Can i see the big dipper from Sacramento, California area? ?

Question

i heard a rumor that there is so much pollution in the Sacramento area, that we will never be able to see the big dipper from here again. is this true?

Answer 1

no.

Answer 2

About half the time you can't.  Of course the sun is out about half the day.

Answer 3

it might be light pollution that keeps you from seeing the constellation in the city.

Answer 4

I assume that the rumor is referring to light pollution, and not air pollution. I live in a metro area of a similar size to Sacramento, and can see the Big Dipper pretty easily. I can definitely tell the difference from what it looked like when I was a kid and there were less lights around, though.

Light pollution is a truly horrible thing to an astronomy buff - it would be something similar to plastering the walls of the Louvre with ads so thick that they even overlapped the edges of all the paintings. Nobody would stand for that - but the degradation of the beauty of the night sky, on the other hand, most people don't give a rat's a__ about.

Pity - that's why I'm always very likely to just stop and stare at the sky whenever I find myself in a darker place. Seeing the Milky Way is pretty rare for me.

So in short, it's probably not true right now, but it probably will be some day if nobody takes up the cause to limit light pollution.

Answer 5

Hi Anna!

It sounds like an urban myth to me.

I live in the New York area, and I see the Big Dipper every clear night.  It's more difficult to spot if you're standing under a street light, but the Dipper is bright enough that I have no trouble finding suitable places.

If we New Yorkers can see the Big Dipper, I don't know what the problem in Sacramento could be.

As far as the future goes, one of the by-products about the current concerns over Global Warming and sky high fuel prices is that people want to avoid wasting evergy.  At present, a lot of the energy to run street lighting is wasted because the light shines up, rather than illuminating the streets.  If Global Warming fears last, we'll more and more seek out bulbs that don't waste energy lighting up the sky.

Answer 6

You can see it. I have many relatives in Sac and also in elk grove and I have seen it from both places.

Answer 7

I used to live in North Highlands up till a few years ago, and I remember seeing it.