By: Razeile Joyce P. Aban
This is a photo I took when I arrived in Taipei, Taiwan, during my flight from SFO to Taiwan. I noticed that at night, you can’t really see the stars in the sky in an airplane, and I wonder why. According to Bullfrag, there are 3 factors why you can’t see stars inside an airplane and it’s because of light pollution, the moon’s light, how the aircraft is built and its altitude.
Light pollution is a major reason why people can’t see stars in airplanes and in person. Streetlights, buildings, cars, and many more including lights make up light pollution. According to the article “Light Pollution” by National Geographic, light pollution makes light scatter around the atmosphere. Its appearance makes light obscured stars and planets making light from stars invisible, also known as sky glow.
The moon’s light may also affect the way we see stars. The moon has many phases but when it’s a full moon, the moon has about a magnitude of -12.9 and drops to -2.5 when it’s a new moon, according to engineering.com. Moonlight can reduce some stars in the night sky because the moon is brighter than stars and sky glow makes the moon’s light scatter everywhere in the atmosphere. But, during the moon’s new phase, more stars are visible to us.
Lastly, how the airplane is built and its altitude may be another factor why we can’t see stars inside the airplanes. Airplanes have many lights inside and outside of the aircraft that are bright enough to be seen during the night. This may over shine some stars. Also, the plane has curved windows and walls which might also be a factor why we can’t see stars very clearly. Another reason is the altitude of the plane. Planes travel very fast and into clouds and fog which blocks the sky and stars. This may be also connected to the reason why sea waves seem to be still looking at an airplane’s perspective. According to surfertoday, “Our eyes can’t detect a 30-meter move from a long distance.” Waves of an ocean are still moving but the higher the altitude, the harder it is to see waves move or change. This may be connected because since human eyes can’t recognize things from a long distance, stars are very far from Earth making it hard for humans to see them especially when people need prescription glasses or contact lenses. Overall, Lights, the Moon’s light, and the airplane are factors why we can’t see stars from a plane’s perspective.
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