When you are in an airplane on a clear night, why can't you see the stars?

I looked out the window %26amp; I could see lights below, %26amp; no clouds, but could not see one star! What's up? PS. the moon was out %26amp; could see it clearly.When you are in an airplane on a clear night, why can't you see the stars?
Can you see stars from inside your house by looking through the window when the lights are on? Turn off all the internal lights in your aeroplane and you will see stars through the windows if you look up. The other passengers might complain though.





In the 1930s aeroplanes were navigated at night by celestial navigation, just like ships. That meant the navigator turned off all internal lights and used a sextant to measure elevations of certain stars. Then with charts and chronometer they could find their position to within a few (dozen) miles.





In the early stages of World War II British bombers used this method to find their targets. It was so inaccurate that it is estimated that only a few bombs fell within 5 miles of their targets and it led to the accidental bombing of non-military targets. The Germans also wondered why the British were industriously bombing empty fields.When you are in an airplane on a clear night, why can't you see the stars?
Even on a clear dark night, your eyes need 10 to 20 minutes to fully adapt to night vision mode in low light conditions. When the moon is up, it usually is to bright for full dark adaptation to take place. Even the ambient light in the cabin is enough to destroy your night vision so that you'll be able to see only the brightest stars through the windows, and that's with cupping your hands around your eyes to block stray light coming in from the sides while you have your nose and forehead on the window. I've done that, but I was young enough I could get away with doing that.
+Between the brightness of the moon and the fact that you were in a brightly lit environment, it isn't surprising you could not see stars. Especially with all that backlight reflecting off the glass. Unless a star is particularly bright, your eyes need to adjust to dark surroundings in order to see them with the naked eye. Do the same thing from your living room window one evening with all the lights on and a bright moon. You'll get the same effect.
You can see the stars if it's not a moonlit night and the lights in the plane's cabin are dimmed. Even so, you can only see the bright stars. I can recall one night when I flying over Los Angeles and looked out the window. I could see the southern cross, which is not normally visible from that latitude. Then the plane turned and I lost sight of it.
Your eyes weren't properly dark adapted because of the cabin lights. Stars are actually very faint; your eyes automatically adjust the brightness of every image you see so it seems like there's less of a difference between day and night.
is there lights around you?
cause you still have to look up