Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Flagstaff's Battle for Dark Skies

By David S. F. Portree from his Altair VI blog

In observance of Earth Day, here's my prize-winning article "Flagstaff's Battle for Dark Skies." Riordan Mansion State Historical Park in Flagstaff, Arizona, invited me to present my article on October 8, 2002, as part of its lunchtime lecture series. I prefaced my reading with a version of the introduction which follows.

They say you don't notice your advantages until you lose them. I grew up in the 1970s on a small farm in central Illinois, where seeing the Milky Way was entirely normal. It wasn't until 1987, when I moved to Orlando, Florida, that I realized what I'd had, what I'd lost. The central Florida sky was so bright with light from sprawling subdivisions, tourist hotels, and Disney World that the familiar stellar guidemarks were invisible. I had to learn an impoverished sky. I had to get used to driving an hour beyond the city's edge to see my friend the Milky Way.

Full article here:

http://altairvi.blogspot.com/2008/04/flagstaffs-battle-for-dark-skies.html