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.
@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.
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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 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.
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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 Piper's Cove in CB the night of 9/11. Remote area so dark sky but that night no planes so just stars. Beautiful!
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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
Onaping lake, about an hour from Sudbury, ontario. At a log cottage you need a boat to get to. -
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.
Okavango Delta on safari. Truly stunning
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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.
Far northern Ontario for me. There's roads now to roughly where I was but when I went it was just bush plane in and out. Stars for ages.
That, and one night when I was like 20 when the aurora went crazy and looking up made it feel like we were all in a giant turquoise dome tent together.
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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 I haven't seen it personally, but I'm told the view from Centauri Epsilon VI is second to none.
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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 As a kid (many years ago now) living in a large town, I remember being sceptical about seeing the Milky Way by eye. My siblings would try to point it out but I could not discern anything significant.
It was only when camping in the countryside that I understood, and appreciated, the incredible sight they were trying to point out.
It is unsurprising if someone stuck in a slightly built up area has a lack of appreciation of this beauty.
And what we're losing with starlink.
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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 western New Mexico, the Milky Way cast shadows
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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 I grew up in the 60s/70s on a farm in southern Manitoba. I just thought seeing stars at night was a normal thing that I’d have for the rest of my life. I do remember when I was around 5 my mom was taking care of my city cousins and she stopped the car on the way back to the farm so they could see the stars. Jesus, I thought, what’s the big deal! Thanks for asking, I had not thought of that in ages.
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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 Karoo and Cedarberg in South Africa are pretty special. I did a white water rafting trip once and we passed the South African Observatory on the way to the starting point.
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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 mountains near the New Mexico-Arizona border on US 60, near the VLA. I've spent quite a few nights in and around that area of western New Mexico.
When I was 18 in 2001, I did a trip down the Salt River canyon in eastern Arizona. I was driving back home late at night after the trip coming through the mountains in New Mexico west of the VLA (near Pie Town). At some point, I realized the sky in front of me was pink. It was the first time I ever saw an aurora.
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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.
Leura, NSW, Australia. Extra impressive given it's not that far from Sydney, but maybe we just lucked out on atmospheric conditions.
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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 when I got my first glasses!
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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 Near Taos, NM. Brought to mind a verse in the old testament, about descendants, and I'm not even religious.
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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.
During the 1994 Northridge earthquake millions of people lost power throughout the Los Angeles area.
There were hundreds of calls to 911 reporting something wrong with the sky, as many Angelinos saw the stars and the milky way for the first time in their lives.
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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.
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.
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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 oh that sounds just wonderful. My most memorable night sky experience was lying on a grass lawn at a Medieval reenactment event, listening to a bard perform Chaucer, when a huge green fireball of a meteor shot across the sky overhead. It was a perfect moment. It just occurred to me that I was slightly and serendipitously buzzed on fireball whisky 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.
@sundogplanets Camping in Forillon National Park (Quebec, across from Gaspe). The night sky was a carpet of stars. The Milky Way... I had no idea.
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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 Kaikoura, New Zealand, and NZ in general.
The milky way is bright as hell down here and there are tons of great and rare (to me) constellations. Why Kaikoura? The surrounding alpine mountains do a great job at blocking out light pollution AND Kaikoura is pretty small, so there isn't that much pollution to begin with.
Also, the next morning you can go and get some top tier fish and chips in town and eat them down on the black sand beach where you can see baby seals at play, so you honestly can't beat that.
