Leave the city to see the stars at a Virginia State Park

Stars as seen from Staunton River State Park

Star Party March 2014

I read the neatest article titled "FINDING OUR PLACE IN THE UNIVERSE: This Holiday Season, Give the Gift of the Stars" by Richard Louv and in it is discussed a term that made me pause "Sky blindness."

Excerpt 

      These days, for children and adults, sky blindness is common. In the journal Environmental Health Perspectives researcher Ron Chepesiuk reports, “When a 1994 earthquake knocked out the power in Los Angeles, many anxious residents called local emergency centers to report seeing a strange ‘giant, silvery cloud’ in the dark sky. What they were really seeing — for the first time — was the Milky Way, long obliterated by the urban sky glow.”

      Two-thirds of the U.S. population and more than one-half of the European population may have already lost the ability to see the Milky Way with the naked eye. When air pollution and urban domes of artificial light obscure our view of the night sky, our mental and physical health pay a price. Stars or no stars, natural darkness has value; our biological clocks count on it. Researchers in Israel have linked the amount of artificial nighttime light to higher rates of breast cancer.

Don't let your kids have sky blindness

David Davis, a conservationist in the Chesapeake Bay watershed and Dad suggests:

     Leave town. Go camping, or on a clear night drive beyond the dome of urban light. One of my favorite memories is of driving east with my younger son, Matthew, to watch a massive meteor shower. Along a mountain road, we found a ditch and climbed down into it, and lay on our backs for an hour watching identified flying objects streak across the sky. Read more from David Davis on his blog "The Good Men Project."

I considered titling this blog "Gift them the stars" but thought it would sound to pitching, when in reality you can gift them the stars throughout the year, not just over the holidays, at a Virginia State Park.

Give them the stars

Star trails from Caledon State Park 

The light lines are from jets flying through the frame

ISS under Jupiter and Taurus

Staunton River State Park

Staunton River State Park is one of the 10 designated International Dark Skies Parks (IDA) in the world, so that would be an obvious choice as a place to see the stars, with its lack of light pollution. But any moonless night or clear night would make a great night to see the stars from any of the 36 Virginia State Parks. Parks close at dusk for day visitors, so to see the starry starry night you would need to be there for a special event, or staying overnight in a cabin or campground.

Helpful hint from a pirate

If you thought pirates wore eye-patches due to a sword fighting incident that left them blind in one eye, you may find this article "How to see in the dark (like pirates!)" interesting. Last year we went caving and was told by expert spelunker and cave rescuer that the quickest way to adapt to seeing in the dark is to cover one eye, then the other, and it worked much quicker than sitting in the dark cave waiting for our eyes to adjust. I recommend you test this out on your next star gazing expedition.

Cure the family's sky blindness, give them the gift of stars this holiday season...and beyond. That galaxy far far away may seem closer than you think, just look up.

FIND YOUR PARK