Star Party Etiquette, and Why Red Light Is Not Optional
One phone screen at full brightness undoes twenty minutes of dark adaptation for everyone facing it. Most newcomer mistakes at a dark site are this one, and they are easy to avoid.
Staff Writer, Dark Skies
Elise Hartman
Elise writes about where the dark is and how to get to it: certified dark-sky places, light-pollution measurement, and planning a trip around the moon rather than in spite of it. Her particular interest is the gap between a Bortle number and what a sky looks like when you are standing under it, which is wider than most published descriptions admit.
Planning a Dark-Sky Trip Around the Moon
The drive is worth it perhaps six nights a month. Picking which six, and what to do when you get there, is the difference between a memorable night and an expensive one.
Measuring Your Own Sky: Sky Quality Meters and What the Numbers Mean
Light pollution maps describe a region and are years out of date. A twenty-second measurement tells you what your actual garden is doing tonight.
How Dark Sky Certification Actually Works
A certified park is not simply a dark one. Certification measures lighting policy and commitment, which is why some certified places are darker than others, and why it still matters.
What Each Bortle Class Actually Looks Like
The scale runs 1 to 9 and most published descriptions are written for visual observers. Here is what each class means when you are imaging, which is a different question.