I'm not sure how I can elaborate any more than that. There were far more stars than I could have ever imagined that were visible to the naked eye. I don't know if it happened to be a good day or what but I also remember seeing several small meteors streaming in. They probably stream in all the time but it just doesn't get dark enough to see them?

Anyway, I also saw a band of light in the sky. It went from one horizon to the next kinda like the sun would make if it left a trail. At first I was like WTF? But then I realized that it was the collective light from all the stars that stretched over the Milky Way. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't anywhere near moon bright, in fact it was dimmer than most of the stars, but you could definitely tell when looking up at the sky. I've heard of people in the Navy talking about seeing it when out on the deck in the middle of the ocean and I've also heard that it's just as visible in places like Yellowstone. I was just lucky that the Dominican Republic sucked enough for electricity service that I was able to see it.

[Edited on June 15, 2006 at 11:20 AM. Reason : -]

6/15/2006 11:17:49 AM

If you really wanna have some fun... set your sights lower on the horizon, and get something in the frame other than starts.. trees, buildings (barn, house, etc.) Shoot for some star trails, but while you're exposing, paint your objects with light. use one of those wal-mart special flashlights (.5mil candlepower and such) and just sit back and paint the object. It gives an eerie effect (if done properly) of the dark night sky, but an illuminated subject.

It'll take more time and patience with film, but I think you'd like the result.

6/15/2006 11:19:00 AM

Quote :

"Lacking city lights (and hence, light pollution), ancient cultures were treated to far better views of the night sky than most of us experience today. They saw thousands of stars in black night skies, that were split into two halves by a diffuse band of light. People in some parts of the world saw this band as a great river, perhaps the source of a great terrestrial river in their own homelands. Others saw a celestial path followed by gods, either across the heavens or between heaven and earth. To the ancient Greeks the band had a milky appearance. Our English word "galaxy" is derived from this Greek root "gala" meaning "milk". The name "Milky Way" is a literal translation of the Latin "Via Galactica", and is now used to denote the band of light observed in the sky, as well as to distinguish our home galaxy from the billions of other galaxies scattered across the universe. Astronomers also distinguish our home galaxy from others by referring to it as the Galaxy (with a capital G). (You still can see the Milky Way yourself, but it may require a little effort.)"

Excerpt from:
http://homepage.mac.com/rarendt/Galaxy/mw.html
also
http://homepage.mac.com/rarendt/Galaxy/youcansee.html

6/15/2006 11:25:35 AM

I touch myself while thinking about islands

plus the whole milkyway band thing sounds pretty cool

6/15/2006 11:42:13 AM

Quote :

"gotta love 30 sec exposure limits on some dslrs"

no bulb?

and its sad to me that i've never realized the Galactic connection

6/15/2006 12:24:56 PM

Gonna head out not this weekend but the next. What REALLY sucks is that some of the lenses I had access to got damaged by flooding yesterday..

Oh well, the camera is still ok, and I've got about 4 or 5 lenses to still choose from. Could have been worse.

6/15/2006 5:20:06 PM