What is a Dark Sky?

People may say, "All skies are dark at night…duh." When in fact, not all night skies have the same "darkness." 

There are places around the United States that have terrible light pollution (typically large cities), while there are also places that have nearly no light pollution (rural deserts, forests, etc.). The rural locations have a much "darker" sky. This allows for stars and constellations to be seen clearer, for the Milky Way and bright planets to be viewable, and for special events of meteor shower showings. In fact, there is almost nowhere in the continental United States, east of the Mississippi, that has a naturally dark sky anymore - it is more or less all affected by some level of light pollution.

Learn more about dark skies.