Appreciating The Nighttime Sky

This week my Astronomy class was supposed to go out and look at the stars and planets out near the Buffalo River, which is about twenty minutes east of Fargo-Moorhead.  I was so excited to get out into the country side and see the universe so close up, as it had been a while.  But when the clouds rolled in, I was stuck and couldn't see them anymore.

Having grown up in the countryside from birth to graduation, I'm no stranger to looking up into the night sky and seeing the stars come out, dancing across the sky and twinkling the whole way.  I saw the Northern Lights a few times too, and even some of the most basic constellations appeared for me after I learned them back in 2006 at the Palucci Planetarium in Hibbing through a fantastic presentation on the night sky.  It was always a truly amazing sight.

Living in this area though, I never really see the stars that much anymore.  Everything's covered by the city lights and you have to drive at least fifteen to twenty minutes in any direction to be able to pull the car over and see stars up in the sky.  And if you're like me and usually work in the evenings, you have to have a good weather night while it's also your night off, a tricky challenge in itself.  Add in the Wintry conditions and you've got a potentially deadly combination.

Studying Astronomy this Semester has put the spark back in me to spend some time outdoors after dark doing things like stargazing and watching for satellites and planets up in the night sky, and even looking at the moon in all it's beautiful phases.  I've been making plans to jump in the car and drive to the countryside just to see all of this, and truly feel like a little kid again.

If you haven't had the opportunity to do so, take a look at some stars online and remember everything that you're missing by living in an apartment building in the suburbs of a larger city.  Enjoy the sights of the world around you, even if it's through a screen.  We can all take it in together, and look to the sky around us, appreciating the beauty that is the nighttime sky.

What's your favorite part about looking at the sky at night?  Share it in the comments!