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Falling in Love with the Dark

nautil.us

1–10 of 41 posts

Re: Falling in Love with the Dark

#2
Living in San Diego, I love having the option of driving out to Anza Borrego to see the stars.

If you haven't seen them in a true "dark sky" setting, I highly recommend it. You'll be shocked how many of them you see and how there are just layers and layers of them everywhere and being able to see the milky way with the naked eye is incredible. I doubt it comes close the so-called "Overview effect" Astronauts talk about when they see the Earth from... not the Earth, but it is still quite powerful and humbling when you're used to looking up and seeing half a dozen stars on a good night.

Re: Falling in Love with the Dark

#3
I was hiking Mount Whitney a few weeks ago and by far the most spectacular site was the sky at night. Better than highest peak or the purest mountain lake, the sky was unlike anything I'd ever seen. Definitely worthy of planning a vacation around.

Re: Falling in Love with the Dark

#4

Living in San Diego, I love having the option of driving out to Anza Borrego to see the stars. If you haven't seen them in a true "dark sky" setting, I highly recommend it. You'll be shocked how many of them you see and how there are just layers and layers of them everywhere and being able to see the milky way with the naked eye is incredible. I doubt it comes close the so-called "Overview effect" Astronauts talk abo…

Going out to sea and looking up was an experience I'll never forget.

Re: Falling in Love with the Dark

#5
post #4

Living in San Diego, I love having the option of driving out to Anza Borrego to see the stars. If you haven't seen them in a true "dark sky" setting, I highly recommend it. You'll be shocked how many of them you see and how there are just layers and layers of them everywhere and being able to see the milky way with the naked eye is incredible. I doubt it comes close the so-called "Overview effect" Astronauts talk abo…

Going out to sea and looking up was an experience I'll never forget.

This. Even with the lights on the decks of the cruise ship I was still able to see layers and an expanse of stars I haven't seen since I tramped around the the Nelson Lakes area of New Zealand when I was younger.

Re: Falling in Love with the Dark

#7
post #6

I didn't realize how important it was for me to see the night sky until I moved to a densely populated area. It's weird to look up and see nothing but a glowing haze.

It's kind of terrifying to visit my parents place in the countryside. I actually need my headlights. While it's not going to be safe for everyone, I could very well drive across my brightly-lit metro area with no driving lights, in the dead of night, with little issue.

On the other hand, out under the clear sky, I'd be off the road in under a mile without lights. It's Dark out there.

Re: Falling in Love with the Dark

#8
post #4

Living in San Diego, I love having the option of driving out to Anza Borrego to see the stars. If you haven't seen them in a true "dark sky" setting, I highly recommend it. You'll be shocked how many of them you see and how there are just layers and layers of them everywhere and being able to see the milky way with the naked eye is incredible. I doubt it comes close the so-called "Overview effect" Astronauts talk abo…

Going out to sea and looking up was an experience I'll never forget.

Yeah. That's how you realize why people could navigate at Sea using stars long before we had any GPS or reliable cartography.

Re: Falling in Love with the Dark

#10
In Tucson AZ we have few streetlights. It's nice. You can take a walk and see better because your night vision is not constantly being reset. A 45min drive up any of our local mountains and the Milky Way is bright and center, satellites whizzing by.

The International Dark Sky Association (unsuprisingly based here) has resources for people interested in reclaiming their night sky: http://www.darksky.org/

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