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Carrion Luggage #1096931 added September 8, 2025 at 8:25am
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A Star Trek
September 8, today, is Star Trek Day, but I swear this article came up at random from about 40 possibilities. From Atlas Obscura:
Okay, so it's a different kind of star trek, and you're going, boldly or not, where others have gone before. But it's still cool, because I'm also a fan of road trips.
In the West, where I grew up, there is rarely such a thing as a short drive. If you want to get outside beyond a city like Denver—and much of the reason for living in Denver is the chance to get outside—you have to get in a car, and then spend a lot of time there.
Even in Denver, there's no such thing as a short drive. The traffic sucks.
And the ability to drive at night, if you can, offers an unparalleled chance to explore the stars. If you are the passenger, or your kids are in the backseat, even better.
Better yet is being unburdened by small humans with pressing needs. There's a reason Wesley Crusher was almost universally reviled, and it wasn't because he was smart.
I recommend starting your journey in the Centennial State, Colorado, for the beginning of a multi-state tour through the Colorado Plateau, a high-altitude region of tablelands and canyons running through four states.
Perhaps a bit of bias, there. I'd personally recommend the Sierra Nevada, except that everything after that might be a letdown. And that one didn't even make the list.
Book your tickets to arrive toward the middle of a lunar cycle. This way, you will be ensured darkness in the early evenings for up to two weeks, before the waxing crescent moon starts to dominate the nightscape.
This may not be as clear as it should be. It also may not have the intended effect. By "middle of a lunar cycle," I take it she means around the New Moon, though, as a cycle, it can begin and end at any phase. I think the intent here is that a cycle is full to full.
But even that can be misleading. Starting with the New Moon, the waxing Moon sets later and later on subsequent evenings. If you're limiting yourself to a time period of about sunset to midnight, your best bet is to start with the waning half-moon, or the confusingly-named "last quarter." This phase rises at around midnight, so you have a few hours of glare-free evening stargazing. For the next week, it rises later and later until it becomes a New Moon.
Maybe that's what the author is actually saying but, like I said, it can be confusing. To keep it simple, the best time to see the stars is when the Moon's not in the sky, and there are apps and calendars for that.
Sheesh. Other planets don't have these problems. We had to go and get ourselves an oversized satellite.
Anyway. No need to quote more of the article; after this, it suggests locations where one can see the stars without too much interference from human-produced light.
In short (and for the benefit of people from other countries, or Americans who may want to cross the equator to see an entirely different sky), the best way to see the stars from Earth, with or without a telescope, is:
1) The Moon should be on the other side of the planet, so as not to overwhelm the rest of the celestial light show;
2) Far away from terrestrial light sources such as cities or highways;
3) As high an elevation as you can manage;
4) Unfortunately, stargazing is better when it's cold out;
5) And, oh, yeah, don't go when it's cloudy and/or raining. Snow is right out.
There's a reason they put the great big expensive telescopes on remote desert mountains.
You may not have the time to do a proper stargazing trip until you retire, so it's probably best if you live long and prosper. |
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