Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • If youre on an overnight flight, you might have been looking forward to a gorgeous, clear

  • view of the stars!

  • That’s the whole reason you booked that window seat, right?

  • But when night falls, you look out your window, andno stars!

  • Theyre obviously still thereso what’s going on here??

  • Well there are a few reasons and I’ve gotem!

  • 1.

  • The Lighting in your cabin Obviously, the yellowish-whitish light in

  • your cabin isn’t natural light, and there are rows and rows of these lights from the

  • front to the back of the plane.

  • Plus, other passengers may be watching an in-flight movie.

  • In other words, it’s brighter inside the plane than it is outside.

  • No matter how dim the lights might get as theyre turned down around bedtime, there

  • are enough of them to make it difficult to see the starswhich, keep in mind, are

  • still quite a few miles away!

  • 2.

  • Light Pollution Similarly, when youre flying over a huge

  • city like New York, London, or Tokyo, the stars still have to compete with all of those

  • artificial lights from the cities.

  • This concept is called light pollution.

  • It might seem crazy to think that man-made lights will block out the light of millions

  • of stars, but the stars are much further away than those glowing city lights below!

  • 3.

  • Skyglow A lot of light pollution, like the kind youll

  • get flying over a big city, can cause skyglow.

  • Even if you aren’t flying directly over it, you can still see a big city to the left

  • or right of you from a plane.

  • Of course, even a big city will seem small from a plane, but there can be a huge glowing

  • atmosphere around and above the city from all the lights.

  • That’s what skyglow is, and it’s bright enough to block out even the light of the

  • stars.

  • 4.

  • The Moon and its Light Even if it’s a clear night and youre

  • above the clouds, the moon may be shining so brightly that its light will block out

  • the stars.

  • The moon still blocks the light of some stars when youre stargazing from Earth.

  • Even if you can’t see the stars from your plane, take the opportunity to enjoy a beautiful,

  • unobstructed view of our moon!

  • 5.

  • Proximity to the Stars It might feel like youre much closer to

  • the stars while up in your airplane, but in terms of miles and light-years, you aren’t

  • really that much closer.

  • After our moon and the sun, the star that’s next closest to the earth is called Proxima

  • Centauri, and it’s 4.24 light-years away.

  • 1 light-year is 6 trillion miles.

  • When thinking in terms of numbers that big, if your plane is only somewhere around 35,000

  • feet off the ground, youre not that much closer to the stars than you are from Earth

  • anymore.

  • Disappointing, I know!

  • 6.

  • Atmospheric Turbulence Simply put, atmospheric turbulence is irregular

  • air currents that are mixed around by the wind.

  • Besides making your flight bumpy, this turbulence also stirs the air, which can move gasses,

  • smoke, and vapors around the sky.

  • This keeps these substances from settling in one air pocket, and keeps the atmosphere

  • healthy; but my point is that turbulence may bring in clouds, even on a clear night, which

  • will block your view of the stars.

  • Pay attention to see if it’s windy; if so, this may cause turbulence and bring the clouds

  • rolling in.

  • Yeah stick your head of the airplane to see if it’s windyha..never mind.

  • 7.

  • Your Retinas The retina is the part of your eye that processes

  • light.

  • If you have any pre-existing conditions, such as diabetes, or have had any head trauma,

  • your retinas may not work properly, and you may not be able to see the stars.

  • Even healthy retinas need normal oxygen levels in the blood to work properly.

  • Although the cabin will maintain pretty normal oxygen levels at a high altitude, any of these

  • pre-existing conditions, or less than perfect retinas, may affect your ability to see the

  • stars from your plane.

  • 8.

  • We Don’t Have Night Vision Well, at least not right away.

  • There are other parts of your eyes besides your retinas that help you see in the dark,

  • and your brain has to do some work, too.

  • It takes us 10-20 minutes for our eyes to acclimate to the dark.

  • So if youre trying to see the stars from your plane and can’t, don’t give up too

  • quickly!

  • If youve eliminated the light sources inside the cabin, whether by using your blanket or

  • getting the cabin lights turned off, keep stargazing for at least 20 minutes.

  • You have to give your eyes time to adjust!

  • 9.

  • Your Windows The windows of an airplane are oddly shaped

  • and on the small side, only reaching from about shoulder to elbow; not ideal for stargazing.

  • The cramped nature of the seats makes it difficult to look out your window from multiple angles

  • too.

  • You’d have to do a lot of neck-twisting!

  • Airplane windows also have three layers of protection against the outside, so you stay

  • safe.

  • Any one of these panes may be scratched up or cloudy due to age.

  • The shape and condition of your window may affect the quality of your view of the skies.

  • It might be hard to get these near-perfect conditions.

  • So, it has to be a clear night.

  • The moon needs to be dim.

  • Your cabin has to be dark.

  • You can’t be flying over any big cities that may cause light pollution or skyglow,

  • etc., etc.

  • It could be difficult to get all of these elements to line up at the same time!

  • Most of these conditions are out of your control, like all the natural elements outside.

  • But if the right circumstances fall into place, your chance to stargaze above the clouds just

  • may come along.

  • So what CAN you do to increase your chances of seeing the stars from your flight?

  • It might be difficult to see the stars, but it isn’t impossible.

  • First don’t do this during the day.

  • Just kidding.

  • Okay.

  • Assuming that it’s a clear night, one option is to cover your head and sides of your face

  • with your travel blanket.

  • The goal here is to block out all the unnatural light from inside the cabin.

  • Then, lean toward the window until you can see out, but the sides of the window are bordered

  • by your blanket too.

  • You might get some curious glances, but you may be able to do a little stargazing from

  • your plane.

  • Next don’t do this from the middle or aisle seat.

  • The folks won’t take it too kindly if you flop over onto them to gaze out the window.

  • You could also try asking the flight attendants if they could shut off the cabin lights for

  • a minute or two.

  • This would help make it almost as dark inside the cabin as it is outside.

  • Without some elimination of the lighting inside the cabin, you won’t be able to see the

  • stars at all.

  • But, if youre flying over an area with no skyglow or light pollution, and the lights

  • are off in the cabin, you should be able to see some stars once your eyes adjust.

  • Hey, It can’t hurt to ask!

  • Some food for thought: in the early days of air travel, like in the ‘30s and ‘40s,

  • pilots didn’t have all the technology on the flight deck that we have today.

  • So how did they successfully navigate?

  • They used the stars, or celestial navigationsimilar to how sailors did!

  • It’s much easier to see the stars from the larger and cleaner window in the cockpit.

  • In the old days, the North Star and the constellations were tools of the trade!

  • Seeing the stars from your plane is not only possible, but it used to be absolutely necessary!

  • What’s that you ask, where are the best places to stargaze from an airplane?

  • Obvious the view from the bathroom isn’t good, so like I said try a window.

  • If youre doing some nighttime flying over Idaho, Utah, Colorado, or British Columbia,

  • you just might be in for the sight of a lifetime!

  • These parts of the U.S. are homes to many protected national parks and nature reserves,

  • so there’s no danger of light pollution or skyglow.

  • Skies tend to be pretty clear and cloudless in these places, too.

  • If youre flying over British Columbia during the wintertime, you might be lucky enough

  • to catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights!

  • Kinda depends on what side of the plane youre on !

  • Hey, if you learned something new today, give this video a like and share it with a friend!

  • And here are some other videos I think youll enjoy.

  • Just click to the left or right, and stay on the Bright Side of life!

If youre on an overnight flight, you might have been looking forward to a gorgeous, clear

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it