New Mexico is observing Dark Sky Appreciation Night on Wednesday, 10/27/04. And this year, the event coincides with prime viewing conditions — a total lunar eclipse beginning around 8:23 p.m. …
In the United States, less than 10 percent of the population can see the Milky Way. …
At Chaco Culture National Historical Park 70 miles south of Farmington, park guide GB Cornucopia said the sky is almost as dark as when ancestors of the Pueblo Indians lived there a thousand years ago. “The constellations, the moon, the planets — it’s the same sky they saw, with few changes.”
But during his 18 years at the park, the glow from Crownpoint, 40 miles to the south has increased, and increasingly he sees light pollution emanating from as far as Rio Rancho and Albuquerque. …
While the night sky is the part of the environment that has changed the least over the years, most people no longer experience it in the same way as their ancestors.
“That saddens me,” Cornucopia said. “The more light pollution we create, the less we understand the nature of the world we live in. Keeping it accessible is real important.”