Dark spots = no people

May 29 2007

Last August I posted about A Dark Spot on the Map.

This photo is one of my all time favorites:

(You can see a full size image of this here.)

Anyway, I read Backpacker magazine every month cover to cover. This past month, they had an article called Crusaders of Darkness. The article is about the National Park Service Night Sky Team. This group has the following focus:

People and Lightscapes

The national parks were established “to conserve the scenery, the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations…”

Perhaps for too long we have ignored the other half of the scenery, the half that is night. Visitors to National Parks often are surprised and delighted to view the splendor of the cosmos. For many, it is an inspirational moment.

The National Park Service mission is to share these natural lightscapes with the public and to protect them (and restore when necessary). Whether deep in a wilderness area of the Rocky Mountains, at the edge of a historic battlefield, or beside the stone ruins of a 1000 year old culture, a natural lightscape is crucial to making a park whole. The NPS is committed to championing this resource for everybody and building partnerships to save this part of our heritage.

The article also lists 6 of the Night Sky Team’s darkest parks:

There’s something about being in the middle of nowhere with no people around and being able to look up at night and truly see the Milky Way. I think I’m pretty lucky that 4 of the 6 darkest parks are within a 5 hour drive of my home in Utah. And the fact that we have some folks working to keep those dark spots dark, that’s pretty cool if you ask me. I’m planning an adventure this fall to do this very thing: Find a dark spot with no people and recharge. Go find a dark spot yourself sometime and I guarantee it will change your perspective on a lot of things.

PS – you should do it soon, according to the Night Sky Team: “Two–thirds of Americans cannot see the Milky Way from their backyard, and 99% of the population live in an area that scientists consider light polluted. The rate at which light pollution is increasing will leave almost no dark skies in the contiguous US by 2025.”

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7 Comments; Filed under Personal, Utah
  • http://www.chrisknudsen.biz/ Chris

    I experienced this last year on a pioneer reenactment in Wyoming. I got up at 2 am and stood outside my tent for about an hour just staring up at the stars – amazing!

  • http://www.chrisknudsen.biz Chris

    I experienced this last year on a pioneer reenactment in Wyoming. I got up at 2 am and stood outside my tent for about an hour just staring up at the stars – amazing!

  • http://stuthewise.wordpress.com/ Stuart

    “Light pollution” in cities has long been a bain of sky watchers, ruining the great views of the sky. These dark spots are perfect places for astronomers (or just plain curious lookers) to see distant galaxies and super novas that are unviewable in the city.

    To see the atmospheric bands of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn with your own eyes… indescribable. I sold my telescope years ago. My dream since then has been to get me a monster 20 incher. With that baby you’d actually be able to see the atmospheric bands in color. It sounds silly to anybody who has never experienced it, but it’s nearly a life-changing experience.

  • http://stuthewise.wordpress.com/ Stuart

    “Light pollution” in cities has long been a bain of sky watchers, ruining the great views of the sky. These dark spots are perfect places for astronomers (or just plain curious lookers) to see distant galaxies and super novas that are unviewable in the city.

    To see the atmospheric bands of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn with your own eyes… indescribable. I sold my telescope years ago. My dream since then has been to get me a monster 20 incher. With that baby you’d actually be able to see the atmospheric bands in color. It sounds silly to anybody who has never experienced it, but it’s nearly a life-changing experience.

  • Adam

    Dark Skies can’t understated. The things you can see in the dark places of Utah would blow your mind. There are so many stars that you can barely find the constellations, the Milky Way becomes a nuisance because it is so bright, you can see your shadow on a white piece of paper from the light cast by Venus, you may even be able to read by it, and gegenschein is visible. (For those of you who might not know gegenshein is sunlight reflected back to earth by the scant dust particles floating in the near vacuum of space) A truly dark sky can’t be explained, only experienced.

  • http://www.jeremyhanks.com/2008/02/22/whirlwind/ Adventures in Entrepreneurship with Jeremy Hanks » Blog Archive » Whirlwind

    [...] worry about me finding a Dark Spot on the Map to clear my head. And IMHO, the mess when you get back is always worth [...]

  • Adam

    Dark Skies can't understated. The things you can see in the dark places of Utah would blow your mind. There are so many stars that you can barely find the constellations, the Milky Way becomes a nuisance because it is so bright, you can see your shadow on a white piece of paper from the light cast by Venus, you may even be able to read by it, and gegenschein is visible. (For those of you who might not know gegenshein is sunlight reflected back to earth by the scant dust particles floating in the near vacuum of space) A truly dark sky can't be explained, only experienced.

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