I mean yea, sure, it doesn't look identical to a super long exposure photograph, but in a really dark sky with dark adapted eyes the milky way casts a visible shadow! It is absolutely and utterly striking and not monochromatic. There is nothing ambiguous or barely about it.
If you haven't had that experience it may be that you've never been to a truly dark site (there is essentially none in the US east of the mississippi) and there is a big difference between kinda dark and really dark, or perhaps because you haven't at the time of year where the MW was extremely high in the sky at the middle of astronomical night or you had pollution from a non-new moon in the sky.
Being able to barely see the MW is what I would describe as the condition under optimal conditions in northern Marin County CA. Which is is urban area and not especially dark but Marian County prohibits outdoor advertising, so it's much better than most places of similar density. Unfortunately even in the last two years the sky brightness has become worse for me.
If you haven't had that experience it may be that you've never been to a truly dark site (there is essentially none in the US east of the mississippi) and there is a big difference between kinda dark and really dark, or perhaps because you haven't at the time of year where the MW was extremely high in the sky at the middle of astronomical night or you had pollution from a non-new moon in the sky.
Being able to barely see the MW is what I would describe as the condition under optimal conditions in northern Marin County CA. Which is is urban area and not especially dark but Marian County prohibits outdoor advertising, so it's much better than most places of similar density. Unfortunately even in the last two years the sky brightness has become worse for me.