Would a telescope let me see more stars in the city and make the view closer to what I see at night in the country?

In a previous question I discussed how city lights badly affect how well you can see stars. There isn't much mystery to this as anyone can tell you who has tried to see more than the Moon and a few bright planets. Unfortunately, to recover the kinds of views you get from a very dark location in the mountains, the only thing you can do is to get as far away from the city as you can. There is no magic technology that can let you see the Milky Way from mid-town Manhattan or from downtown Los Angeles. Even a powerful telescope will do nothing more than amplify BOTH the light from the sky, and from the faint stars. You might be able to see just a little bit fainter than the naked eye by using a telescope equipped with special filters and a CCD camera, but eventually the brightness of the night sky will win-out for truly faint stars and nebulae.


Copyright 1997 Dr. Sten Odenwald

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