Just realized why Cherry Springs State Park is worth the drive for dark skies

I finally made the trip up to Cherry Springs last weekend after three years of hearing people talk about it. The moment my eyes adjusted, I saw the Milky Way so clear it looked like a cloud had settled across the sky. What really got me was the faint green airglow on the horizon, something I never noticed from my backyard because of light pollution. The park ranger told me they shut down all white light after 10 PM, even flashlights need to use red filters. I brought my 10 inch dob and could see details in the Andromeda Galaxy that usually take me twenty minutes to find at home. The humidity was low too, which made the seeing steady until about 2 AM. Has anyone else camped there and noticed how the stars seem to pop more right before dawn?

2 comments

2 Comments

parker54328d ago

Love how the green airglow really shows itself when you get far from city lights like that.

maxpalmer28d ago

Go camping a couple times a year and it never gets old how the sky just opens up like that. Same thing happens when you finally get a quiet house after a week of street noise or traffic. You don't notice it until it's gone, and then you can't believe you were missing all that detail. City lights are just like all the little distractions we pile on ourselves every day. Once you cut them out, everything else gets way more clear.