A Protected Night Sky Over Flagstaff
Credit and Copyright: Dan & Cindy Duriscoe, FDSC, Lowell Obs., USNO
Posted on 04/16/2008 4:29:38 PM PDT by sig226
Explanation: This sky is protected. Yesterday marked the 50 year anniversary of the first lighting ordinance ever enacted, which restricted searchlight advertisements from sweeping the night skies above Flagstaff, Arizona, USA. Flagstaff now enjoys the status of being the first International Dark Sky City, and maintains a lighting code that limits lights from polluting this majestic nighttime view. The current dark skies over Flagstaff not only enable local astronomers to decode the universe but allow local sky enthusiasts to see and enjoy a tapestry contemplated previously by every human generation. The above image, pointing just east of north, was taken two weeks ago at 3 am from Fort Valley, only 10 kilometers from central Flagstaff. Visible in the above spectacular panorama are the San Francisco Peaks caped by a lenticular cloud. Far in the distance, the plane of the Milky Way Galaxy arcs diagonally from the lower left to the upper right, highlighted by the constellations of Cassiopeia, Cepheus, and Cygnus. On the far right, the North America Nebula is visible just under the very bright star Deneb.
Haven’t seen an actual astronomical dark sky here for 1/4 century. Good night maybe the 4th mag stars are visible, barely.
Damn. I was there during spring break but had no idea they had this deal going. I did see the exact same peaks were pretty much snow covered.
Thanks for promoting this Flagstaff /s.
What a great shot....thanks!
Even with all of the lights off yours eyes will not be able to pick up the detials shown in the photograph. It would be nice if the poster of the Astronomy Picture of the Day would give some information about how the photo ws taken; like what kind of camera took it and the exposure time of the photo. Was film used or CCD. Size of the lens or telescope, magnification etc.
That's wonderful, let's hope the crime rate doesn't escalate. :)
Can anybody pinpoint the location of the camera? I figure somewhere near 35 16 30 N 111 43 40 W. This seems to be the flat plain evident in the foreground. I can’t single out the buildings, though.
Oh how I miss camping in Northern AZ. Nothing beats laying out at night gazing up.......sigh.....
Thanks for the ping!
8^)
Follow the link to the source. If any information was provided by the photographer, it will be linked from the NASA page.
just lovely.
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