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.
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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.
Cayonlands, UT, spring 1997. Backpacked about 2 days in. No moon.
Comet Hale-Bopp.
The comet’s tail, not just visible to the naked eye but •vivid•, spanned at least 1/3 the width of the visible sky.
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@sundogplanets Specific example: I’d been doing amateur astronomy actively as a hobby for about a decade by then, and was quite comfortable finding my way around the sky without a reference, even in ultra dark skies with too many stars to count.
One night at that particular star party, I found myself looking at a bright star that I couldn’t quite identify. It took me a minute or so to realize that I was looking at Polaris.
The sky was *so* dark that the stars of the Little Dipper (Ursa Minor) were almost completely swamped by dozens of other stars nearby that are completely invisible from the city and even not readily visible from “ordinary” dark sites. You’d think the stars of the Little Dipper (though kind of dim by overall star brightness standards) would be bright enough to be clear under such a dark sky. From a kind of, sort of, dark sky, sure, that’s what you experience—but from there, they were literally swamped almost beyond recognition.
The kind of sky where you almost feel you need to hold onto something because you feel like you’ll float off and drown in the stars if you’re not careful.
@dpnash @sundogplanets I had the same experience at a dark sky site in Indiana! I couldn't easily navigate because there were so many stars I couldn't find my reference points.
My favorite part was the dust clouds in the Milky Way. They were so clear they looked 3D! Like, it looked like there was a freaking giant cloud of dust in front of the stars!!! -
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 overnight dive boat at the great barrier reef. Not just the total lack of light, but combined with the unfamiliar southern sky is a view I'll never forget.
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I am TOTALLY enjoying reading all these stories of awe and wonder as we get to gaze over "infinity's doorstep" with our own eyes.
This is what I am fighting for! This is what I want everyone to be able to do! It often feels like nobody cares about losing the sky, so reading how much it means to lots of people is incredibly energizing. Thank you, keep the stories coming.
@sundogplanets
Best night sky I remember was when I was young, falling asleep with the curtains open, while living up in the Rockies of BC . We lived far from cities back in the very early 1960s -
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 looking at the Milky Way from the Maunakea observatory parking lot with the local amateur telescope club.
Funny story, someone got altitude sickness from the ascent and barfed in the rental car. -
Oh I should add to my own personal list: the multiple aurora shows over the past couple of years that I've been able to see from my own house! May 2024 and especially November 2025 were completely mind-blowing.
I found myself joyously whooping and yelling at the sky. I kept thinking of the Cree name for a really active aurora show, cı̂payak kâ-nı̂mihitocik, which translates to "the ancestors are dancing". It was truly an emotionally powerful event to bear witness to.
@sundogplanets I posted in a different comment about seeing the clouds in the Milky Way from a dark sky site in Indiana, but my second favorite would absolutely be when we got engaged under the Perseids on Natural Bridge.
We were camping and had trouble finding a place with visible sky thriugh the canopy. Finally decided to go to Natural Bridge to watch. Unfortunately thick fog rolled in around evening. We hiked anyway, and the bridge got us just above the cloud cover into the clear. -
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 I went to university in the middle of nowhere, USA. I want to avoid a little doxxing heh, but trust and believe, it was remote. One benefit was if you got far enough away from even our small college town, you could see absolutely everything. And one night, during a Pride club retreat that some lovely older lesbians hosted at their cabin, we all climbed a very small mountain, and I got to see the Milky Way for the first time with my own eyes. I'll never forget that moment.
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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 a family summer vacation in the middle of nowhere in Alberta (maybe Kananaskis Country? it was a long, long time ago), we saw the most amazing showing of the Aurora Borealis.
It was breathtaking, astonishing, magical.
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@sundogplanets I posted in a different comment about seeing the clouds in the Milky Way from a dark sky site in Indiana, but my second favorite would absolutely be when we got engaged under the Perseids on Natural Bridge.
We were camping and had trouble finding a place with visible sky thriugh the canopy. Finally decided to go to Natural Bridge to watch. Unfortunately thick fog rolled in around evening. We hiked anyway, and the bridge got us just above the cloud cover into the clear.@sundogplanets It was gorgeously clear above us, and the fog bank below us spread out like a blanket, with glowing patches where the towns were.
We lay down on the bridge and watched the meteors for a while, until my then-boyfriend pulled me away to the side to propose.So that's how I got engaged, covered in sweat and sunscreen and bug spray above a fog cloud under a meteor shower on Natural Bridge.
(Bonus, the park closed at dusk so technically against the rules)
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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 The North Shore of Lake Superior, just west of the Split Rock Lighthouse, late June. We lucked into low moisture overhead and the lake itself wasn't fogging much. I saw that 30 years ago and was the deepest sky I had ever seen. Pick one spot and stare, and it kept going. We saw gegenshein before I knew what it was.
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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 When we went in Edmonton from sodium lights that I reckoned were already too bright to *far* brighter and whiter LED lights it was such a hit. My neighborhood by happenstance ended up last on the replacement cycle and it was shocking how much of a difference it made to the night sky to return to my neighborhood.
Our culture seems to be in a war against darkness and natural light. It seems like most new houses I see around are built with permanently-on outdoor lighting
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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.
Utah badlands
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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 would have to be a tie between two very different landscapes: the Milky Way over the back side of the Tetons right below timberline in the summer; and gazing at Orion around midnight on the beach at Tybee Island, on the Atlantic coast east of Savannah, Georgia in the winter. Spectacular, both of them.
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@sundogplanets Yes exactly. I also came across this article (on mastodon) which I think more people should read about “urban lighting” & how we’re not doing it correctly. I found it interesting (and not surprising to me) that there is significant evidence that “crime” doesn’t really “go down” because of “lighting up the night”.
@em_and_future_cats @sundogplanets "The more bad light we add, the more bad light we think we need" is such a succinct and damning summation of the approach to lighting our culture has taken over the past decades. -
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.
Visiting family near the north end of Lake Diefenbaker in rural Saskatchewan right now. Looks like it will be a clear night.
Experienced the most amazing skies on extended canoe trips in northeastern Manitoba. We would notice one or two satellites each night which seemed cool at the time.
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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.
Lying on my back in a sheep paddock near Lake King in Western Australia.
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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 Three summers at Lodge Pole in Sequoia National Park, California, USA. Lived in developed park area but with very few outside lights and about 6400 ft elevation. Amazing clear skys and Milky Way views most nights.
Spent one Winter in the middle of the Mojave at about 4500 ft elevation. Amazing sky almost every night AND a astounding display of the Leonids Meteor Shower.
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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 My daughter and I built a Hadley telescope this past winter. We set it up in the backyard to test the initial collimation and focus.
We pointed it at Jupiter, and could see a white orb, cool, but there were repeated artifacts across the view that we couldn’t get rid of — something reflecting oddly in the mirrors.
After much fussing, we both came to the same realization: They were the Galilean *moons*! Absolutely blew our minds that we could see them through our homemade scope.
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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 Jemez Springs, NM in 1985
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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 The first I remember is from a beach somewhere in Acadia National Park, some kind of ranger-led constellation tour, on a trip there as a kid
Most perspective shattering would be lying on the top deck of a boat, watching the aurora and the Milky Way in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska.
Most recently, a tiny island ferry in the middle of nowhere Maine, sailing mostly lights out under the stars
