Prof. Sam LawlerSep 19, 2024
Tomorrow I've got an interview with the Financial Times and then the Wall Street Journal to talk about space junk and satellite pollution. So I guess maybe people with money are starting to notice that the commercial space race is a really really bad idea?
Show threadProf. Sam LawlerSep 19, 2024

I was not expecting to have a really lovely conversation at the end of the interview about stargazing from a truly dark sky site as an almost religious experience, that was really nice.

Also, this poor journalist lives in the UK so he has to go to France to get somewhat dark skies, and all the way to like, Australia for truly dark skies. A good reminder to continue to be grateful for the amazingly good dark sky access I have here on the prairies. Worth fighting for!

Show threadjiawen
@sundogplanets The journalist could talk to @Paul_Hill, who knows a lot about UK astronomy and dark sky sites.
Sep 20, 2024 at 1:12amWeb
Show threadPaul 🏳️‍🌈Sep 21, 2024
@jiawen @sundogplanets Really doesn't need to go to France for truly dark skies, they exist in the UK too. I imagine it might have been a case of a London based journalist who writes off the rest of the UK as default.
Show threadPaul 🏳️‍🌈Sep 21, 2024
@jiawen @sundogplanets best example of this was when we worked with the sky at night...literally the flagship astronomy TV show on the BBC they asked us if they needed to bring water with them to our dark sky site in Wales. These people never leave the M25 except to fly to France...
Show threadPaul 🏳️‍🌈Sep 21, 2024
@jiawen @sundogplanets my own house in a village in the South of England an hour from London has a Bortle 4 sky, just South of me there is a very accessible B3 sky. Most of Wales is Bortle 2. Go to the west and north of Scotland you have vast swathes of Bortle 2 and 1 - literally as dark as the prairies. Literally a couple of hours North of London in Norfolk connected by motorways and a high-speed railway you will find Bortle 3 skies.
Show threadPaul 🏳️‍🌈Sep 21, 2024
@jiawen @sundogplanets We actual have much darker skies than France, which is heavily light polluted everywhere.
Show threadPaul 🏳️‍🌈Sep 21, 2024
@jiawen @sundogplanets sorry! Rant over!
Show threadjiawenSep 21, 2024
@Paul_Hill I'd love to go to Astrocamp some year. The Beacons sound lovely, the event even moreso.
Show threadPaul 🏳️‍🌈Sep 22, 2024
@jiawen you would be most welcome! Just putting the finishing touches to the next camp which starts this Saturday!