by apodman » Sun May 11, 2008 5:40 pm
The crab nebula has a great name, and its picture is familiar from all the books. So there is a temptation to go look at it. But beginning observers, people with small telescopes, and the majority of us who live with light pollution should observe easier objects first lest we become discouraged. That's my experience, anyway. As I recall, it is not even a "fuzzy object", more like "wispy".
A number of years ago, there was some sort of movement to get street lights and other city lights to face down to light the earth, not up to face the sky. By my unscientific survey of my locale, there are downward-shielded street lights here and there but no overall improvement. Somebody needs to beat the drum more persistently on this one.
The crab nebula has a great name, and its picture is familiar from all the books. So there is a temptation to go look at it. But beginning observers, people with small telescopes, and the majority of us who live with light pollution should observe easier objects first lest we become discouraged. That's my experience, anyway. As I recall, it is not even a "fuzzy object", more like "wispy".
A number of years ago, there was some sort of movement to get street lights and other city lights to face down to light the earth, not up to face the sky. By my unscientific survey of my locale, there are downward-shielded street lights here and there but no overall improvement. Somebody needs to beat the drum more persistently on this one.