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Idaho Wants to Establish America's First 'Dark Sky Preserve'
- uabstraction 9y agoAwesome. It's hard to imagine that only a couple years ago we had dark skies everywhere. As an off and on hobby astronomer I'm very happy to see this trend of dark sky consciousness and preservation.
- vvanders 9y agoWhat's crazy to me is how few people have actually seen a proper dark sky. I tell people about being able to see the milky way streak across the sky in the summer and they're shocked that I didn't need some sort of long exposure camera.
- sebasmurphy 9y agoI went rock climbing in red river gorge a few years ago and was able to sleep outside and see the Milky Way. Definitely one of the most memorable experiences of my adult life. Then you drive back to civilization and realize how bad the light pollution is.
- stan_rogers 9y agoThe big 2003 blackout coincided with clear skies here in Toronto and was within a couple of days of the Mars close approach. I had trouble understanding why I was the only person I could see looking up. It was almost like Krikkit.
- vanattab 9y agoI want to second the RRG, KY as a great place to go see the stars. I would recommend you go to the lookout "cloud splitter" great views in all directions. There is also a back entrance to a "secret cave" you can climb through and explore. The cave ends at a big opening in the middle of the cliff and makes for a cool photo (You can see the cave opening at the 1:05 mark in the video). Only about 1.5-2 miles from trail head. Of yeah, and for the love of God please don't carve your name in the rocks! Just because countless assholes have been doing it for years does not make it ok. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqvCvMHpKIg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqvCvMHpKIg
- pishpash 9y agoA couple of years ago? That's not a typo?
- planteen 9y agoSeems more like a century ago.
- nether 9y agoI think in 2003, NYC was a swampy Dutch trading post. I was born around then - I'll never forget it.
- LeifCarrotson 9y agoI'm not sure what the difference is between a dark sky park and a dark sky preserve, but there are plenty of the former. As the article notes, there are already many International Dark Sky Parks, with nearly 40 in the U.S. Here's a list: http://www.darksky.org/idsp/parks/ http://www.darksky.org/idsp/parks/ I've been to the Headlands park in Michigan; it's a beautiful location on the north-west corner of the lower peninsula, right on the lakeshore. The guest house is actually shockingly cheap ($300) for a beach-front rental space; you'd be hard-pressed to find an AirBNB with similar features for less - it would make a great company retreat for 10-20 people.
- maskedinvader 9y agoI believe the difference between park and preserve/reserve is a park is an area typically not populated with laws protecting from light pollution while a preserve/reserve is an area that is populated with city/state laws protecting from light pollution. source- amateur astronomer who frequently visits star parties and interacts with IDA members
- esMazer 9y agois there a map for all of these?
- monktastic1 9y agohttp://www.darksky.org/idsp/finder/ http://www.darksky.org/idsp/finder/
- lancepioch 9y agoIn case anybody else is wondering, here's the key for the letters on the map: C = Communities P = Parks R = Reserves S = Sanctuaries D = Developments of Distinction ----- International Dark Sky Communities Communities are legally organized cities and towns that adopt quality outdoor lighting ordinances and undertake efforts to educate residents about the importance of dark skies. International Dark Sky Parks Parks are publicly- or privately-owned spaces protected for natural conservation that implement good outdoor lighting and provide dark sky programs for visitors. International Dark Sky Reserves Reserves consist of a dark “core” zone surrounded by a populated periphery where policy controls are enacted to protect the darkness of the core. International Dark Sky Sanctuaries Sanctuaries are the most remote (and often darkest) places in the world whose conservation state is most fragile. Dark Sky Developments of Distinction Developments of Distinction recognize subdivisions, master planned communities, and unincorporated neighborhoods and townships whose planning actively promotes a more natural night sky but does not qualify them for the International Dark Sky Community designation. Source: http://www.darksky.org/idsp/ http://www.darksky.org/idsp/
- grecy 9y agoGrowing up in rural Australia, I know about this all to well. We would often host Japanese exchange students and communities elders. I have the distinct memory of one of the ~60 year old Japanese men spending night after night outside, staring at the sky. Later it was explained - he had never seen stars in his life.
- lgats 9y agoThis already exists in Michigan: http://www.midarkskypark.org/ http://www.midarkskypark.org/
- Splendor 9y agoI think there's a distinction between a park and a preserve.
- dogruck 9y agoFlagstaff and Sedona are both dark sky communities, in AZ. Lowell built his telescope in Flagstaff because of the visibility.
- matheweis 9y agoThere are numerous telescopes and observatories in the general area for this reason; besides the more publicly known Clark Telescope as the main Lowell tourist site, there is an active research Lowell further out of town, as well as a major US Naval Observatory and the Discovery Channel Telescope. The local University there has one as well.
- dogruck 9y agoAh, thanks for adding these details. I learned something.
- zackmorris 9y agoBorn and raised in Idaho, and took the Milky Way and constellations for granted. When I was a kid, my dad and I used to pick out all 7 stars in the Pleiades (7 sisters). Then I went to college in Illinois at UIUC from 95-99. On the best nights in the midwest, I could barely make out Jupiter, due to both smog and light pollution. So I just want to throw in my vote that I hope this happens. Also on a national level, I'd like to see a movement towards shrouded street lighting, since everything is being retrofitted for high efficiency and getting brighter. Like maybe we could have a process to report bright street lamps and prioritize them to get shrouded.
- autokad 9y agoi wish cities would also issue black out dates to give residents a day of the year to see the sky. I live in south philadelphia, and the light pollution is so bad I can walk out unto my deck at midnight and read a book.
- igrekel 9y agoIf you don't restrict "America" to the USA, this would probably count as an earlier initiative for creating a true reserve. http://ricemm.org/en/ http://ricemm.org/en/
- rad_gruchalski 9y agoI was about to say exactly the same. America (North and South) is a continent. USA is the country. There are preserves like these in America, for example, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grasslands_National_Park https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grasslands_National_Park. Not that far from the US border.
- habosa 9y agoQuestion: I live in San Francisco and I have recently become pretty obsessed with going to a place like this. I want to go somewhere extremely dark where I can see the sky in a form that's similar to what someone might have seen before the invention of electric lights. Does anyone know a good place in America like that? Ideally it would have other good natural features to entertain me during the day. I just can't help but thinking that looking up at the sky a thousand years ago must have been absolutely awe inspiring. A civilization without artificial light would look up and see a dazzling display of starlight. it's no wonder they all believed there was a supreme power above them.
- nightbrawler 9y agoSelf-plug: I live under Bortle Class 1 sky in New Mexico. It's absolutely amazing! We are in the process of building a small cabin on our land that we plan to rent out starting in 2018 so we can share this experience with others. Keep an eye on http://darkskycabin.com http://darkskycabin.com ...
- r0ze-at-hn 9y agoYou should do well if you slapped a photo of the night sky on that web page and a form to collect email addresses.
- chumich1 9y agoCanyonlands NP is great. Same with anywhere near Stanley, Idaho.
- gyrgtyn 9y agoDo you want it to be the same latitude as SF? You could find out where this* was taken. https://thierrycohen.com/pages/work/starlights.html# https://thierrycohen.com/pages/work/starlights.html#
- cjensen 9y agoMono Lake and Bodie in California are really quite good. Plan to go during a new moon. And they're reasonably close to SF.