Does anyone know of a site that lists good stargazing spots? Whenever I try to look I get some "top 10 places in the world." Well, that doesn't help me since I'm looking somewhere that is close enough to drive to.
Falling in Love with the Dark
11–20 of 41 posts
Re: Falling in Love with the Dark
#12Does anyone know of a site that lists good stargazing spots? Whenever I try to look I get some "top 10 places in the world." Well, that doesn't help me since I'm looking somewhere that is close enough to drive to.
I'd think the backcountry in any wilderness area not near a large city would be pretty good.
As a kid, I loved backpacking in the Olympic National Forest (Washington state) for this reason...
This is "Seven Lakes Basin", which I personally guarantee to be completely awesome: https://goo.gl/maps/pQKs5
Re: Falling in Love with the Dark
#13Super nice article. I miss the Canadian Northern rural nightskies very much so I was pleasantly surprised last weekend when the sky was completely clear while camping somewhere in the mountains in Romania. I never realized that being in a valley the mountains are even more effective at blocking out any light pollution than mere distance will do and the view was absolutely spectacular.
Living out of a very tiny RV for a couple of days is an exercise in compromise but the rewards are definitely worth it.
Re: Falling in Love with the Dark
#14Thanks for posting this link, I now begin to understand what Shakespeare meant by 'spangled starlight sheen' [A Midsummer Night's Dream].
Re: Falling in Love with the Dark
#15I've spent the last few years in big cities; Austin, LA, NYC. A few weeks ago I took a brief trip to a small town in Idaho with negligible light pollution.
I had completely forgotten the look of a clear night sky. It was absolutely breathtaking. I felt as though I was going to fall away from the earth.
I truly hope that in the long term, humanity can build infrastructure that doesn't destroy access to the night sky.
Re: Falling in Love with the Dark
#16Does anyone know of a site that lists good stargazing spots? Whenever I try to look I get some "top 10 places in the world." Well, that doesn't help me since I'm looking somewhere that is close enough to drive to.
I'd think the backcountry in any wilderness area not near a large city would be pretty good. As a kid, I loved backpacking in the Olympic National Forest (Washington state) for this reason... This is "Seven Lakes Basin", which I personally guarantee to be completely awesome: https://goo.gl/maps/pQKs5
I've been out backpacking in the wilderness plenty before. I was/am looking for something that is the least amount of light pollution I can find in a reasonable distance. There seems to be good resources out there for other attributes of an area so I thought someone might have gathered data on light pollution.
Re: Falling in Love with the Dark
#17Re: Falling in Love with the Dark
#18Even I, an ancient wizard, am boggled by this. Why have we squandered our night skies?
Re: Falling in Love with the Dark
#19Even I, an ancient wizard, am boggled by this. Why have we squandered our night skies?
Re: Falling in Love with the Dark
#20I used to get a pretty clear view of the milky way in Flag Staff, AZ a decade back. I wonder if that is still possible now.