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

WOW SunnyCaribe
awesome pictures!!!

While I'm sure the night sky in STX is much better still than where I live right now, I thought no way I'd see as many stars as I have when my husband and I were sailing down from California. But seeing your pictures, looks like I might be wrong, and I'm glad.

Amazing!!!

SunnyCaribe Thank you thank you!!!!

Exactly what I was looking for, very awesome!!!!!!

Thank you all for the kind words.

Just to be clear, the posted images are long-exposures of 20-40 seconds(except for the Moon/Jupiter shot), and were taken with benefit of a tripod. That means that they pick up somewhat more detail than you will see with the naked eye, even if your vision is dark-adapted for a reasonable period. You won't be able to read by the light of the Milky Way, for example, as you might want to believe from my Milky Way picture. But on that night the Milky Way was extremely bright and sharply detailed, and the sky was incredibly clear--clearer than I have ever seen it except after hurricanes. The skyline and bush that you see in the picture was only visible in silhouette to the naked eye.

Here is another moon shot, also with Jupiter, taken in Nov, if I recall correctly. I confess to a little photo manipulation in this image to make Jupiter correspondingly bright beside the Moon. To expose properly for the Moon, Jupiter is too faint to see, and to expose properly for Jupiter the Moon is a blinding white ball with no detail. For photo enthusiasts, the original image is 1/2000sec@f2.8 iso100. The focal length was the film-equivalent of 600mm.

DUUUUDE those are awesome! I have no clue how to get that type of photo. Great work.

Wish I could take pics like those. Need better camera/tele I guess 😉

But....Stars were pretty cool tonight from east end St Croix, thunder and light shows caused a pause and temps and breeze good for now 😉

Keep an eye on the sky!

Check out the sky when the power/WAPA goes out and you'll see how gorgeous our night sky really is without all those pesky lights!
(Yes, those pesky lights that we are all grateful to have as WAPA allows.);)

Thank you Sunny for letting us know how you were able to do it. I think they are awesome. I cannot wait to try to take some myself.

Good evening everyone,

May I ask for your opinion regarding the Intern'l Spacestation (ISS) sightings which I always had posted for tourist/ visitors as well as for the residents of the VIs alike: Would you like to see these future events posted under the "General" column or under the new "Coconut Tree" column that Islander has set up? Just an opinion.

I did, however, send a note to Islander and asked him where he'd prefer ISS to be posted. I'll abide by his wishes. Asteroids, comets, meteor showers, stargazing opportunities etc. will be posted "Under the Coconut Tree."

Many thanks,
Swan

I would say that is all under the coconut palm stuff.

Hello Swans! I disagree with Jamison. Our precious night skies are an increasingly rare natural resource. Like our beaches and our reefs and benthic habitats they are to be proudly treasured and preserved. Natural resource-related topics are far more appropriate here in the general discussion area where people visiting or moving will have an opportunity to see them, rather than down in the bilge.

Hello Swans! I disagree with Jamison. Our precious night skies are an increasingly rare natural resource. Like our beaches and our reefs and benthic habitats they are to be proudly treasured and preserved. Natural resource-related topics are far more appropriate here in the general discussion area where people visiting or moving will have an opportunity to see them, rather than down in the bilge.

Hello SunnyCaribe!

The beautiful Caribbean night sky is a treasure to behold for all the glorious universe as well as our ISS sightings. I noticed that Islander saved some of my topics and placed them under the tree. I feel he was very kind and generous to do that. If he would like ISS and nightsky related items in that column, that is where I will post them. I'm waiting to hear back from him.

Many thanks, my friend.
Swan

Good Morning Swans,

We have always followed your adventures and topics. We'll follow you wherever you go................also enjoy your questions for JJ........He has better answers than mine. :@)

Daniel

Good Morning Swans,

We have always followed your adventures and topics. We'll follow you wherever you go................also enjoy your questions for JJ........He has better answers than mine. :@)

Daniel

Thank you DanielB!

The postings I make for the ISS Spacestation sighting opportunities, as well as those for events regarding Meteor Showers/ Comet sightings, Stargazer interests, etc. will be posted "Under The Coconut Tree."

You and everyone are kindly invited to follow ISS Spacestation there. I will also place all other science topic items, questions, and our "fun-times" in that column.

As for JJ...he is truly a special fellow! I think NASA will be wanting to talk to him when he finishes his education! (SMILE!).

Many thanks, Daniel.

Swan

Welcome back, Swans! I missed your stuff which is so wonderfully informative. Feared you ended up in some black hole out there! 😀

Welcome back, Swans! I missed your stuff which is so wonderfully informative. Feared you ended up in some black hole out there! 😀

Thank you, OT my friend.

Not quite a black hole, but chaos indeed... health, computers.. I missed reading all the great information that everyone posts and certainly your contributions are always rated highly informative and interesting! Thank you for your posts!

It is great to be back. I missed everyone.
Swan

Another cool resource (besides Swans!) is CARINA, the Caribbean Institute of Astronomy. It's on Trinidad, I believe, but its content covers the entire Caribbean. The articles are outstanding. http://www.caribbeanastronomy.com/ . Check out "Six Benefits of doing Amateur Astronomy In The Caribbean." http://www.caribbeanastronomy.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=50&Itemid=4 . I've swapped emails with Isa Mohammed, who wrote some of the articles and is now the treasurer of CARINA, and he seems to be a great guy who has an absolute passion for Caribbean astronomy.

From our house, we regularly see the Milky Way at night. We downloaded starmaps on a tablet and stand on the porch getting all excited by what we can see. It reminds me of when I was a five-year-old kid who wanted to be an astronaut more than anything. It's just one of the amazing things about STX.