22 replies to this topic

[Wimpy.mcpoat]

The only thing that will get me dark skies,is a nuclear blast,lol

[hyiger]

Move to New Zealand. But then I would expect Wyoming to have plenty of dark skies with a population of only around half a million. 

Edited by hyiger, 29 July 2024 - 09:43 AM.

[TOMDEY]

Just wait for the grid to fail in a decade or so and we'll find out. Have your telescope ready... one that does not rely on AC power or GPS.    Tom

[Dynan]

You're in Wyoming! Head just SE of Lander on a 'windless night', and be amazed. So many stars I couldn't find the constellations. (Good luck with the windy part.)

[dariv]

I don't think it will take a nuke to put us back to the stone age. IMHO, the western "modern" world is already hanging on a fragile thread. Take away power, take away Walmart, and see how long it takes to fall to pieces. No, we are doomed by our own technology. After the fall the only ones left will be stone age peoples; aboriginal, tribal, people who have nothing by our standards. But they have what we don't; the knowledge to survive without the modern world. The ability to hunt, to farm, to build shelter, to live a simple life in harmony with the natural world. Just my 2cents   

[Stellar1]

Post apocalyptic zombies may be an issue.

[SedonaRona]

I hear you. The ever encroaching light pollution to my area may just drive me out of the hobby at some point. It’s unfortunate.

[Ron359]

The only thing that will get me dark skies,is a nuclear blast,lol

The dinosaurs and thousands of other species did not survive the hundreds or thousands of years of "nuclear winter" that followed their apocalypse because the skies did not just suddenly clear of acid rain clouds and the rain of 'debris' that formed the KT boundary layer.

 

  The only 'survivors' were small mammals that lived in underground burrows and species like alligators and crocs that live mostly underwater and deep mud.        Maybe your telescope will be found by some distant future archeologist still clutched in your hands buried in your basement preserved in ash or mud from the Anthropocene Era.  Be careful what you wish for.

Edited by Ron359, 29 July 2024 - 11:55 AM.

[Wimpy.mcpoat]

I'm kinda worried about bears where I live.

Even in Wyoming,everyone likes to leave lights on for safety purposes.

And don't forget the 60 mph winds on a regular basis.

[TOMDEY]

I don't think it will take a nuke to put us back to the stone age. IMHO, the western "modern" world is already hanging on a fragile thread. Take away power, take away Walmart, and see how long it takes to fall to pieces. No, we are doomed by our own technology. After the fall the only ones left will be stone age peoples; aboriginal, tribal, people who have nothing by our standards. But they have what we don't; the knowledge to survive without the modern world. The ability to hunt, to farm, to build shelter, to live a simple life in harmony with the natural world. Just my 2cents   

Just have the cell towers fail for an hour or two and half the population will bouncing off the walls or reaching for the security blanket.

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[SpaceBug]

You're in Wyoming! Head just SE of Lander on a 'windless night', and be amazed. So many stars I couldn't find the constellations. (Good luck with the windy part.)

Windless night in Wyoming?  I don't think so!

[CHASLX200]

The only thing that will get me dark skies,is a nuclear blast,lol

Long as i have A/C i am all for it.

[csrlice12]

Never look at nuclear blasts with a telescope unless you have a proper nuclear blast filter and an old elementary school desk.....

[RiderRoy]

Sure wish I had your light pollution problems.  

 

We rode from the park down into Jackson. Even at 2300 the Tetons were illuminated from the west I'm assuming by the sunset. Most amazing night sky I've seen. We pulled off and just sat for a bit staring at the sky. Then my wife made the comment " Wonder if there are wolves or bears nearby?".. So we got back on the bike and headed on our way.  

[Forward Scatter]

The only thing that will get me dark skies,is a nuclear blast,lol

 

Many would be happy with such a thing as long as it more negatively impacts "other" people, of course!

[kksmith]

All it would take is a few well placed EMP generators and the grid goes down. You get your night skies back... but no electronic banking which most nations revolve around. No easy access food unless you do homegrown. No heat for the masses in winter. No respite from the summer heat that happens to be brutal in some areas. No water pumps. General mayhem ensues. But you probably won't have to wait for nukes or EMP, some actors from a rogue state, or financed by a rogue state, will eventually hack the grid and shut it down....all for the tidy sum of One Millioooooon dollars.

[Phil Perry]

Never look at nuclear blasts with a telescope unless you have a proper nuclear blast filter and an old elementary school desk.....

I read an article recently (online, possibly phys.org or Ars Technica) discussing the actual brightness of a nuclear blast. The usual trope of "brighter than a thousand Suns" is apparently wildly exaggerated. IIRC, It's more like 2 or 3 Suns (in visible light), at least for a "small" 15kT nuke. Two or three stacked solar filters could take care of that. Of course, there's the small matter of the rest of the EM spectrum (UV, X Ray, Gamma Ray) to deal with, not to mention those pesky neutrons!

 

While the power grid permanently going down would certainly be a boon to observers, I think the total collapse of society would outweigh the gains. I hope all the posts yearning for an apocalypse were firmly tongue-in-cheek! Even I wouldn't look forward to spending my time killing my neighbors in order to defend my small stockpile of canned goods. No time to observe! It wouldn't even have to be a man-made event -- anyone up for a large Carrington Event? We will find our modern technological society to be amazingly brittle.

[Bearcub]

Just wait for the grid to fail in a decade or so and we'll find out. Have your telescope ready... one that does not rely on AC power or GPS.    Tom

Manual telescope! Manual mount so mot dobs are safe.

[Phil Perry]

Windless night in Wyoming?  I don't think so!

Anything under 30 knots is considered windless in Wyoming! https://www.wyomingf...ft_windsock.htm

[osbourne one-nil]

Well this has certainly cheered me up this morning.

 

If some of you could even mention light pollution, it would make my life a lot easier!

[bulletdodger]

I'd rather get stoned back into the bomb age when all I had to worry about was the bomb, today...Yeesch!

[TicoWiko]

Having grown up with regular bombardments let me tell you that you've forgotten something rather crucial about bombs : vibrations. Not just from the bombs mind you, but if they're flying close enough the warplanes will make the earth shake almost as much as the bombs will and with even more regularity. Good luck looking at Saturn at 400x when the ground is constantly shaking from all the flying death machines !

[Freezout]

No because you wouldn't have time to practice astronomy. You would be using your telescope 24/7 to survey the landscape searching for scavengers, and preparing your defense. 

 

Also, having no more access to Cloudy Nights could lower my astronomical knowledge. I would end up thinking that I'm the first discoverer of plenty of DSOs accessible to my 150mm telescope and would name them "Freezout 45, Freezout 46, Freezout 47..."