Are we losing spectacular Dark Skies?

“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 20^th to 26^th 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.

Shreenivasan Manievannan
Email: shreeniclix@gmail.com
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All Photographs © Shreeniclix Photography 

Yosemite Valley– Nature’s paradise

Yosemite National Park is one of the largest and oldest national parks in the US and is any landscape photographers dream destination. The park has an elevation range from 2,127 to 13,114 ft. Almost 95% of the park is designated wilderness. The geology of the Yosemite area is characterized by granitic rocks and remnants of older rock. About 1 million years ago, snow and ice accumulated, forming glaciers at the higher alpine meadows that moved down the river valleys. The down slope movement of the ice masses cut and sculpted the U-shaped valley that is now the Yosemite Valley. As one enters Yosemite from the South Entrance the Tunnel View is the first major view point one will hit. It is such a mind blowing experience for the first timers. A beautiful Bridalveil waterfall with the most striking granite peaks of Yosemite, El Capitan, and the Half Dome are seen from this view point.
 
 Tunnel View of Bridalveil and Half Dome
 As one drives along the valley, the first view of the iconic waterfall can be seen to the left. The most famous Yosemite Waterfalls is a 3 tier falls with the upper falls, middle section and the lower falls. It totals up to 2,425 feet from the top of the upper fall to the base of the lower fall. It is the highest measured waterfall in North America and the 6th highest in the world. The waterfall is a pure snow fed falls and it will be in full flow during the spring runoff with a very narrow window of March to May. It will slowly trickle down and dry out late summer until it is replenished by next year snow pack or occasional rains.
 Yosemite Falls and Merced River
For the hikers and climbers, Yosemite provides ample opportunities to explore the wilderness with numerous trails with the most famous Mist trail that goes thru two major waterfalls – Vernal and Nevada, upto the Half Dome.
 
 Vernal Falls from John Muir Trail
 
 Nevada Falls on a Foggy Day
 Apart from the beautiful waterfalls and the Merced River, the valley provides some amazing opportunity to view wild life including black bears, coyotes, foxes, deer and very rarely the amazing mountain lions.

 
 Deer Fight

 The valley can become even more magical during the winter with lot of snow getting accumulated in the higher elevations of the park and occasionally to the valley as well. The winter though not a favorite time for most of the visitors, it provides a very quiet peaceful environment to enjoy the valley. The road to glacier point another favorite destination to view the whole valley will be closed for the winter and most of the spring until all the snow melts. When the road opens up for traffic by late May/ early June (Depending on the Snow Season) it provides amazing opportunity and an entirely different view of the valley.  
Yosemite Falls in full moon from Glacier Point.
Summing up, Yosemite offers something for everyone. One can just do a drive thru the valley enjoying the views or get down and do a small hike to some of the easily accessible waterfalls such as Bridal Veil, Lower Yosemite Falls or do longer, more strenuous hikes to reach the interior and to enjoy more pristine sceneries and waterfalls.
 
 Enjoying the Winter View
- (c) Shreeniclix Photography (shreeniclix@gmail.com)