“I am a city
dweller and I have no clue how a dark sky looks” – is probably a very common
statement among most of the people who work and live in big cities and towns. I
myself being from a metropolitan area, have never experienced dark sky or seen
the Milky Way until I visited the International Dark Sky Association Dark Sky
Park in PA called Cherry Springs State Park. I was stunned to see the Milky Way
rise and move across the sky.
Gazing at the Starry skies at Cherry Springs State Park - An International Dark Sky Park
The effect on
the first time viewer on seeing the dark sky has been portrayed in the photograph
above where a person, completely captivated by the beauty of night sky, stood
still for a 30s exposure in a impromptu photograph as the person was completely
unaware that I was taking a picture.
The night
sky when dark is so amazing to view that our Neighboring galaxy becomes visible
to our naked eye. The Andromeda a spiral galaxy can be seen very clearly in the
night sky when there is no light pollution and there is no moon to pollute the
sky. The photograph below shows the Andromeda, which is seen as a bright spot
with a haze around it. The haze is the galaxy’s gaseous nebula.
Andromeda shining bright
Also there
are several nebulas that become visible in the night sky when the sky is dark
and the most easily identifiable nebula that can be seen is the Orion Nebula as
shown in the picture below. The Orion Nebula can be easily viewed using a
telescope or a binocular. The photo below was captured using the Sky Tracker at
600mm telephoto lens on a crop sensor.
Orion Nebula
The light
pollution from cities is so high nowadays and the clouds/smog from the cities
seem to exaggerate the light pollution. Clouds tend to sting on to the light
that is directly coming from the cities and towns there by vastly reducing the
darkness of the sky.
Light polluted Night sky of Los Angeles from Griffith Observatory
The usual
light pollution is visible in the countryside near to a town or a city as a
form of light domes towards the horizon. Even in some of the dark sites the
light domes are prevalent which shows that we are quickly losing our dark skies
as the towns and cities expand and the new establishments crop up in every
place. Even though these are helpful and increase and improve the travel
experience, it would be wise for these establishments to give heed to protect
our Dark Skies that can be seen in remote locations as the Maroon Lake in
Colorado.
Milky Way Reflections at Maroon Lake, CO.
Light
pollution not just prevents us to see the spectacular Milky Way or the Nebulas,
it vastly affects the animals which gets distracted to the unnatural light
pollution from the cities and towns. Also it prevents us from studying the night
sky from some of the observatories such as Griffith, and Mount Wilson, which are
greatly affected by the light pollution of Los Angeles.
Milky Way Shining Bright at Lassen National Park, CA
The International
Dark-Sky Association (http://www.darksky.org) is an organization that works
hard to create awareness of the Dark Sky among people and the week from April
20th to 26th of 2014 is being celebrated as International
Dark Sky Week. We should join hands with them in trying to reduce light
pollution and live the dream of gazing at stars from where we live and not
drive several miles to get a glimpse of it.
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All Photographs © Shreeniclix Photography
