Im not much of an astronomer neither I search for stuff like this in the sky, but wouldnt it be hard to see it with the naked eye? Most photos out there are photoshopped btw, and extremely over edited.
Also there should be a certain time of the year when you can spot it easier, which is when the night is facing the center of the galaxy and not the outwards.
Also the humidity and light can drastically obscure it as you just said.
Also your position on earth might change the place where you should be looking at, the angle with the horizon (not just straight upwards that is not the center of the galaxy).

Im sure theres a lot of information out there on the internet where you can search and learn the right way to spot it.

I know most of these you already know, but heres my 2 cents.

here is an article I found:
http://blog.starcircleacademy.com/2012/06/milkyway/

All answers found there thank you! I think I have a good idea on how to catch a few glimpses. It will just require me to camp out. Maybe when my new astro binoculars arrive, I will be able to see it closer to home.

Yeah I have an extreme amount of light pollution where I live.


Over 100 miles from town.
But in all fairness, I didn't take this picture and I think it has a pretty long exposure.

This post was edited by Azrad on Mar 2 2013 05:42am

wow yea that looks rough. I do not have that much light pollution in my normal gazing location but there is a lot of terrain blocking the bulk of my view. It doesn't help that the bulk of the galactic center stays so close to the horizon during the twilight hours here. I think if I wait until early summer I will have a better shot at catching some good shots myself.