[Chaos-l] Dark skies

[Mark South]

I'm heading to Ok-Tex tomorrow and I hope I can see a truly dark sky.  
Greg Dillon will be there also.
   Hope that gentleman with the 36 inch will be there.  Greg jokingly  
said he refuses to look at anything < 17th mag. :)
I'll try to give a report of my experience there but hope to that  
beautiful night sky!!!
Mark
Sent from my cell phone

On Sep 10, 2009, at 10:32 AM, Robert Nielsen <robertnielsen at nc.rr.com>  
wrote:

> Mark,
>
> I grew up as a young boy in Nebraska ... and even then I had a  
> pretty deep interest in astronomy, although I didn't understand  
> about dark skies and light pollution and such.   But I remember  
> going to the Badlands ... and just being awestruck at the beauty and  
> desolation.   Thanks for bringing back that mental image.
>
> Want to bring your Astrotrac and camera down to Chiefland, FL with  
> me in November?   I've heard it's dark down there ... although it  
> will be nothing like South Dakota!
>
> Robert
>
> Mark Lerch wrote:
>> friends,
>>
>> I'm writing this email from Wall, South Dakota, on the edge of  
>> Badlands National Park.
>>
>> As I was returning to my room from dinner last night I glanced up  
>> and thought "wow, that's an awfully inky sky."  Then it occurred to  
>> me: "Wow, that is an insanely dark sky."
>>
>> I tossed some gear into my rental car and headed off into the  
>> Badlands.  I got out and looked up and was treated to the darkest  
>> sky I've ever seen in my life, without a doubt.  The Milky Way was  
>> a vast sweeping smudge going almost from horizon to horizon.  The  
>> horizons were absurdly low, almost like the ocean, and in the West  
>> the Milky Way went almost to the very horizon.  I have never seen  
>> such a thing.  In the East it didn't reach to the horizon but  
>> trailed off.
>>
>> Prior to this, the darkest sky I had seen was on Whitetop Mountain,  
>> in Virginia.  That night the patterns within the arms were  
>> evident.  Last night the galaxy arms were so bright they virtually  
>> obscured the wishbone, just like dark skies obscure the obviousness  
>> of our familiar constellations.
>>
>> The Double Cluster was such a bright smudge.  I started trying to  
>> pick things out but kept getting lost in the overall grandeur of it  
>> all.
>>
>> can you believe I didn't bring my astrotrac?  I thought of having a  
>> friend mail it out to me but I'd also need my tripod.
>>
>> stunning, once in a lifetime stuff.  As I drove back I felt a tinge  
>> of sadness at the disregard for such an incredible natural resource
>>
>> Mark
>>
>> ________________________________________
>> From: chaos-l-bounces at rtpnet.org [chaos-l-bounces at rtpnet.org] On  
>> Behalf Of Jayme Hanzak [jhanzak at unctv.org]
>> Sent: Wednesday, September 09, 2009 11:42 AM
>> To: CHAOS
>> Subject: [Chaos-l] Skies change in a minuter around here
>>
>> I was out on my back deck last night talking with my daughter in  
>> Ohio. I was amazed at just how clear the skies were and how the  
>> stars twinkled and the Milky Way was easily visible. Although I  
>> wasn't planning on observing, I couldn't let this night go by  
>> without a little viewing. I went inside after saying good bye to  
>> Rachel and I told my wife I was going out to observe. I said that  
>> the skies were dazzling and I couldn't let it go by. I picked up my  
>> eye pieces and headed out the door where I stopped dead in my  
>> tracks. The skies were overcast from horizon to horizon. It wasn't  
>> like a front passed through, the clouds just appeared out of no  
>> where. Jupiter was just barely visible in the clouds. Where did all  
>> the clouds come from, they weren't there two minutes ago.
>>
>>
>>
>> I turned around and went back inside and put my equipment away.  
>> It's amazing what you witness as an amateur astronomer.
>>
>> Jayme Hanzak
>> CHAOS President
>>
>> CHAOS
>> P.O. Box 842
>> Chapel Hill, NC 27514-0842
>> http://www.rtpnet.org/chaos/
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Chaos-l mailing list
>> Chaos-l at rtpnet.org
>> http://rtpnet.org/mailman/listinfo/chaos-l
>>
>>
>>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Chaos-l mailing list
> Chaos-l at rtpnet.org
> http://rtpnet.org/mailman/listinfo/chaos-l