Joshua Tree's Night Sky Shines Bright in California Desert

Growing up in rural Kansas the night sky was brilliant. It was like someone took a paintbrush loaded with white paint and slashed it in front of a black wall, leaving millions of stars dripping from above.

As a child I could see the Milky Way, the Big Dipper and the Great Square every clear night. And when I got older, during a full moon, and if the conditions were right, I would ride a horse in the dark. The moon and glowing stars were more than enough light.

?As I became older and moved away from the smaller towns into the big cities, my stellar friends were harder to find. Light pollution pushed the brightest stars into dim bulbs. Even Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, was sometimes hard to find. Living in LA, the night sky is practically gone. Near the ocean and into the mountainous suburbs, where I live, you can find a few stars, but nothing like what I had witnessed growing up in Kansas or seen in my travels to West Texas and northern Michigan.? ?

When planning a family trip to Joshua Tree National Park I wanted to reconnect with my old celestial friends. Joshua Tree is designated as an International Dark Sky Park and has the darkest nights in Southern California. A trip to the Sky’s The Limit Observatory was where I would again see the Milky Way, and with the help of astronomer John Watkins’ telescope view galaxies and planets like I have never seen.

Watkins, an astronomy professor with Copper Mountain College hosted my family on a cold, clear January night, just outside the north entrance to Joshua Tree National Park in Twentynine Palms. We arrived as the sun was setting across the Mojave Desert, an expansive open space where the curtain would rise on a star show with a 360-degree view. The North Star was the first to appear, then Sirius and Vega. Soon the sun dipped behind the western mountains and night fell, giving me the best view of the night sky in decades. Watkins trained his telescope on Saturn and Jupiter and pointed out the constellations of Orion and Aries. But the star of the show, for me, was Betelgeuse, the tenth-brightest star. The super-giant star is part of the Orion constellation and red in color. ??

Betelgeuse, upper left of the photo above, can be seen with the naked eye, just locate the Orion Belt stars and you will see the bright reddish star of Betelgeuse. It’s even better viewed through a telescope, and you don’t need to spend thousands of dollars on a good one. Watkins says telescopes are not a pricey investment for the casual star gazer. Like stationary bikes and used sporting equipment, telescopes can be found for cheap at local thrift markets.

Despite the designation of Joshua Tree national Park as a Dark Sky area, there is some light pollution. Watkins says the glow from Los Angeles, the Coachella Valley and even Las Vegas encroach on the night sky from the observatory. It still offered a spectacular view, but the International Dark Sky Association reports the best spot for viewing the heavens in Joshua Tree is in the east side of the park, where only the lights from Phoenix offers minimal light pollution.

So, grab your thrift store telescope and get to gazing!

Links:?

Sky’s the Limit Observatory

Joshua Tree National Park

Copper Mountain College

?