Originally drafted back on 11 August 2007 in Preston
Laying in bed last night looking out the window at the not so dark, I was reminded once again of how little deep darkness there is to be had out of doors in most of Britain, and how little they see of the expanse of the heavens at night. First you have the profound light pollution that’s difficult to avoid with over 60 million people living (and generating light) together on this little island. Then you have the extremely prevalent low cloud cover acting as an effective diffuse mirror for all that light, throwing much of it back down to any would be sky-gazer. So, for generations of Britons, the night sky is primarily an orange glow off the clouds, with the light pollution and humidity making little more than the major landmarks visible on even a “clear” night.
The day after I wrote the above, WeatherGirl’s mum mentioned that there was going to be a cool meteor shower over the next few days. Making my point nicely, it’s been thoroughly overcast, and we’ll have little chance of actually seeing any of it.
All in all, no comparison with the amazing night skies in and around Morris, especially when the winter cold has driven nearly every stray water molecule to ground.
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