How can you see the Milky Way?

Go somewhere truly dark, pick a night near new moon, wait until well after twilight, and give your eyes 20 to 30 minutes without bright light. The Milky Way appears as a faint, patchy band of light across the sky. From the northern hemisphere its brightest part, the core, sits low in the south between roughly May and August.

The four conditions

1. Darkness: out of town, away from street lights and city glow. A dark-sky map helps you pick a place.
2. No Moon: a bright Moon washes out the band. The week around new moon is best; a crescent that sets early is fine.
3. Clear, dry air: haze and humidity dim it.
4. Dark-adapted eyes: no bright screens, no headlights for 20 minutes or more.

Where to look

• Northern summer: the core rises in the south-east after dark, through Sagittarius and Scorpius, and the band arches up through Cygnus overhead.
• Northern winter: a fainter part of the band runs through Cassiopeia, Perseus and near Orion.
• Southern hemisphere: the core passes almost overhead in winter (June to August), with Crux and the Coalsack along the band.

What it looks like

Not the colourful photos. To the eye it’s grey-white, like a thin cloud that doesn’t move. Dark lanes split it in places. Photos show more because the camera collects light for many seconds.

Using a phone without ruining it

Turn screen brightness down before you go. Sky Map (my app) shows which constellations along the band are up tonight, such as Sagittarius or Cygnus, and has Tonight’s Sky Conditions with cloud cover, humidity and the best time; check those before you leave rather than at the site.

Related: stargazing in the city, best time to stargaze tonight, dark adaptation and the Sky Map guides.