Tag Archives: night sky

patricia-lake-night_20070729_043

Starry Nights in Jasper

Night Sky Preserve

Michael Har­ris got it right when he com­pared Jasper’s night skies to Van Gogh’s Starry Nights.

IJune Moon over Patricia LakeJune Moon over Patri­cia Lake took this photo in late June. It was almost mid­night yet still bright out. You sure do get your money’s worth when you vaca­tion in Jasper. Every day is like almost 2 days any­where else with all the day­light this beau­ti­ful North­ern Rock­ies park enjoys.

In the sum­mer, you have to be pretty patient, wait­ing for the dark skies to arrive. But, when they do, the show is amazing.

If you’re lucky enough to own an iPad, be sure to install GoSky­Watch Plan­e­tar­ium for iPad — the astron­omy star guide. It’s an incred­i­ble teach­ing tool for zoom­ing in on & iden­ti­fy­ing constellations.

120210-cantref-dark-skies-michael-sinclair-web (2)

Life in the World’s Largest Dark Sky Preserve

dark_sky_384

Did you know that, in 2011, the Royal Astro­nom­i­cal Soci­ety of Canada (RASC) offi­cially des­ig­nated Jasper National Park a Dark Sky Pre­serve?

What’s even more amaz­ing is that Jasper National Park’s 11,000 km2 is now the largest dark sky pre­serve in the world.

Park vis­i­tors are astounded when they expe­ri­ence the brightly lit night skies. But it isn’t being lit by arti­fi­cial street lights. Camp­ing areas glow with the bright lights of the stars.

I won­der if that’s why so many peo­ple come to Jasper for their wed­ding cer­e­monies. Who can resist that kind of ambience?