Charles Ross spent 50 yrs building Star Axis naked-eye observatory in New Mexico
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Re: Charles Ross spent 50 yrs building Star Axis naked-eye observatory in New Mexico
#2Re: Charles Ross spent 50 yrs building Star Axis naked-eye observatory in New Mexico
#3https://www.lightpollutionmap.info/ reports the area rates a 2 "average dark sky" on the Bortle scale, just short of an "excellent" score of 1. It's location halfway between Santa Rosa and Las Vegas, New Mexico is as far from populated areas as you might think.
Re: Charles Ross spent 50 yrs building Star Axis naked-eye observatory in New Mexico
#4Re: Charles Ross spent 50 yrs building Star Axis naked-eye observatory in New Mexico
#5good luck if that startup gets to put up hundreds of space mirrors for nighttime daylight
Dr.Becky had a good rant about it this week in the middle of her episode lol
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rr52wOlyOaM
her knowledge + enthusiasm is infectious, love it
Re: Charles Ross spent 50 yrs building Star Axis naked-eye observatory in New Mexico
#6[deleted]
Re: Charles Ross spent 50 yrs building Star Axis naked-eye observatory in New Mexico
#7Unfortunately, the article says that you basically need to be rich in order to experience this work of art: “Today, donors can pay a thousand dollars or more to visit with a small group, or sponsor a stair for six figures.”
It sounds like there may be liability issues as well for people visiting in the dark. The article mentioned the state legislature of New Mexico evaluated a plan to purchase it, but abandoned it.
Re: Charles Ross spent 50 yrs building Star Axis naked-eye observatory in New Mexico
#8And in 5,000 years, they will say. “They must have worshipped this star to create such a monument around it, showing how connected to the stars this ancient civilization was”
Re: Charles Ross spent 50 yrs building Star Axis naked-eye observatory in New Mexico
#9On a personal note I used to love stargazing in the mountains of California’s Sierra Nevada mountains as a child. Sort of lost some of the magic when I started needing to wear prescription eyeglasses.
Re: Charles Ross spent 50 yrs building Star Axis naked-eye observatory in New Mexico
#10Unfortunately, the article says that you basically need to be rich in order to experience this work of art: “Today, donors can pay a thousand dollars or more to visit with a small group, or sponsor a stair for six figures.” It sounds like there may be liability issues as well for people visiting in the dark. The article mentioned the state legislature of New Mexico evaluated a plan to purchase it, but abandoned it.
The official website (https://www.staraxis.org/) has this to say:
> Fundraising is currently underway to complete construction this year and plan for the future of Star Axis. Star Axis will not open to the public for several years. Thank you for your patience.
> Your contribution to our fundraising campaign will provide opportunities for you to visit Star Axis between June and September 2026.
Which seems to hint that they're not planning to keep the current pricing model indefinitely. Hopefully it becomes more affordable once the construction has been fully paid for.
On the other hand, just looking at the pictures, it seems like the site might get pretty crowded if there were a significant number of visitors per day. So I guess there needs to be some kind of gatekeeping to prevent congestion. But maybe the remote location is enough to do that.