Very cool photos on this facebook page

@RiotDemon How can you tell if they are fake or not?

@RiotDemon

@Kidsandliz it’s stuff like the photo you posted. There’s no where on earth that looks like that. The really bright circular galaxy, the reflecting off the water where it almost looks like the person is on a bridge through the middle of a galaxy.

It’s cool and all… I just want real stuff.

@thismyusername yep, exactly!
Looking at photos from Nasa and Hubble directly works also.

@RiotDemon Are you familiar with the International Dark Sky Association? They do good work, but more important for you (and me) is that they frequently post totally real, fantastic dark-sky shots. Try them here: http://darksky.org/idsp/ and then wander around the site a while.

@magic_cave
Ooooh thx.

@RiotDemon Have you seen http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/? Click on the Archive button and lots of very cool pics.

@magic_cave thanks. I haven’t heard of them specifically. Dark sky stuff is very important. Sadly there’s only one place in all of Florida that’s a member.

I use an app called Loss Of The Night. It has its users measure what stars they can see so they can gauge light pollution. With more population, more streetlights, and now brighter LED street lights, it’s getting worse and worse.

/google ISS shows the difference after new led streetlights
LEDs are changing the way cities look from space - Business Insider
http://www.businessinsider.com/astronaut-photos-light-polution-led-nasa-esa-2015-8

@looseneck thanks. I love nasa sites because you’re pretty much guaranteed to have real photos.

@RiotDemon When I lived in NW Ontario I had seen some out of this world looking northern lights that unless you had seen them in real life you’d be skeptical they were real too… although I see what you are saying here.

@RiotDemon I’m pretty well astonished that Florida has any dark-sky sites. Perhaps while driving along Alligator Alley?

@magic_cave
Or perhaps in some parks. Or off-shore, or the keys.

7 mile bridge?

Alligator Alley used to be really really dark. A few decades back - so don’t know now.

Some interior areas are pretty agricultural.

@magic_cave @f00l the Everglades are really dark. You need to use an airboat to get into the good parts. You can see the highway in the distance, and the little lights that the camps put out to find their way back, but that’s it for lighting. It’s awesome. I don’t know how the hell my brother could tell where he was going using just a big headlamp. I’d be gator chow.

@thismyusername probably. Good eye. I actually prefer the photo of it on the wiki versus the one in the composite.