And not just a product of some contact high? :P Wild. SF is not a long trip from some pretty dark skies: https://www.darkskymap.com/nightSkyBrightness https:/

And not just a product of some contact high? :P Wild. SF is not a long trip from some pretty dark skies: https://www.darkskymap.com/nightSkyBrightness https://www.darkskymap.com/nightSkyBrightness If you haven't ventured out to try to see the milkyway (be sure to check stellarium or similar) you should give it a try sometime. Most of the populated US is a lot further from truly dark skies than we are in the bay area. It does make a big difference to go somewhere really dark, but that's a bit more of a haul. Once on a trip through rural Oregon I could see the milkyway through my windshield, pulled over to turn the lights off and view and was amazed that it cast a visible shadow once our eyes were adapted.