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Earth and the Moon

Stargazing Basics

What are the best places to view the night sky?

Anywhere away from bright lights will do—the farther away from those lights, the better. You will see the largest number of stars if no artificial lights of any kind are nearby and the Moon is not visible—up to about two thousand stars at a time. Don’t be deterred, though, even if the ground or sky is brightened by lights; if you can see a few stars, the view can still be beautiful, and sometimes constellations and asterisms are easier to identify because there are fewer stars to confuse their outlines. You can even just block the brightest lights from your view with your hands.



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