Star viewing. What does the night sky look like on STX?

Wish Swans was still here.

I miss Swans, too!

She may be back 🙂

Inside stuff I feel left out, lol. i guess I will join in. I hope Swans comes back!

She provided a wealth of information that related to the topic you are asking about.

Viewing is great out east. From about Buccaneer west there is enough light pollution to make it average.

Oh DUH!!! I totally forgot to post my supermoon pics here. My bad! This is from up at Mountaintop STT.

Before you get too excited this was a layering of 2 separate photos, one to get the clouds just right and one to get the moon, the best I could. Its hard lol! I like the shot thou.

Now I really do wish Swan was here. I am use to no stars in the sky so probably everything will be amazing to me. Would you recommend going to point Udall at night just for a beautiful night view?

I love the moon AandA2VI

I've been to Udall a few times recently late at night. On a clear moonless night, the sky looks creamy. Most starts I've seen since I was at sea in the Navy.

That said, if you do go out there at night, bring guns and be smart. There is only one road in and out and nobody else is around.

A friend of mine just had two of his tires stolen during the day out there, while hiking to Isaacs.

Jamison, that's why people in the know park on the South Grapetree side instead of Point Udall. It's a longer hike but worth it.

Jamison I think you just talked me out of it, lol. If someone says bring guns that is a good sign to stay away. Can you mark where I would park on the South Grapetree side on google maps?

No. The signs were moved by the residents for a reason. You can still park there if you know it and are respectful, but I'm not going to google map it for you. I lived right there and that's where I park. If you know the short cut, it's a lot faster down in BTW. Just have to know the gate keeper (black dog). lol

Yeah I'm hesitant to give out that info too.

I am tired of picking up cigarette butts and other garbage on a weekly basis. (YOU SMOKERS KNOW WHO YOU ARE)

A lot of it washes up from the ocean, but a lot of it is left right there by tourists and others.

It constantly amazes me how people think it's ok to leave garbage on such a pristine beach. I could see if you were at a beach like Dorscht, where you frequently scores of debris, including pampers, dime bags and other crap, but at Isaac's?!? Blows my mind.

Oh I understand I would want to keep it a secret from the newbies. I am very anal about littering and I should thank my father for that. We would go to the state park hiking almost every weekend and pick up all the trash on the hiking trails. I am the one who greatly supports those $10,000 dollar fines for littering. It is just a shame it is really hard to enforce. I think I will die and never understand how someone can just throw an empty water bottle on the ground. It just kills the beauty of nature.

lol @ google maps too btw. Ditch that and your map quests and sch when you get here. Trust me.

Your posts remind me of when I was getting ready to get on the plane. Very enjoyable. Let me say this. There is nothing on line, even this site, that will prepare you for life on STX. Nothing.

Thank you Jamison I am glad you can relate :-). I cannot help but be excited even with everything I have been warned about.

the two most important things to bring with you are patience and humility. Everything else will come to you. This island rewards in ways I can't explain.

the two most important things to bring with you are patience and humility. Everything else will come to you. This island rewards in ways I can't explain.

I will try to remember this :). I sent you a pm Jamison I would like your opinion on a location.

Viewing is great out east. From about Buccaneer west there is enough light pollution to make it average.

a WAPA power outage will easily fix that problem. So when the lights go out, just go outside and enjoy the stars. 🙂

Viewing is great out east. From about Buccaneer west there is enough light pollution to make it average.

a WAPA power outage will easily fix that problem. So when the lights go out, just go outside and enjoy the stars. 🙂

lol good point. To my understanding St. Croix has power outages around 3 times a week?

Some weeks are good and some weeks are bad.

The celestial viewing is pretty amazing anywhere in the VI. At this latitude you can see both Polaris and the Southern Cross, both of which are roughly the same elevation from the horizon (in different directions obviously.) The viewing is not always perfect; we have Sahara dust at some times of the year, and we have a moisture layer that can often obscure viewing toward the horizon. But most nights directly overhead you can see a great view of the cosmos. When the Milky Way is visible, if it's clear, you can see the galactic center. On especially clear nights you can see the Andromeda Galaxy with the naked eye.

Here are some random photos I have taken in the last several months. They are generally long exposures but they are not stacked---what you see is what the camera caught in the 20-40 seconds the shutter was open. In each case I have done minor post processing on the images, mostly for contrast and noise-reduction. All images have been dramatically degraded by the compression that this forum and photobucket both do. And I don't use a fancy DSLR rig...these all were captured with small-sensor raw-capable compact cameras.

First, the Moon and Jupiter at a close approach in Jan 2013...

Second, the Southern Milky Way on a remarkably clear night from my roof...

Finally an aircraft passing through Orion...

For some reason the Moon and the Pleiades got cut off...but I think you can see enough to get a good impression of our viewing.

Well, damn! Nice photos.

It obviously varies by location. The number of stars I see in my night sky looks more like your first picture than your second one. It's nice to know that they're still up there 🙂