Most city dwellers don't know how much of the night sky has already been stolen by billionaires, because poorly planned, wasteful city lights have already drowned out the stars for them.
-
"At night this reassuring curtain of blue is pulled away and you realize where you really are: at infinity’s doorstep. A plain is what a mountain aims to be: the closest you can come to being in outer space while yet having your feet on this planet."
I really hope to get out to Grasslands Nat'l Park this week and appreciate infinity's doorstep, despite smoke and satellites trying to take that away.
@sundogplanets
When I was a kid, decades ago, an uncle had 10 acres with a nice cabin, in the mountains, a few hours from Buffalo. No plumbing or electricity, but the sky was glorious. Other than camping in the Pine Barrens, it was the only light pollution free view I've had. I grew up 1/2 hrs from Philly. -
The world would be a much better place if everyone had easy access to infinity's doorstep, to realize how small we are, how unique and fragile our pale blue dot is.
You don't need a trip on a billionaire's rocket to get the "overview effect." You can do it by finding dark sky access, which is becoming harder and harder to get, partially due to billionaires' rockets.
Or by using the likes of Google Earth. That did it for me back in the early 2000s when it was a desktop application.
-
@sundogplanets I spent a week at Wadi Rum about 25 years ago and it was literally eye-opening. Living in Bavaria we still have areas with less light pollution, but standing in the desert in absolute silence and seeing what people saw thousands of years ago had a profound effect.
I was really hoping this would be the case when I was in Death Valley, but the light is definitely creeping too.
-
RE: https://social.treehouse.systems/@ariadne/117063592703392163
Most city dwellers don't know how much of the night sky has already been stolen by billionaires, because poorly planned, wasteful city lights have already drowned out the stars for them.
"Oh, wow... Are there always this many stars??" my classmate who'd recently moved to eastern Oregon from Los Angeles asked, as we stood there in the parking lot gazing upwards.... from DIRECTLY UNDER STREETLAMPS.
"Well," I began, "First you need to get fifty miles from any major cities. Then, give your pupils about two hours to adjust.... THEN we can start to talk about how many stars there really are."
-
@sundogplanets I live close to an airport, so I don't usually see a starry night sky. But I had a beautiful experience where I was in the mountains over night about 15 years ago where I saw a clear sky and it was just magical. A similar moment just 2 years ago was sobering. Most of what I saw were blinking satellites
@AimeeMaroux @sundogplanets
Satellites aren't supposed to blink, though. -
@AimeeMaroux @sundogplanets
Satellites aren't supposed to blink, though.@leeloo @AimeeMaroux They can blink if they are tumbling. (Which generally means they are broken)
-
@emmadavidson There are times of night in the wintertime when you can't see any satellites... but yeah. The billionaires have taken that away from us.
-
The world would be a much better place if everyone had easy access to infinity's doorstep, to realize how small we are, how unique and fragile our pale blue dot is.
You don't need a trip on a billionaire's rocket to get the "overview effect." You can do it by finding dark sky access, which is becoming harder and harder to get, partially due to billionaires' rockets.
@sundogplanets I support this movement. Give everyone the chance to see something clearly in the night sky with their own eyes and it can change perception profoundly. I remember the first time I saw Saturn with my own telescope. It cements how tiny we are.
-
A stunningly beautiful quote from Yann Martel, sent to me by a satellite engineer who loves the sky:
"If you’ve never been, the south of Saskatchewan is so flat the horizon is perceptibly round. Above you, during the day, lords an immense dome of sky so empty it feels like a fullness, with clouds the size of mountains, the sun but a small disk, and a depth of colour that is often chalk blue, oh so chalk blue.
...
@sundogplanets When we moved to Vancouver the sky felt so small and coming back to prairies everything felt so very very big again.
-
I used to head up north to the top end every winter and get a dose of bush and sky. So much light from the stars, and all the different colours. Then you’d hear stories about Indigenous folks explaining why one star was a different colour to the others.
For thousands of years humans have read the sky at night in such amazing detail, and today we can barely even remember to look up.
-
RE: https://social.treehouse.systems/@ariadne/117063592703392163
Most city dwellers don't know how much of the night sky has already been stolen by billionaires, because poorly planned, wasteful city lights have already drowned out the stars for them.
@sundogplanets
Over my life, I've lived mostly in bigger cities/urban areas, AND I've been lucky enough to have spent time in areas far from the urban space.The difference in the night sky is incredible. The darker the surroundings, the more magical that skyscape is.
-
RE: https://social.treehouse.systems/@ariadne/117063592703392163
Most city dwellers don't know how much of the night sky has already been stolen by billionaires, because poorly planned, wasteful city lights have already drowned out the stars for them.
Over 50 years ago, you could spot a satelllite in polar orbit.
Otherwise, just stars. These days, you can not see all of the stars that were visible back then. Even if you are away from city lights.
-
"At night this reassuring curtain of blue is pulled away and you realize where you really are: at infinity’s doorstep. A plain is what a mountain aims to be: the closest you can come to being in outer space while yet having your feet on this planet."
I really hope to get out to Grasslands Nat'l Park this week and appreciate infinity's doorstep, despite smoke and satellites trying to take that away.
@sundogplanets That's the one thing I really miss about my home state of Alaska, the night sky was just incredible! We're rural here in Florida, but there is still so much light pollution that pulling out my telescope just isn't the same anymore.
-
The world would be a much better place if everyone had easy access to infinity's doorstep, to realize how small we are, how unique and fragile our pale blue dot is.
You don't need a trip on a billionaire's rocket to get the "overview effect." You can do it by finding dark sky access, which is becoming harder and harder to get, partially due to billionaires' rockets.
@sundogplanets We, the non-billionaires with our Stargazer Steve telescopes+ know. Billionaires know. They just don't give a damn.
I was 4 yrs old when I saw the Morning Star (and was told it was Venus) through my 13 year-old cousin's handmade telescope. I fell in love faded decades and decades ago.
I still have 2 pair of ancient binoculars I use to view Jupiter & some moons and Saturn & some moons. It's lovely and I'm on the edge of a city in PA.
Still trying to enjoy it while I can.
-
The world would be a much better place if everyone had easy access to infinity's doorstep, to realize how small we are, how unique and fragile our pale blue dot is.
You don't need a trip on a billionaire's rocket to get the "overview effect." You can do it by finding dark sky access, which is becoming harder and harder to get, partially due to billionaires' rockets.
@sundogplanets I still remember the first time I was out of sight of land on a boat at night. Utterly mesmerising, laying on the deck, looking up
-
The world would be a much better place if everyone had easy access to infinity's doorstep, to realize how small we are, how unique and fragile our pale blue dot is.
You don't need a trip on a billionaire's rocket to get the "overview effect." You can do it by finding dark sky access, which is becoming harder and harder to get, partially due to billionaires' rockets.
Where is the best, most incredible, most perspective-shattering night sky that you've ever seen?
For me, it was the Tekapo dark sky reserve in New Zealand a few months ago (I got up at 1am both nights I was there specifically so I could get some mostly satellite-free skies to enjoy).
Second place: Mojave desert many years ago (before megaconstellations) or winter skies about an hour outside Regina, when the nights are long and there are no sunlit satellites due to geometry.
-
Where is the best, most incredible, most perspective-shattering night sky that you've ever seen?
For me, it was the Tekapo dark sky reserve in New Zealand a few months ago (I got up at 1am both nights I was there specifically so I could get some mostly satellite-free skies to enjoy).
Second place: Mojave desert many years ago (before megaconstellations) or winter skies about an hour outside Regina, when the nights are long and there are no sunlit satellites due to geometry.
@sundogplanets We used to live in SW Colorado at 7200 feet altitude. The night skies were incredible. You could read by the full moon and it felt like you could touch the stars, they seemed so close.
-
Where is the best, most incredible, most perspective-shattering night sky that you've ever seen?
For me, it was the Tekapo dark sky reserve in New Zealand a few months ago (I got up at 1am both nights I was there specifically so I could get some mostly satellite-free skies to enjoy).
Second place: Mojave desert many years ago (before megaconstellations) or winter skies about an hour outside Regina, when the nights are long and there are no sunlit satellites due to geometry.
@sundogplanets It was in a state park in Nevada where we were climbing. It was about 50 miles east of the California border. I can’t remember the name of it, but it was so dark that the few clouds that were there were not backlit from any surface lights and they looked like dark nebula against the star field. It was also disorienting as it was hard to find the constellations with such a rich star field. I only had a 4” scope with me, but the views were awesome.
-
Where is the best, most incredible, most perspective-shattering night sky that you've ever seen?
For me, it was the Tekapo dark sky reserve in New Zealand a few months ago (I got up at 1am both nights I was there specifically so I could get some mostly satellite-free skies to enjoy).
Second place: Mojave desert many years ago (before megaconstellations) or winter skies about an hour outside Regina, when the nights are long and there are no sunlit satellites due to geometry.
@sundogplanets On the rocks at the edge of Bonne Bay, Newfoundland (a fjord in Gros Morne National Park). A few village lights, but a night so clear that just turning away was enough. Lying on my back with the ocean lapping a cobble beach a few metres away, and it felt like I was pressed to the very thin skin of a whirling planet with my face almost in the stars. It almost felt like I could slip off.
-
Where is the best, most incredible, most perspective-shattering night sky that you've ever seen?
For me, it was the Tekapo dark sky reserve in New Zealand a few months ago (I got up at 1am both nights I was there specifically so I could get some mostly satellite-free skies to enjoy).
Second place: Mojave desert many years ago (before megaconstellations) or winter skies about an hour outside Regina, when the nights are long and there are no sunlit satellites due to geometry.
@sundogplanets Piper's Cove in CB the night of 9/11. Remote area so dark sky but that night no planes so just stars. Beautiful!
