What: #9 Visit Michigan’s Dark Sky Park
When: October 11th &12th
Where:
Headlands International Dark Sky Park
Why: I have access to great wide expanses of farm fields without much light
pollution, so I've seen my share of shooting stars, rising moons, and
clear constellations. I have books on stars, access to a telescope, and
sky maps on my phone. I've taken astronomy classes (not easy to stay awake in a dark room as a college student, just so ya know), have attended many events at
local planetariums and observatories (have viewed Mars' ice cap and Saturn's rings!) and have visited both the Griffith
Park Observatory and the Adler Planetarium. Oh, and I recently got up before sunrise to see the lunar eclipse! So, it seems clear that I enjoy the night sky and astronomical events.
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| Clear night skies at the Headlands |
Thus, a couple summers ago, I made the trek to
New Brunswick to see the
dark sky preserve on a night that was promising a meteor shower. The weather was not cooperative and it ended up being a very rainy, wet, cloudy night; this did not dampen my interest in seeing an amazing night sky. I can recall a few times that I have seen incredible stars: on Amantani Island in Lake Titicaca (the first time I ever saw the Southern Cross), in the Sahara during my visit to Morocco, and I had hoped to see incredible stars this past summer in Wadi Rum, but was thwarted by an amazing full moon. Fortunately, I found out that there is an International Dark Sky park in my own home state!
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| View towards the Mackinac Bridge |
It's called the
Headlands, and is on the northernmost tip of the Lower Peninsula. That part of the state is beautiful during the day, and it was a treat to be there at night. The Milky Way was more visible than I had ever seen it in person...it spanned the entire sky like a rainbow of cloudy star clusters! I was able to go out two different nights and see a dozen or more shooting stars, many satellites (so many...how very different from even a decade ago), and be surrounded by others who sought out the same peace and tranquility of star-gazing. I hope to return when they complete the construction of the on-site observatory in a few years!
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