Stars
I am talking about the real stars - the astronomical objects. Whenever I visit places like Yosemite or Yellowstone, one of the things that really amazes me is the number of stars I see in the night sky. I wonder why is it I can see so many stars over there while I am not able to see so many back in the Bay Area. I assumed its got to do with the pollution and how clear the sky is that night. Once I return to the city, I forget all about it and never bother to figure it out. Then, I come across this:
Lights out in Iceland for view of night sky.
Now I can understand why I am able to see more stars in places with relatively less human activity and less artifical light. Is'nt that ironic? Light is supposed to enable us to look at things better. Yet it is the very light that prevents us from seeing the stars that are so beautifully scattered around in the sky.
This reminds me of a story I read when I was a kid. There was a kingdom known for the noise. Everyone was loud, everything was noisy. Silence was unheard of. The young prince, for his birthday, asked his dad, the king, to hear the loudest noise possible. The king ordered everyone to make as much noise possible at a specified time. Someone had an idea - I will not make any noise so that I can hear a very loud noise without getting caught up in the process of making some. The idea got into the hands of some more and pretty soon everyone had the same idea in their minds. The time came and everyone remained absolutely silent, hoping everyone else will make some very loud noise. Gosh. Was it silent. For the first time, everyone heard the birds. They could hear the wind. It was beautful.
As much as it tempting to get philosophical at this point, I shall refrain from it. You get the point.
Lights out in Iceland for view of night sky.
Now I can understand why I am able to see more stars in places with relatively less human activity and less artifical light. Is'nt that ironic? Light is supposed to enable us to look at things better. Yet it is the very light that prevents us from seeing the stars that are so beautifully scattered around in the sky.
This reminds me of a story I read when I was a kid. There was a kingdom known for the noise. Everyone was loud, everything was noisy. Silence was unheard of. The young prince, for his birthday, asked his dad, the king, to hear the loudest noise possible. The king ordered everyone to make as much noise possible at a specified time. Someone had an idea - I will not make any noise so that I can hear a very loud noise without getting caught up in the process of making some. The idea got into the hands of some more and pretty soon everyone had the same idea in their minds. The time came and everyone remained absolutely silent, hoping everyone else will make some very loud noise. Gosh. Was it silent. For the first time, everyone heard the birds. They could hear the wind. It was beautful.
As much as it tempting to get philosophical at this point, I shall refrain from it. You get the point.
posted by d'na | 8:56 PM
3 Comments:
Back in UAE, we would go on these night safaries to look at the night sky. Everything would be crystal clear, but it would be freezing cold, as you can imagine. But we were always provided with a nice hot dinner. unfortunately these days, there's too much light pollution in citites.
Wow, yes, the night sky filled with stars at yosemite is an awesome sight. Serene. I would like to go back there just for that
But for somebody from land of yosemite( of nuch artificial lights), wouldn't the view of city lights give as much delight?
As someone famously said, the grass is greener on the other side. I guess for folks from the land of Yosemite and such like, the view of the city would mesmerize them. Speaking of which, the view of an expansive city in the middle of a desert from an aircraft takes my breath away. I really enjoy flying into cities like Las Vegas and Phoenix just for the view.
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