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Protecting the Darkness in Chile's Atacama Desert

49 points by litoE 2y ago

seattle_spring 2y ago
I did an astronomy tour experience at a high-end home setup in San Pedro De Atacama. That area is really special and I'm glad people are trying to save the things that make it great.
- dmead 2y ago
  Mind linking to it? I'm trying to do some astro tourism.
  - seattle_spring 2y ago
    I believe it was this one: https://www.atacamadesertstargazing.com https://www.atacamadesertstargazing.com However, it was a decade ago and I can't find any receipts. I remember they also had a couple condos you could rent on the property, but I don't see any mention on their website. Might have moved them to Airbnb, or moved exclusively to offering star tours. Or I have the totally wrong link! EDIT Actually!! It was this place. https://www.spaceobs.com/en/Services/Star-Tours https://www.spaceobs.com/en/Services/Star-Tours The site seems old and I can’t tell if they’re still actually in business. However, that’s definitely the tour. They also still have links to the place you can stay on-site, which I very much recommend if it’s still a thing: https://www.spaceobs.com/en/Atacama-Lodge https://www.spaceobs.com/en/Atacama-Lodge
    - poulpy123 2y ago
      I did a tour with them 20 years ago. It was really great to see the southern sky
    - 4lun 2y ago
      > The site seems old and I can’t tell if they’re still actually in business. Can confirm it still exists, I visited last year in April :) Alternative link: https://sanpedroatacama.com/en/tourist-attraction/space-obs-2/ https://sanpedroatacama.com/en/tourist-attraction/space-obs-...
- pyinstallwoes 2y ago
  What are some special things you recall?
davidw 2y ago
For a closer area with dark skies, SE Oregon has a lot of really remote places. https://visitbend.com/journal/best-spots-for-stargazing-bend-oregon/ https://visitbend.com/journal/best-spots-for-stargazing-bend...
- ngokevin 2y ago
  The US is covered in expanses of dark skies in the West
openrisk 2y ago
The island of La Palma in the Canaries archipelago pioneered the idea of a "dark skies" law back in 2007. It seems to have worked. It still houses most of Europe's active research observatories. https://www.starlight2007.net/index_option_com_content_view_article_id_185_itemid_80_lang_en.html https://www.starlight2007.net/index_option_com_content_view_... Light pollution is one of these less discussed impacts of our ever expanding economic activity. While it affects astronomers directly, it degrades quality of life for everybody. In the Netherlands there is almost no place in the country to actually see a dark sky (the Milkyway). We are slowly trapping ourselves within a giant envelope of chemical (gas, particulate), sound, light and other electromagnetic pollutions, hoping that it will all work out ok without corrective action.
dylan604 2y ago
For an article focused on light pollution, why waste the space on images of radio telescopes?
account42 2y ago
> undark.org > Verify you are human by completing the action below. > undark.org needs to review the security of your connection before proceeding. No thanks.
thumbsup-_- 2y ago
Been there twice. Love the place and it's ultra dark skies. Once we were driving on the road from Calama to San Pedro de atacama at night and we felt that it's weird that for 50kms these clouds are in the same position in sky and haven't moved. Only till we stopped and realized that those clouds were the Magellanic clouds that were visible with naked eyes from inside the car. That's the darkness of this place. It's worth preserving.

49 points by litoE 2y ago

I did an astronomy tour experience at a high-end home setup in San Pedro De Atacama. That area is really special and I'm glad people are trying to save the things that make it great.

dmead 2y ago
Mind linking to it? I'm trying to do some astro tourism.
- seattle_spring 2y ago
  I believe it was this one: https://www.atacamadesertstargazing.com https://www.atacamadesertstargazing.com However, it was a decade ago and I can't find any receipts. I remember they also had a couple condos you could rent on the property, but I don't see any mention on their website. Might have moved them to Airbnb, or moved exclusively to offering star tours. Or I have the totally wrong link! EDIT Actually!! It was this place. https://www.spaceobs.com/en/Services/Star-Tours https://www.spaceobs.com/en/Services/Star-Tours The site seems old and I can’t tell if they’re still actually in business. However, that’s definitely the tour. They also still have links to the place you can stay on-site, which I very much recommend if it’s still a thing: https://www.spaceobs.com/en/Atacama-Lodge https://www.spaceobs.com/en/Atacama-Lodge
  - poulpy123 2y ago
    I did a tour with them 20 years ago. It was really great to see the southern sky
  - 4lun 2y ago
    > The site seems old and I can’t tell if they’re still actually in business. Can confirm it still exists, I visited last year in April :) Alternative link: https://sanpedroatacama.com/en/tourist-attraction/space-obs-2/ https://sanpedroatacama.com/en/tourist-attraction/space-obs-...
pyinstallwoes 2y ago
What are some special things you recall?

davidw 2y ago

For a closer area with dark skies, SE Oregon has a lot of really remote places. https://visitbend.com/journal/best-spots-for-stargazing-bend-oregon/ https://visitbend.com/journal/best-spots-for-stargazing-bend...

ngokevin 2y ago
The US is covered in expanses of dark skies in the West

openrisk 2y ago

The island of La Palma in the Canaries archipelago pioneered the idea of a "dark skies" law back in 2007. It seems to have worked. It still houses most of Europe's active research observatories. https://www.starlight2007.net/index_option_com_content_view_article_id_185_itemid_80_lang_en.html https://www.starlight2007.net/index_option_com_content_view_... Light pollution is one of these less discussed impacts of our ever expanding economic activity. While it affects astronomers directly, it degrades quality of life for everybody. In the Netherlands there is almost no place in the country to actually see a dark sky (the Milkyway). We are slowly trapping ourselves within a giant envelope of chemical (gas, particulate), sound, light and other electromagnetic pollutions, hoping that it will all work out ok without corrective action.

dylan604 2y ago

For an article focused on light pollution, why waste the space on images of radio telescopes?

account42 2y ago

> undark.org > Verify you are human by completing the action below. > undark.org needs to review the security of your connection before proceeding. No thanks.

thumbsup-_- 2y ago

Been there twice. Love the place and it's ultra dark skies. Once we were driving on the road from Calama to San Pedro de atacama at night and we felt that it's weird that for 50kms these clouds are in the same position in sky and haven't moved. Only till we stopped and realized that those clouds were the Magellanic clouds that were visible with naked eyes from inside the car. That's the darkness of this place. It's worth preserving.