横幅图片:银河延伸在科罗拉多大沙丘国家公园和自然保护区之上. (Credit: National Park Service)

This month, Colorado recognizes its third Dark Sky Month, an annual celebration of getting away from city lights, 躺在星空下，凝视着浩瀚的宇宙.

像路灯一样，这样的体验在今天越来越难找到了, headlights, neon signs and more spread around the world. According to data from the citizen science project Globe at Night在美国，夜空的亮度平均每年增长10%左右.

But it’s not too late to experience the dark, especially in Colorado, said Erica Ellingson, 博彩平台推荐天体物理学和行星科学荣誉退休教授. Among other pursuits, she’s an expert in the field of archaeoastronomy, or the study of how ancient civilizations incorporated celestial bodies into their cultures.

Today, the organization Dark Skies International has certified 15 Colorado parks and towns as official Dark Sky Places. 但即使你不能去这些地方，你仍然可以享受夜空, Ellingson said. 

“接下来的几个月，天气很好，非常适合和朋友出去玩, with family, with anyone really to share the spectacle of the sky,” she said. “The stars in Colorado are absolutely spectacular.”

当博彩平台推荐再也看不到星星时，她给出了她对人类失去的东西的看法, and how beginners can jump into astronomy.

What is light pollution?

Light pollution is human-made lighting that, 而不是为博彩平台推荐这里所有有用的东西提供光, gets thrown up into the sky. In most of the United States, and even worldwide, many people have never seen the Milky Way, or have never seen more than a few stars. 博彩平台推荐正在失去一项非常非常古老的遗产——能够走到户外，欣赏星空.

像SpaceX的星链卫星这样的卫星也会造成光污染吗?

是的，每年发射的卫星越来越多. 在长时间的望远镜曝光中，卫星条纹变得越来越普遍, 即使没有望远镜，它们在天空中也很明显. I’ve seen many Starlink “trains” shortly after launch. 它们看起来像一串十几个或更多的亮点在天空中排成一条线. 

在前山脉的人们可以去哪里体验黑暗或更暗的天空?

Within the Front Range area, 你在找一个可以远离丹佛周围的光穹的地方, Boulder and some of the other larger cities. Sometimes, if you just go up the Peak to Peak Highway, 丘陵地带的熨斗可以阻挡部分光线, and you can view darker skies. 

Rocky Mountain National Park 没有超级黑暗的天空，因为它离丹佛很近, 但它肯定比你在任何城市或郊区找到的都要好. 

How can beginners get into stargazing?

联系一个社区，那里的人愿意分享他们对明星的喜爱. 科罗拉多州的大多数城市都有一群望远镜和天文学爱好者. 他们经常举办“明星派对”，欢迎任何人参加. 他们会拿出所有最好的望远镜，很高兴地告诉你他们所知道的夜空中发生的一切.

Here on campus, 索默斯-鲍什天文台在秋季和春季上课时举行周五晚上的开放日. In the summer, they have a more reduced schedule.

How did ancient civilizations approach stargazing? 

博彩平台推荐在许多不同的社会中都看到了一些实际的应用，比如利用太阳, the moon and stars as timekeepers, as calendars or guides for planting. 

但博彩平台推荐也看到人们向星星寻求力量和神秘. We put the best of ourselves in the sky, the things that we value, the stories that are most powerful for our culture. All of these things we tuck up into the sky, 任何人都可以走出家门，抬头一看.

似乎观星最好的部分是与其他人分享. Do you agree?

我总是在学期开始时让我的学生告诉我他们在夜空下的经历. What strikes me most is that they nearly always say, “I was with my mom, my dad, my friends, my cousin, my partner.“他们的故事包括他们和谁在一起，以及他们如何一起分享天空. 

这是一种非常古老的传统，一种非常古老的感觉. 天空充满了故事，充满了博彩平台推荐应该分享的奇迹.