Whenever I fly at night I always see this strange cosmic pattern in the sky:
https://imgur.com/YUmXOC5

What is it? It doesn't actually exist so why are P3D showing it?

It is the Milky Way.  You can see it in the real sky if you get outside of town.

I remember reading about a particularly clear night where the Milky Way could be seen in town and local law enforcement got a lot of calls from concerned citizens who didn't know what they were looking at.

Hook

9 minutes ago, LHookins said:

It is the Milky Way.  You can see it in the real sky if you get outside of town.

I remember reading about a particularly clear night where the Milky Way could be seen in town and local law enforcement got a lot of calls from concerned citizens who didn't know what they were looking at.

Hook

I've flown for years and have never seen it at 33,000!!!

I can see it on a good night from the ground in Bonham, TX, 80 miles northeast of Dallas. 

I once drove out to Gilmer, TX, *way* out in the boonies, and the sky was so clear and beautiful that the sight brought tears to my eyes.  There were two separate colors in the Milky Way and I could even detect the arms of the Andromeda galaxy... or at least I thought I could.  It was the clearest sky I ever saw.

Hook

12 minutes ago, LHookins said:

I remember reading about a particularly clear night where the Milky Way could be seen in town and local law enforcement got a lot of calls from concerned citizens who didn't know what they were looking at.

This is the story that gets me. It shows how much light pollution ruins the incredible night sky for everyone living in a conurbation:
 

Quote

When the Northridge earthquake knocked out power in Los Angeles in 1994, numerous calls came into emergency centers and even the Griffith Observatory from people who had poured into the streets in the predawn hours. They had looked into the dark sky to see what some anxiously described as a “giant silvery cloud” over the shaken city.

Not to worry, they were assured. It was merely the Milky Way, the vast galaxy that humans once knew so well until the glare from electric light effectively erased most traces of it from urban and near-urban skies.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/31/business/31essay.html

 

6 minutes ago, benwbriscoe said:

I've flown for years and have never seen it at 33,000!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yfk962_IPjw

 

Excellent post, and thanks for the link to the actual story.

That pic from the airliner and the video that describes how he made it were fantastic.  

Thanks again.

Hook

15 minutes ago, LHookins said:

Excellent post, and thanks for the link to the actual story.

That pic from the airliner and the video that describes how he made it were fantastic.

You're very welcome.

Like the pro photographer, I didn't think anyone would believe it without providing the backstory of what he had to do to obtain the end result.
 

I get that it exists and it's amazing when we see it. BUT, the majority of flights will not see it and as this is a simulation, I would like it to reflect reality more than fiction. Is there any way to remove it?

7 minutes ago, benwbriscoe said:

I would like it to reflect reality more than fiction.

Forgive me, but you would like it to reflect your perception of reality.

I'm sure mods exist to either remove it or reduce the brightness.  Check the Avsim library.

Hook

20 minutes ago, LHookins said:

Forgive me, but you would like it to reflect your perception of reality.

I'm sure mods exist to either remove it or reduce the brightness.  Check the Avsim library.

Hook

It's not my perception, it's my experience of reality...it's not realistic. This is a simulation and therefore should reflect what happens in the real world. It's like I'm flying through some bizarre Wonderland.

21 minutes ago, benwbriscoe said:

I get that it exists and it's amazing when we see it. BUT, the majority of flights will not see it and as this is a simulation, I would like it to reflect reality more than fiction.

That's not true.
Given the lack of light pollution, ~6 miles less of atmosphere to look through, and the lack of clouds obscuring the sky above when at cruising altitude, you are much more likely to see the Milky Way in an aeroplane than on the ground.

https://www.airlineratings.com/news/passenger-news/magnificent-photos-milky-way-747-cockpit/

https://www.diyphotography.net/pilot-shot-milky-way-timelapse-flight-switzerland-brazil/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EarOB411BA

If you think seeing the Milky Way is just down to the camera, answer me this: How did these three people know to record / photograph the correct area of the night sky to capture this videos and images in the first place?

Seeing the Milky Way is not contingent on as many variables as the aurora borealis / australis. It can be seen at all times when looking in the correct direction and the weather is clear and light pollution is low / non-existant.

I love visiting my in-laws (😄) in really rural Ireland. But only because the night sky above where they live is so impressive.

49 minutes ago, benwbriscoe said:

 Is there any way to remove it?

This has been coming up since the FSX days. I posted instructions here on Avsim, you can find via search on how to “remove it”. It’s pretty simple and just involves opening the MilkyWay texture file and changing the alpha channel to make it transparent, then copying it back into the texture folder where the file originally came from. Takes less than 5 minutes to do and the Milky Way will vanish. Just keep a copy of the original in case you decide you want to see the Milky Way later on.

23 minutes ago, benwbriscoe said:

It's not my perception, it's my experience of reality...it's not realistic. This is a simulation and therefore should reflect what happens in the real world. It's like I'm flying through some bizarre Wonderland.

I don't know where you have been "flying for years", but in my decade in the cockpit so far I've seen it on nearly every night flight provided the moon is not too bright. If you're just staring at the cockpit screens, sure, you won't see it... 

17 minutes ago, cmpbellsjc said:

opening the MilkyWay texture file and changing the alpha channel to make it transparent, then copying it back into the texture folder

Oh, excellent!  I'm going to assume that I could set half transparent and get a dimmer Milky Way that looks more like I expect to see with my monitor settings.  I'm sure it's brighter at high altitude, but I don't fly there very often. 🙂 

Hook

Can he not just disable the texture file, or delete it?