Silence of the Skies
Yes, I know what day it is. No political, anti-American and/or news rants from this doctor - just a simple observation.
The day after the EVENT was the start of the 2001 Peach State Star Gaze. Back then it was held at Indian Springs State park, about 50 miles south of Atlanta, and off of I-75. Around 250 amateur astronomers from all over the southeast had gathered to socialize, attend talks and workshops - and most importantly, to observe the beauty of the night sky.
And what a beautiful sky it was - some of the most pristine, intense blue skies I've ever seen. The days were sunny and warm, the nights crisp and cool with a hint of the coming Autumn. During the early evening, the Summer Milky Way stretched across the sky. It rose from brilliant star clouds of Sagittarius and Scorpius in southern sky, to the cross-like figure of Cygnus lying overhead and then off to Cassiopeia rising in the Northeast. Certainly some of the best skies I've seen in this part of Georgia - and made all the more striking by the total lack of air traffic.
Though less than 50 miles from the world's busiest airport - nothing man-made could be seen during the daytime. No aircraft, no contrails - no nothing. At night, the slow moving, star-like satellites were still visible - but the flashing, blinking lights that were often the astro-photographer's bane were *gone*. . .
The only large 'objects' in the sky that week were a mating pair of red-tailed hawks searching for prey and the occasional black vulture. They would slowly circle the observing fields as they rode the warm thermals in search of food.
I have been on this planet for more than fifty revolutions, but this was the only time in my memory that mankind had voluntarily left the skies - if only briefly.
The day after the EVENT was the start of the 2001 Peach State Star Gaze. Back then it was held at Indian Springs State park, about 50 miles south of Atlanta, and off of I-75. Around 250 amateur astronomers from all over the southeast had gathered to socialize, attend talks and workshops - and most importantly, to observe the beauty of the night sky.
And what a beautiful sky it was - some of the most pristine, intense blue skies I've ever seen. The days were sunny and warm, the nights crisp and cool with a hint of the coming Autumn. During the early evening, the Summer Milky Way stretched across the sky. It rose from brilliant star clouds of Sagittarius and Scorpius in southern sky, to the cross-like figure of Cygnus lying overhead and then off to Cassiopeia rising in the Northeast. Certainly some of the best skies I've seen in this part of Georgia - and made all the more striking by the total lack of air traffic.
Though less than 50 miles from the world's busiest airport - nothing man-made could be seen during the daytime. No aircraft, no contrails - no nothing. At night, the slow moving, star-like satellites were still visible - but the flashing, blinking lights that were often the astro-photographer's bane were *gone*. . .
The only large 'objects' in the sky that week were a mating pair of red-tailed hawks searching for prey and the occasional black vulture. They would slowly circle the observing fields as they rode the warm thermals in search of food.
I have been on this planet for more than fifty revolutions, but this was the only time in my memory that mankind had voluntarily left the skies - if only briefly.