Tucson Parking Lot Light and Astronomy

I guess I can’t very well ask anyone if they know what this is with a title like than now can I. But do you know why this kind of light is found all over Tucson. I wrote a post last December 20th about Tucson being a place with friendly skies for astronomy buffs.

I kind of cracked myself up on that post with a picture I stepped out in the back yard and took that night before writing the post. It was with a point and shot camera and it was more a joke than anything.

What made me laugh even more was when the post was picked up on an astronomy forum and one guy thought it wasn’t very good evidence of Tucson being dark sky friendly with no stars in the picture. Another person posting let him know I was joking. That really got me laughing.

I’ve since gotten a much better camera and have been taking night shots around Tucson for a few nights over the past couple of weeks.

Tucson is home of The International Dark Sky Association. It is no accident they are located here in Tucson. Tucson has a very close association with the National Observatory which is located just outside Tucson at Kitt Peak. It is also no coincidence it is called “Kitt Peak Observatory” And it is no accident that some of the finest mirrors for telescopes.

For tonight, since it is already late, I’ll leave you with the picture of a parking lot light and the dark skies shot from the other post.

I might throw in a couple of other night shots I took as well. And these are the kind of shots you would never get around a city the size of Tucson without a dark skies policy.