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r/darksky

▲ 48 r/darksky+5 crossposts

Temperature check!!! Is next week fine to go?

Weather app says next week highs are in the 90s which I hope is okay to visit. My first time going to Death Valley. My priority is to go to mesquite sand dunes at night to stargaze on new moon( May 16). Is it fine to go next week? Any general advice?

u/Agreeable-Energy-401 — 5 days ago
▲ 104 r/darksky

Pope warns main threat common to religion and science is denial of objective truth | In the address, His Holiness discussed the astronomical work the church does and "lamented, 'this gift is today threatened' by light pollution."

ewtnnews.com
u/Scaramuccia — 1 day ago
▲ 26 r/darksky

Official reports reveal government agency acknowledges V(lambda) is "scientifically insufficient" but continues 4000K white LED rollout.

I’ve spent the last few days digging through 282 pages of official reports and technical handbooks published by the Danish Road Directorate (2024). For anyone in this sub fighting light pollution, this is a goldmine of institutional cognitive dissonance.

Their own technical handbook explicitly admits that the standard metrics used for road lighting—lux and Kelvin—are "scientifically insufficient" because they ignore the biological impact of the blue spectrum. They actually cite the need for CIE S 026:2018 and acknowledge that the 100-year-old V(lambda) model is biologically obsolete.

Despite this "epiphany" in their own manuals, they are doubling down on high-intensity white LED rollouts. Their research documents a 17% spike in asthma-related hospitalizations linked to disrupted tree phenology (9-day earlier budburst caused by blue-rich ALAN) and a 47% crash in local insect populations. They even admit that a Melanopic EDI (mEDI) above 0.35 is harmful for human recovery at night, yet their current installations exceed this by a mile.

The most frustrating find: Page 116 of their report confirms that simple amber filters can be retrofitted to existing white LEDs to remove 76% of the harmful blue peak. I confronted them with this, and the official stance is basically: "We have 1 million lamps with a 20-year lifespan, and we aren't changing anything until the accounting cycle ends."

I will be sharing my findings with the danish media, since the reports are in danish.

reddit.com
u/Putrid_Draft378 — 12 hours ago
▲ 14 r/darksky+1 crossposts

Hi,

My mom and I are planning a trip to Breckenridge/Denver see the stars in June. She has bone cancer and therefore can't camp or walk too far in the dark, but we can drive just fine for an hour or two.

I searched the sub and the Hoosier Pass seems to be a popular suggestion. Sapphire Point Overlook and Ute Pass, too. Does anyone have insight about these spots from a disabled perspective? Hoosier Pass looks like a parking lot and therefore easy to get to. We're coming during a new moon, so I expect they'll be pretty busy? Any insight or suggestions are appreciated.

u/KillieNelson — 11 days ago
▲ 61 r/darksky

Reno never goes dark. Scientists now know what that does to the birds. | A UNR study tracking wild house sparrows across Reno and Sparks found that the brighter the neighborhood, the lighter the chicks—and the dimmer their chances of survival.

sierranevadaally.org
u/Scaramuccia — 9 days ago
▲ 43 r/darksky+3 crossposts

The Eta Aquariid meteor shower peaks May 5 to 6, in a couple days! 🌠

Active from April 19 to May 28, the shower occurs as Earth moves through a stream of debris shed by Halley’s Comet. Each meteor starts as a grain-sized particle traveling tens of kilometers per second before colliding with our atmosphere. That collision heats the surrounding air, producing flashes of light and the long, glowing trails this shower is known for. Some of these streaks can persist for several seconds, tracing their paths across the sky. While the best views are in the Southern Hemisphere, early morning skies offer chances to spot them worldwide.

u/TheMuseumOfScience — 9 days ago
▲ 8 r/darksky

so im interested to go stargazing and i looked up a map dark site finder. and theres a place pretty close to me that has a good rating and i could camp its a really large lake with a camp site near by and the photos where pretty. anyways im just finding out you gotta sit in the dark with no lights or like red lights but in the specific viewing spot there are houses on the edge of the lake like maybe 6 pretty far away. but if they have lights on will that mess everything up. the site says looking south in this spot is the best and that is away from them so would that be okay?

reddit.com
u/Vibin_Cockroach05 — 13 days ago