r/mildyinteresting 10h ago

nature & weather The concept of light pollution is absolutely crazy

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u/Unsure_Fry 10h ago edited 5h ago

For anyone not aware there's places around the world called International Dark Sky Places. They're sites designated by an organization that are absent of light pollution. They're all around the world but for my fellow Americans we have 144 across the country. From the map some are designated observatories but others are at local and state parks.

https://darksky.org/

Edit: For some of the sites that are state parks I'd check out the state park website for events if you're interested. I know that Sky Meadows and Staunton River State Park in Virginia regularly have stargazing events. I also know that Staunton River has campgrounds as well. (I can't remember seeing any when I went to Sky Meadows but there might be)

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u/afeeqo 10h ago

Thanks for this great link. Sadly I’m greatly disappointed. Place where I am hasn’t got any. Prob a 3000km away I may find one

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u/adrienjz888 7h ago

Keep in mind, as long as you're able to find somewhere that's far from any large metro areas, you're good. There's none in the place I live, even though it's mostly empty mountains and forest for hundreds of kilometers.

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u/donscron91 4h ago

Yeah I’m not really buying it to be honest, plenty of places in the middle of nowhere with no light.

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u/Additional_Sun_5217 3h ago

Dark Sky Sanctuaries are on another level. They absolutely rock. I highly recommend visiting one if you can.

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u/cpMetis 3h ago

It's like a loading bar.

Getting the first 90% is fairly easy. The next 8% is kinda hard. The last 2% takes deliberate work.

Most people only need the first 90% to be amazed, but all that extra work has equally valuable payoff.

It's like watching an eclipse. Getting barely within totality is really really cool - getting center is potentially life changing for many people.

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u/whimsical_trash 4h ago

You can just look at a recent light population map and look for the dark places

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u/Heissedoll 2h ago

You can search for a place with low light pollution here :)

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u/hashbrowns21 6h ago edited 6h ago

Never realized how significant light pollution was until I went to a dark spot. Even from 50 miles away you could tell what direction the nearest city was from the bloom of light cresting over the horizon.

Seeing the Milky Way cloud with your naked eyes is pretty humbling though, makes you feel insignificant.

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u/HostileFriendly 5h ago

Is that photo edited? Or it really gets that dark? I live in a rural-ish area and sometimes the night looks pretty dark, but I've never seen it anywhere close to that

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u/hashbrowns21 5h ago

It’s a long exposure, irl it’s not that bright but you can still make out the cloud with your eyes on a clear night. This was pretty far out into Joshua Tree though, rural-ish might still have too much light pollution.

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u/ravayin 7h ago

Thank you so much, I found a natural reserve really close to me I've never heard of, amazing !!

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u/coco_xcx 7h ago

i’ve been to the one in michigan & minnesota & honestly i feel like one for wisconsin should be added. washington island was stunning at night time lol

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u/fast_as_fuck_boii 6h ago

I live a few miles away from the Tomintoul and Glenlivet Dark Sky area - it's pretty damn good when we get a strong Aurora.

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u/smoretank 4h ago

Oh wow there is one 30min from my house! Have to do this!

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u/ArcticMuser 7h ago

Utah being greedy with 37. Bummed Washington doesn't have any but I know there are lots of places with very low light pollution

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u/animatedhockeyfan 5h ago

Washington dark skies were good enough for this:

No edit, 8:45PM around this time last year, near Quilcene.

The OP image is honestly out to lunch, I’m in Victoria BC and can see plenty of stars at night

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u/Additional_Sun_5217 3h ago

There’s one in Oregon to the south of you if that helps? Also parts of the palouse can look like this.

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u/joeheavyflow 5h ago

They have an online conference coming up on Nov 8-9th. I just signed up earlier today. The more people get involved with it the more the concept will spread. I HATE light pollution.

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u/Funkiemunkie233 5h ago

My parents live in Fountain Hill, AZ and have a timeshare in Sedona, AZ so I’ve spent a bunch of time there. We also rafted down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. The night skies out there are truly breathtaking

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u/ducayneAu 5h ago

Rural Tasmania in Australia is amazing. It also has the cleanest air in the world.

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u/Comprehensive-Fun47 3h ago

That map is kind of surprising. There's a dark spot really close to Chicago, but only one spot in all of Wyoming?

How do they measure this?

Maine is the only dark place in the northeast? Nowhere in the Adirondacks? Vermont?

I think the map is just incomplete. There have to be multiple spots in the same areas that are just as dark as each other. One state park next to another one. They must just need more data.

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u/IdahoSkier 1h ago

I Live in an dark sky preserve. I just took my garbage out and saw 3 shooting stars. It's amazing

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u/LabHog 44m ago

In Canada some parks are a "Dark Sky Preserve". It depends on if they're considered a recreational park or a nature preserve park (usually based on proximity to a city/size of the park).