[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]

(meteorobs) Re: Deep midnight blue

I have lived my entire life in dark sky territory (Rural Alaska and
Washington State), and usually observe with no lights visible at all in
any direction.  I was startled to read in this newsletter that the night
sky was greenish or reddish brown!

The sky is a beautiful velvety black when there is no moon and no source
of light for 100 miles in any direction.  Near the moon and stars it is a
deep midnight blue (hence the name).  Midnight blue is so deep and
velvety blue that it cannot readily be distinguished from black. 

Thank you for the reminder of the extraordinary good fortune I have in
living under the glorious heavens as they appear without the pollution of
artificial light sources.  When you see a faint reddish or greenish glow
near the horizon late at night, it is light pollution.

While I am at it, I would like to share a story with you.  When I was a
young girl I visited a small community in Alaska that could only be
reached by rowboat.  (No, that wasn't in the 1890's).  We were rowing
home from dinner at a friend's house around midnight, and all the
kerosene lamps in people's homes had been extinguished.  The sea was
filled with phosphorescence, and as the oars dipped into the water, the
tiny creatures in the sea floresced.  The sky was black, and the water
was black, and the only light were the stars above and the glowing
creatures below.  Looking out toward the horizon, you could not tell
where the water ended and the sky began.

Clear Skies!
Jan Fries
Rural Washington State

  
On Fri, 20 Oct 2000 12:46:28 -0400 Lew Gramer <dedalus@latrade.com>
writes:
> 
> Robert, I think you are correct about afterimage complementarity and 
> the 
> (apparent) color of the night sky. However, I have also observed 
> meteors
> from a very dark site WITHOUT a red flashlight, e.g., Lyrid peak in 
> 1998
> from Long Key FL, when I used a tape recorder and WWV signal all 
> night.
> (Thus, I had no need to ever look at charts, watch, or a recording 
> form!)
> 
> Under such circumstances, I can verify that the night sky seemed to 
> me to
> have (away from the Zodiacal Band, Gegenschein, Zodiacal Light, 
> Milky Way,
> etc.) a distinctive deep, dark blue-green tint. This is certainly 
> more in-
> dicative of my eyes than anything else: if I WERE in fact picking up 
> actual
> airglow, the chance that I accurately perceived its color is next to 
> nil.
> 
> I'd love to hear who else has observed under such lightless 
> circumstances,
> which is after all extremely rare among us red-light-happy 
> astronomers. ;>
> 
> Clear skies,
> Lew Gramer
> 
> To UNSUBSCRIBE from the 'meteorobs' email list, use the Web form at:
> http://www.tiacdot net/users/lewkaren/meteorobs/subscribe.html
To UNSUBSCRIBE from the 'meteorobs' email list, use the Web form at:
http://www.tiacdot net/users/lewkaren/meteorobs/subscribe.html