One last item on the Bucket List

jgram2

Speaking of bucket lists and celestial happenings- we've already missed our opportunity to reserve a site on the Oregon coast for the next total eclipse of the sun, happening August 21, 2017- hope you all have your ducks in a row for that! Go here for further information: https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/

texasaubiefan

I've been to big Bend and Ft. Davis (McDonald observatory) many times and they're spectacular.  If it's the right time of year, getting up a few hours before sunrise can be quite the experience.  Here's a shot I captured in April 2016 in Big Bend - one of my favorite NPs to really get away from it all!    

ericnliz

Wow! Great photo! Thanks for sharing.

Nomad

What kind of post-processing do you have to do on a shot like that - Lots of noise reduction?

pthomas745

It depends on how many stars you want, and how high  you have to push your ISO to get them.  The Lonely Speck  http://www.lonelyspeck.com/how-to-process-milky-way-astrophotography-in-adobe-lightroom/

has been my most favored resource.  I have some star shots with ISO's as low as 400.....but the best ones are with 1600 and higher.  Great shot by Texasaubie.....

I'm not planning to be "planted" in one location for the eclipse.....I think a "storm chaser" setup would be better, since everything is dependent on the weather.  And, you all do have your Eclipse glasses?  Or your Number 14 welder's glass?  The welder's glass is only 5 bucks on ebay.......

Nomad

When shooting my night stuff I almost always shoot a few exposures for the sky/stars. Rarely use/process one as I've found in my case they distract from the primary subject. Sure are pretty though.

TamsonWI

@OutbackAZ - one of DH's hobbies is astrophotography - his favorite locations are in NM (when we lived in Los Alamos, he would just go in our backyard for star-gazing).  There's now a cosmic campground south of Albuquerque http://darksky.org/idsp/sanctuaries/cosmiccampground/ - certified by the Dark Sky Association.  But even more spectacular would be star-gazing at Chaco Canyon.

SweetlyHome

We have spent a couple of weekends at Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park which is also certified by the Dark Sky Association.  Amazing view.  Campers are asked not to show lights and much of the lighting is red.  Many of the campers there with equipment to view the sky are open to questions and a look see.  It is also a great campground.

Joe

Black Gap WMA in Texas.  Over 100,000 acres.  We were there a couple of years ago for four days and never saw another person.

wanderingchickof66

The dark skies state park in PA is Cherry Springs State Park. 

Photomom

wanderingchickof66 said:

The dark skies state park in PA is Cherry Springs State Park. 

There's a primitive campground there for your T@B, and an astronomy field with reservable observing domes. If you go at new moon it's really dark.

1222tmiller

Slough Creek Campground Yellowstone Park

GrandmasKid

Death Valley NP is one of the darkest parks in the country and fascinating. I loved the view an hour before dawn at Zabrinkie Point.

GrandmasKid

You might like this article.

https://www.outsideonline.com/1924396/darkest-parks-us

MandyLea

Casting my vote for Big Bend as well. And the McDonald Observatory is in the area.

pthomas745

A few weeks ago I did nice star gazing at Grandview Campground, east of Death Valley, west of Bishop, Ca in the White Mountains.  At 8700 feet, the primitive campground is well protected from city lights and popular with astronomy clubs.  And, for a bonus, the Ancient Bristlecone Forest is 7 miles up the road.
I posted some photos in the "post photos of your camp setup" back on July 2.

Whacked

I'm a big fan of many of the meadows and peaks in Yellowstone park.  The mountains in Eastern Oregon (I live in Western Oregon) are some of the best in the nation as there is very little development anywhere in the area.  The Steens mountains and the Ochoco mountains in Oregon have areas with primitive campgrounds and dispersed camping, some of which are in very open areas.

Note that your best views will be at about 6000 to 9000 feet.  Lower and you get more particulate, water vapor, and air pollution.  If you get too high up you loose seeing ability due to the lowered oxygen levels in the blood.  The observatory at Mauna Kea in Hawaii is at 14000 feet, but the seeing is better at 9000 feet.

Don't expect to see what you see in photos.  Cameras see in the dark much better than you do, but it's still spectacular with the naked eye.  I would also recommend a large (not compact) set of decent binoculars. 

If you are headed somewhere such as Yellowstone, Death Valley (telescope Peak or the Panamint mountains, not in the valley) or other major national parks, look for nighttime star parities as these often have a knowledgeable amateur astronomers and sometimes loaner binoculars and sometimes telescopes to look through. 

Cybrarian

The Monongahela National Forest in WV is pretty dark - esp around the Greenbank area.  There is a good state park there - Watoga - which in Cherokee means "starry waters".  They have a campground, but I do not know anything about it.  

pthomas745

I forgot about this thread!  Read this story the other day about Idaho working toward getting an official International Dark Sky Reserve designation:

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/15/idaho-hopes-to-bring-stargazers-to-first-us-dark-sky-reserve.html

Justin_in_Seattle

There's a very popular Star Party in the desert of central Oregon each year. It has some of the best night skies in the USA, and many friendly astronomers there will happily let you look through their telescopes if you express interest / ask politely.

http://oregonstarparty.org

There's a fee to register for the party, but in my humble opinion it's totally worth it if you want to look at the night sky.

Many other states have star parties too, should be easy to find them with Google.

Michael_Godshall

Check out Pennsylvania's Cherry Springs State Park, Astronomy Observation Field.

Camping at The Dark Sky Park

A great experience.  The community is amazing, visitors share a common vision of creating the best environment to observe the skies,   be sure to have Red Lenses for you flashlights.  Safe travels wherever your journey takes you.  

ChanW

Excellent! Right in our neighborhood.

Will check it out.

Thank you!

Michael_Godshall said:

Check out Pennsylvania's Cherry Springs State Park, Astronomy Observation Field.

Camping at The Dark Sky Park

A great experience.  The community is amazing, visitors share a common vision of creating the best environment to observe the skies,   be sure to have Red Lenses for you flashlights.  Safe travels wherever your journey takes you.  

SLJ

Light pollution map: https://lighttrends.lightpollutionmap.info/#zoom=3&lon=-98.34791&lat=40.04753

Samrollseyes

Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho has a designation of Certified International Dark Sky. Nice camping, fun hikes, beastly hot mid summer, desert blooms in the spring. They also host Star Parties once or twice in the summer.

burrson

Badlands National Park in SD has some of the darkest skies in the world, and dispersed camping! 

Vikings

List of 10...
https://www.travelandleisure.com/trip-ideas/space-astronomy/darkest-places-in-the-us

edaletaylor

Try this too:  https://www.travelandleisure.com/trip-ideas/space-astronomy/darkest-places-in-the-us#:~:text=Death Valley National Park (International Dark Sky Park)