Band Way Podcasts

by Dr. Tyler Nordgren, University of Redlands Astronomer and Volunteer in the National Parks. If you are one of the millions of visitors who live in ever growing urban areas then on a clear, moonless night in the park, you will probably see far more stars in the sky than you have ever seen before. For most visitors to the national parks, a truly dark starry sky is as rare today as the landscape or wildlife that’s brought you to the park in the first place. Our dark skies are due to a number of factors, but the most important is the lack of light pollution caused by upward pointing lights common in more populated areas. Artificial light that’s allowed to shine upward scatters off particles in the air until eventually some of it gets redirected back towards the ground. Eventually, it appears that the sky itself is the source of a uniform glow. This glow is just bright enough to mask the light of increasingly more stars every year, until soon the wonders of the night sky are lost behind artificial daylight of our own creation. The national park that protects the beauty of the landscape below for our enjoyment during the day, also protects the beauty of the night sky above when it’s dark. Once you find a safe, stable place to see the sky, turn off any lights you may have and let your eyes adjust for 10 to 15 minutes. On a clear moonless night about 90 minutes after sunset you will be able to see many more stars than you’ve ever seen before. Starting in June and continuing all summer, these stars are joined in the evening sky by the beauty of the Milky Way, the bright, luminous band of our home galaxy the Milky Way. read less