Prof. Sam Lawler
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.
Prof. Sam Lawler
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.
Prof. Sam Lawler
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.
...
Prof. Sam Lawler
"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.
Prof. Sam Lawler
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.
Paul Cantrell
Cayonlands, UT, spring 1997. Backpacked about 2 days in. No moon.
Comet Hale-Bopp.
The comet’s tail spanned probably 1/3 the width of the visible sky.
Paul Cantrell
I always took Halley to be a star for historical significance, not looks.
Greg Bell
@inthehands @sundogplanets hale bopp made Halley look like a loser
Matthew Kenworthy
@sundogplanets As a professional astronomer who works in the near infra-red, all my allotted telescope time is during near/full Moon. I only experienced true dark skies in South Africa after commissioning an instrument a few years ago at new moon. I went outside at some point in the night and looked up and was completely awestruck by the Southern night sky. Later on Venus rose, and I saw my shadow cast on the white wall of a nearby building. Breathtaking.
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