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Remote Sanctuary of Darkness- Part 2, Base Camp

Remote Sanctuary of Darkness- Part 2, Base Camp

Remote Sanctuary of Darkness- Part 2, Base Camp

Panoramic view from the Baker Creek campsite Great Basin was the first extended stay of the trip. We were here for 4 nights. There are several campsites but I would say most of them were too small for our RV. Baker Creek campground which is only a few miles from the Visitor Center was probably going to be the best bet for our set up. But sky clearance was crucial for nighttime observing and careful planning was necessary to determine which sites were suitable. The higher-numb

Jun 172 min read

Remote Sanctuary of Darkness- Part 1, Arrival

Remote Sanctuary of Darkness- Part 1, Arrival

Remote Sanctuary of Darkness- Part 1, Arrival

Route from Cedar City to Great Basin National Park. Distance approximately 140 miles It's day 10 of our 2026 Odyssey and we have just eclipsed the 1000 mile mark since our departure from home! We are on the road to Great Basin National Park in Nevada. The failed slide out on our RV is behind us and it’s onward and northward! Van Life isn't bad at all! The park derives its name from the Great Basin, the dry and mountainous region between the Sierra Nevada and the Wasatch Mount

Jun 152 min read

Things Go Sideways in a Western Town

Things Go Sideways in a Western Town

Things Go Sideways in a Western Town

Perhaps not as great as it looks here! About day 9 on the 2026 Odyssey, it's what I call a "transition" day. We just spent a few days off grid as it were and we often stop for maybe a day or so somewhere we can empty the RV waste tanks, refill water, restock food, do laundry, all that stuff. The original plan was to get there early enough where we could do some biking, then all the maintenance stuff and check in at the RV park in the afternoon. Honestly, we try to avoid the t

Jun 133 min read

The Bortle dark-sky scale (usually referred to as simply the Bortle scale) is a nine-level numeric scale that measures the night sky's brightness of a particular location. It characterizes the observability of celestial objects, taking into account the interference caused by light pollution. Amateur astronomer John E. Bortle created the scale and published it in the February 2001 edition of Sky & Telescope magazine to help skywatchers evaluate and compare the darkness of night-sky observing sites.

The above Light Pollution Atlas was compiled in 2024. It is obvious that most of the US is dominated by fairly severe light pollution! Only a few areas in the western 1/3 of the country have what can be considered a dark sky. It is a sobering fact that the dark night is a dwindling natural resource.

What is dark? This image courtesy of ESO/P. Horálek, M. Wallner shows the appearance of the Milky Way under the various Bortle sky scale values. The overwhelming majority of the world's population will never see anything darker than around Bortle 7.

This is a color coded Bortle map of the region surrounding my remote observatory in Pie Town, New Mexico. The '+' is the actual location so there we are at Bortle 1-2, pretty dark!

This is a detailed color-coded description of each Bortle scale value courtesy of ClearDarkSky.com, which is a popular resource for astronomers. It provides local Bortle maps for hundreds of observing sites in North America.

So what is the take home message here? The Bortle Sky Classification or Scale is a useful resource to identify the darkest observing sites. ClearDarkSky.com can be used to find many of them, but even a general search using tools such as AI should be able to tell you how dark any campsite is in the world! The dark night sky is a dwindling natural resource and we are not sure how long the remaining areas that are accessible currently will stay dark. My advice is not to wait. Go out there and experience it while you can!

Thanks for reading!

DrDave

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