When was the last time you were outside in a pitch black night.

[sweetheart]

Poll question: When was the last time you were outside in a pitch black night.

The poll is to discover when the last time you stood outside
at night in a place with no light pollution.

It used to be natural for an animal to experience darkness,
to be humbled by the heavens, and our light pollution has
removed what was a normal experience on moonless nights.

Does it have a systemic effect on a population to remove darkness.

[HockeyMom]

1. The Blackout

in the late 70s in Queens, NY. The only light was from the moon.

[havocmom]

2. I live in about the darkest spot in the lower 48 states

but I have to get away from this tiny town to see the sky clearly.

People need dark, but they seem hell-bent on eliminating it.

[xultar]

3. My backyard is GREAT! No light pollution @ all.

[sweetheart]

5. rare.

No light pollution really and truly is a very hard one,
and why telescopes are on hawaii and in arizona high
deserts. People have never learned to use their night
vision, to see by starlight. They never experience
themselves as being, in a way sorta helpless, when its
really dark, having to admit defeat and be humbled by
the night.

I wonder if it creates an impudent culture, where
persons are never humbled by nature.

Maybe if they turned off the streetlights on planned
dark nights, we all might be a little saner.

You're a lucky backyard indeed. I have streetlight
light pollution 2 miles away over a hill, and i can't
see stars on that horizon... i have to drive 50 miles
or so to get to a totally black place. For a culture
claiming to be concerned with energy waste, lighting
the night sky all night long every night of tye year
has gotta be the stupedist.

[wakeme2008]

4. Mar 28-April 1

Short Southern Caribbean cruise... Love sitting on my veranda and seeing all the stars at night.....

[OzarkDem]

6. My backyard is a national park

but its still close enough to populated areas that its full of light pollution. It was beautiful when First Energy in Ohio had the power blackout a few years ago. I made sure the kids went outside and enjoyed the night sky.

The best was my grandparents yard at their farmhouse in the Ozarks, a good 30 miles from any artifical light source. The sky was brilliant with stars.

[ThomWV]

7. In Viet Nam The Sky Was Blue At Night

On a moonless night it was the deepest purple you ever saw, not black.

On Edit: I am not refering to any town, I am refering to up on the triborder region, out in the bushes, where nothing like electrical service existed.

[OzarkDem]

14. Wow, must have been beautiful

I've always wondered, too, did you guys see much exotic wildlife over there? I'm sure you didn't have a lot of time to look for it, just wondering.

I'd really like to travel to that area sometime.

[NMDemDist2]

8. we are moving from PHX for that exact reason

DH is an amateur astronomer and we are moving to dark skies this summer

[blogslut]

9. every day

I live in a small town in the Texas panhandle. Of course, we don't have pitch black cause of those damned stars and planets ;)

[niallmac]

10. I stopped the car somewhere in Death Valley

about 2am for a 'pit stop'.
In addition to the pitch black was
the utter shocking silence.
It was truly awesome.

[Retired AF Dem]

11. Every morning

I walk my dogs between 0330-0430 every morning before I go to work. Past couple of nights have been great with the full moon.

[TahitiNut]

12. 45 years ago. Mid-Atlantic. Sailing under blackout conditions.

When you get far away from land, where light pollution isn't anywhere within hundreds of miles, you get to see why the Milky Way looks like 'milk.' It's literally incredible. I've since been on land far from cities and on the Island of Moorea ... but, awesome as it is, it's really nothing compared to mid-ocean on a ship under blackout conditions.

[sweetheart]

18. That really does sound awesome

You got me inspired with that. I'm wondering if i can rent a ship to
get off shipping lanes off iceland... i wonder if there are light
free astronomy cruizes... as much as i loathe cruizeships, i'd consider
it for a night like that.

[TahitiNut]

22. There's also the phosphorescence of the plankton in the ship's wake.

It looks like a bridal train filled with diamonds. I've never taken a cruise ship and kinda doubt that they'd have blackout at night. I had the benefit of sailing on the USCGC Eagle (training cruise) and, being a square-rigger with a helm on deck, they run under blackout for visibility reasons. (The helmsman and watch can see where the ship is going.) Anyone that gets a chance to be onboard a ship in mid-ocean should take it, imho.

[etherealtruth]

13. The closest I have come is an isolated area in Michigans U. P.

imgurl=&imgrefurl=http://www.cnn.com/2000/US/08/24/dimming.the.lights.ap/&h=300&w=506&sz=61&tbnid=s9--FA-VFy8WcM:&tbnh=75&tbnw=128&hl=en&start=1&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dlight%2Bpollution%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26sa%3DG

[neebob]

15. To answer your poll, I'd need you to define "light pollution."

Does it include a few surrounding house lights and an annoying gas station sign that stays on all night since they installed pumps with credit card slots? Otherwise, it's pretty frickin' dark around here at night. I could drive a few miles up the road and be completely away from any man-made lights.

[shrike]

16. Tasmania

Australia's southern tip. The sky brilliant with stars. Simply incredible.

Husband's been in the remotest parts of Canada, spending hours watching the northern lights.

[donco6]

17. My cabin near Fairplay, Colorado.

Very little light pollution, though to the east you can see the faint glow of Denver.

[mcscajun]

19. In the last two months...but it wasn't in the U.S.

It was in the West of Ireland.

Breathtaking...and we saw two "shooting stars" in as many minutes.

[BlackVelvet04]

20. last night.....

my back yard.

[stray cat]

21. Move away from the coast and out of the cities

There are still many places in the US where you can get pitch black nights but it may mean moving away from conveniences and jobs associated with metropolitan areas. Also, if we don't get energy use under control we may be blessed with much darker nights.

[B Calm]

23. I live out in the country.. Other than the solar lights around my pond

I have total darkness..

[El Fuego]

24. After Hurricane Wilma in Florida

We had never seen so many stars before. It was spectacular.

But it got old fast!!!!

[Mountainman]

25. We have no lights were I live except for a few on buildings that are far

apart. When there is no moon it is really dark and there are billions of stars in the sky. Indoors at night is like being blind. I sometimes don't want to turn on the light so I don't wake up my wife and end up crashing into walls and things.

Also on nights with a bright moon it is really awesome. I see lots of moon shadows.

[ms liberty]

26. About 5 minutes ago when I walked the dog...

I live in a rural area. Except for a dotting of those nasty security lights on power poles we have a sky free of light pollution. And those are few and far between; we don't have one - when we moved out here we didn't get one on purpose.

It's awesome, one of the best things about living in the country. The sky is better in the winter than the summer, the stars seem to be almost within reach; but of course it's a lot easier to stay out and sky-watch in the summer, when it's warm!

[tinfoilinfor2005]

27. I'm on a boat in the Florida Bay.

Jillions of stars, planets, satellites, ufo's, and a few airplanes as well tonight.