.