The Darkest Skys You're Likely to See Bring Light to the World

[SorellaLaBefana]

As the glow of artificial light has spread across the world, the number of places dark enough to see a sky rich with stars has shrunk.

In North America and across Oregon, only a small percentage of the population can look up at night and see the Milky Way without the glare of light pollution.

But there are places with a night sky almost perfectly dark — where the tapestry of stars is so rich it’s almost disorienting. Indeed, one of the largest such places is located just a few hours from Salem and Eugene at the Oregon Outback International Dark Sky Sanctuary…

https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/travel/outdoors/2024/03/27/oregon-outback-international-dark-sky-sanctuary/73109030007/

Yes, there are Darker Places: All filled with Brilliant Wonder.

The Trans-Pecos here in Texas, some other parts of the North American West, vast parts of Africa, South America, Russian Steppes, Northern Canada, Alaska, the Australian Outback, Antarctica, the sky above any transoceanic vessel (on other than a Clown Cruiseship)—However this Oregon Sanctuary is unusual in being quite close to major population centers and in being *recognized* as of value simply for the comforting and illuminating darkness it brings.

It is uplifting to see that, after so many years of driving back the night, our Western Civilization now finally is finding the value of being able to see the same starlit dark night sky which our ancestors gazed upward at in wonder and amazement.



This being no longer possible in much of the overdeveloped world

[2naSalit]

1. That's why I can't...

Live in a city, I have to be able to see the Milky Way and Saturn at the very least. Out here, when the moon is not blazing through the sky in the middle of the night, you can see the reflection of the Milky Way on water bodies. It's really amazing to see.

[MLAA]

11. Sounds glorious. What part of the country do you live in?

[2naSalit]

16. Rocky Mountains...

The Montana part.

[MLAA]

17. Beautiful!

[William Seger]

15. Last summer, I went camping at a Class 1 site north of Kit Carson, CO

Talk about seeing the Milky Way, it seemed so bright, I swear it cast a shadow! There are still quite a few Class 1 areas within a few hours drive of Colorado Springs, and I'm going to go to at least one this summer and try to get some good photos.

[EYESORE 9001]

2. Far from anything at all, the mid-Pacific is amazing

It didn’t hurt that the ship was rigged for nighttime running either. Sure knocked me out.

[bluescribbler]

7. I like to tell people,

You have never seen stars like you can see them in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

[Fla Dem]

4. Lucky you. What a wonderful experience for you.

I've always lived in urban or suburban areas. Right now along the seashore with few bright lights at night, so I can see several of the bright stars and Mercury and Venus. But your experience is breathtaking.

[AllaN01Bear]

5. when in my apartment complex parking lot and looking away from the building you can see the stars.

put shades on your outside lamps if u can

[AllaN01Bear]

6. interisting to see that many points of light in the ocean are ships .

[et tu]

8. stellar, of course-

welcome to du

[markodochartaigh]

9. The darkest sky I ever saw

was in the middle of the city, about 10 PM on November 8, 2016. It was so dark that the darkness was staring back into me.

[moonshinegnomie]

10. theres a scale that astronomers use called the bortle scale

its a measure of how dark the skies are from 1-10

I live just outside austin in bortle 7+ skies
big bend in west texas is a 1

i shoot from enchanted rock state park about 90 minutes from me sometimes which is a 3

heres another map of how dark the skies are
https://darksitefinder.com/map/?i=/%234/39.00/-98.00

[Martin Eden]

12. Camped under the stars in Grand Staircase-Escalante, Utah

My hiking buddy was always somewhat nearsighted. We're from Chicagoland and he had never really seen the stars, but he got his first prescription glasses prior to this trip. He was absolutely blown away.

The next two days we did a backpacking trek in Coyote Gulch.

[Grumpy Old Guy]

13. I took this photo four days ago.

Last edited Wed May 8, 2024, 10:40 AM - Edit history (1)

I shot this in the Alabama Hills near Lone Pine, California around midnight three days ago. Here in California we have Joshua Tree, Anza Borrego, Trona Pinnacles, and many other places to enjoy the night sky, most of which are only a two hour drive from L.A. FYI, the foreground lighting comes from our headlamps.

[padfun]

14. I like going to Northern Nevada East of Reno

either on Hwy 50 or I-80 and off a road.

You get dry air, no lights, and high elevation (4600 to 7000 ft).

[SorellaLaBefana]

18. Wow! Thanks for so many people sharing experiences!! In return...

…want to share the DarkSky International website: https://darksky.org/

The site has information on how to preserve Dark Skys by societal (and individual) choices which favour Nocturnal Conservation, as well as having a list of Dark Sky sites which you can visit and enjoy.

Left this out of the original already a bit long post as had no idea that so many people would find this resonated with their own experiences.

Always remember the hoary mariner’s aphorism: “Dark Starlit Skies at Night, Sailors Delight” (or *something* along those lines?

Thanks

Here’s a pix from one of the most famous Dark Sky sites. The Atacama desert with some of the 66 non-dark dependent international ALMA radio telescopes as foreground

ALMA’s site is: https://www.almaobservatory.org/en/home/