Topics: Travel, Science, Space, Environment
Most of us want to be able to sleep on the plane, but a lot of the time that's just wishful thinking and you end up just staring out of the window for hours on end instead.
Maybe you've got a podcast to keep you entertained or your travel buddy chatting away in your ear, but it can be fun to get a whole new perspective on the world as you watch it go by below.
Everything looks tiny and much less significant - but it's not only the view of the ground that looks different. You more observant flyers out there might have noticed that you rarely see the stars while flying at night - and now a scientist has explained why.
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In a post on Medium, theoretical astrophysicist and science writer Ethan Siegel pointed to the impact that artificial light can have when it comes to stargazing.
You might think that being so far away from light-polluting cities might make stars brighter, but even dim lights in the cabin of the plane can obstruct your view of the night sky.
Siegel explained: "You can understand this pretty easily if you think about being in your own house at night. If you have the lights on inside but it’s dark outside, who can see what?
"From outside the house, someone looking in can see everything you’re up to. But if you want to see what’s going on outside, you need to turn off the lights inside and turn out the lights outside, don’t you?
"As a general rule, it needs to be darker at the place where you’re looking from than the place you’re looking to, or you won’t be able to see much of anything.
"If it weren’t for the lights of the plane itself, you would, in fact, be able to have some of the best skies available to humans."
While plane lights are the main reason we don't usually see stars while on a flight, there are a couple of other elements that factor in, too.
Light pollution can still play a part in the visibility of stars, as excess artificial lighting from the ground can make them less visible.
When it comes to natural barriers, the moon also has a part to play as its light drowns out the shine of the stars.
So traveling high in the air might not necessarily give you the best view of the sky, but at least now you know why!
