Planning Around Light Pollution (Patreon)

Last week I took the above photo to help illustrate this week's eBook update. I didn't use it in the update, but I'm going to use here to introduce the update.

This photo is from the far northwestern end of Antelope Island, an island that is out in Utah's Great Salt Lake. This portion of the island is 28 miles from downtown Salt Lake City (a Bortle Class 8 area). Where I'm standing is a Bortle Class 4 area. Although the International Dark Sky Association awarded this park a Dark Sky Park designation, it's impossible to get a photo of the Milky Way in the spring (looking southeast), because it lies directly over the Salt Lake City light dome at that time of the year. It is possible to get a poor quality Milky Way photo in the mid-summer (looking south).

Your best photo of the Milky Way comes in the fall when the Milky Way orientation is in the southwest — looking out over the Great Salt Lake (most of which is in a Bortle Class 2). Albeit the galactic core is below the horizon this time of the year, a rich and clear Milky Way, even without a core, is still much better than washed out stars!

PDF: Be sure to download (below) and view my latest Version 2.0 eBook update how you can plan and work around light pollution in your area.

NOTE: My patrons can expect to see many more posts over the next few months, as I continue to "serialize" updates to my original, version 1.1 "Milky Way NightScapes" eBook. These advance updates will become available exclusively to my patrons, page-by-page, until my new version 2.0 eBook is completed and published in March 2024.

All "Milky Way NightScapes" eBook Version 2.0 updates are protected by copyright: © Royce Bair 2023